Christmas '09

Since this is the last day of 2009 I guess I had better post about our Christmas! We had Christmas at our house this year. I must say we had quite the group! Adam's mom, dad, sister and her husband and 2 kids came which made 10 people in our tiny house with 12 on Christmas day when my mom and dad joined us for Christmas lunch! I have to admit that I was a little stressed about hosting. I am sooo not the hostess type. I say this because I stress way too much about making everything just right when it really doesn't have to be. Guess that's the perfectionist in me... It was fun getting to be with the family. Although we never saw Katie and Shelby. They were inseparable doing what little girls do. They painted their nails, played with their DSI's and did a lot of giggling. I'm glad they are so close. The little ones, Charley and Bethany, had some sharing issues and we heard a lot of "Mine, mine!" But what can you expect? They're two. They still love each other though. We ate and ate and ate some more and just caught up with each other. It was nice just being together.

Uncle Cory and the babies.

MiMi, PaPa, Charley and Amanda.

Katie's really into making things.

BARBIES!!!

Charley playing with his Thomas trains. Aren't his pj's adorable?!

Hmmm, what's Adam got?

Bethany had to try on her Yo Gabba Gabba glasses and hat from Aunt Amanda & Uncle Cory and Katie and Charley.

"When's lunch? We're starving!"

Don't you love Amanda's hair accessory?!

MiMi (Cindy~Adam's mom) and Pap (Malcolm~my dad)

Bethany LOVES dolls and accessories.

Katie and Shel

I couldn't resist taking this picture. The kids were watching a movie with 3D glasses! Charley didn't last as long as the big girls though!

Daddies get to put together Barbie houses!

Blankie time! Beth and Charley love their blankies! So cute!

Bethany's First Hair Cut!

Well, technically it's not her first hair cut. I've cut her bangs before but never since she's been born has the back of her hair been touched. It's sooo long and was kind of uneven so I decided it was time to have her hair trimmed. I took her to the place that I get my hair cut and Taylor did a really good job. I told Bethany that she needed to be really still while she got her hair cut and she was! She did really well. It looks so cute on her too!

Sprucing Up

Moving, rearranging, cramming and stuffing. That's what we've been up to before and after Thanksgiving to get ready for the new flooring in our house to be installed! We had our wood floors in the living room and hall redone about 3 years ago. A week ago we replaced the OLD linoleum in the kitchen/bathrooms with laminate and the 30+ year old carpet in the bedrooms with fresh, new carpet! It feels so much cleaner and brighter...Just in time for the holidays!

And, if you remember, we've been working on our master bathroom...

Our Thanksgiving

Whew! We had a whirl-wind of a Thanksgiving but it was wonderful, nonetheless. We started off by visiting a dear high school friend of both Adam and I. It's been about 13 years since we've all been together. We got to meet her sweet daughter and just catch up. We got to her house at about 10pm on Wed. and stayed up until 1am talking and laughing. Even the girls stayed up until 1! We got up the next day at 6 so we could be on the road by 7....We left her house at about 7:30 so we weren't that late. Thursday we met up with Adam's mom and dad and got to see Adam's Grandma. It's been a year since we've seen her since we live so far away. It was so good to see her. The kids were super excited to see Granny. We celebrated Thanksgiving with her by going out for Chinese. Yum! Friday we hit the ground running. WE SHOPPED TIL WE DROPPED! We did not get up at the crack of dawn for this special event and by the time we got to the stores, some of what we wanted was already sold out. That's ok though. We survived and got more than what we needed/wanted! Saturday we did a little more shopping and visited Santa. Shelby told him she wanted a Barbie Dream House and Bethany wanted a Dorya (Dora) doll. In the blink of an eye it was Sunday and we had to make the loooong trek home. We were T-I-R-E-D! I am still tired! We all had a fun time though!

Bethany, me, Adam, Shelby and Granny on Thanksgiving Day.

We miss you, Grandpa!

Fall Pictures

Shelby's 7th Birthday Party

Shelby had a cooking party for her birthday. She loves to help me in the kitchen so I thought this would be a fun thing to do for her. I AM NOT taking credit for this idea though. I found it at Family Fun online. If you ever need a birthday cake/party idea, go and take a look at the neat ideas!

The girls got to make mini lasagnas and salad on a stick. I prepared the meat, noodles and vegetables the night before so they could make their own lasagnas and salads at party time. They also decorated place mats and had cake and ice cream.

Shelby's making her lasagna.

Finished product!

Salad on a Stick!

Bethany was checking out Sissy's stuff!

Shelby wanted a Red Velvet Cake (MY FAVORITE!!!).

Make a wish baby girl!

Shelby's Friends: Gabby, Annabelle, Miranda and Jorja.

Shelby's Baptism!

Here we are, headed to church November 1, 2009. Shelby was soooo excited!
Pastor Stan and Shelby....before....

And...AFTER!!! Yay!!!

Shelby's Awards

Here's Shelby at the Awards Assembly. She got Perfect Attendance and A/B Honor Roll!

Every month a student is chosen from each class at school to be the Good Citizen of the month. Shelby received this honor and we got treated to a breakfast and Shelby was recognized by her teacher for being responsible and keeping everyone on track in her classroom.

Here's Shelby's principal reading what her teacher had to say about her.

Halloween Fun

Shelby's piano teacher had a Halloween Piano Party at her house this year for her students. They had a costume contest (Shelby won the prize for the funniest costume), ate yummy treats and played a piece from memory. Shelby played Halloween Fun.
Our nephew Charley dressed up as his Uncle Bubba for Halloween. Adam LOVED it! It was TOO cute!!

Here's our niece, Katie as Super Cat, Shelby as a HSM Cheerleader, Bethany as Foofa and Charley. They were too cute.