Family pictures

We got home from a Thanksgiving trip to IL today.  While we were at Mom & Dad's house, our family friend Jill took some family pictures for us.  She was great & caught all 9 grandchildren looking the same direction and (mostly) smiling.

Hello again!

We're still here and I haven't forgotten about the blog. The start of the school year and then marching band season kept us very, very busy from late summer through the end of October. It was a hectic but enjoyable stretch.

We especially enjoyed watching both of our boys perform with the OHS Marching Mustangs this year. Their show was terrific, and they were named region champs in their class at Bands of America finals in the Georgia Dome. Here is their winning performance:

Watching this video on the iPad has become Anslie's favorite bedtime story. She asks for "Bubba Baboo Marchy Band" every night. :)

Let's Pretend

This is for you, Tammie! Anslie loves her little Minnie Mouse & she is beginning to use her imagination when she is playing. While I was getting ready to go get groceries this morning, she kept putting Minnie on the bed & covering her up. She would then come to me and tell me to "shhh!" Love this stage - so neat to watch her thinking & planning.

Happy 4th!

Goldilocks

Anslie spent 5 solid minutes trying to sit on this dollhouse chair. She would set it down, aim for it, knock it over, & start all over again. The girl was determined! So funny to watch...

Prom 2011

Even though Kyle is a sophomore, he got to go to prom this year because his sweet girlfriend Ashleigh is a junior.  They made plans to go with a group of friends from band and asked Walton to chauffeur them (in Georgia, teenagers can't drive with non-family members in the car until they've had their license for 6 months).  We met Ashleigh & her family at Heritage Park for pictures.

Putting on their flowers - we ordered them to match Ashleigh's dress -

 

A great-looking couple!

 After we finished pictures at the park, we headed out to their friend Sara's house to meet up with the group.  The girls...Anna, Sara, and Ashleigh. 

 The guys - Brian, Chris, and Kyle.

 Sara's family had appetizers & sparkling cider with fresh berries for everyone - so nice! 

 Everyone chatted & took a few more pictures together before it was time to leave.  We intended to take pictures at Stone Mountain Park before they went into the prom, but we had too much fun at Sara's house & ran out of time. 

 Anslie wore her zebra dress since Ashleigh loves zebra print.  She calls Ashleigh "She-She" & Ashleigh calls her "Little Bit".  Here they are just before it was time to leave.   

Sara's Mom put out a "red carpet" so the girls' dresses wouldn't get dirty on the driveway.  :)

 The girls asked the guys to climb in back so their dresses wouldn't be all wrinkled before they made it to Prom. 

(the rest of these pics are from one of their cell phones...)

 The girls being sweet & the guys being goofy. 

Their dinner was included as part of their ticket. 

 

 After Walton dropped the kids off, we had dinner in Stone Mountain Park with Anna's parents Ben & Susie and then we all watched the laser show on the lawn together.  Susie introduced Anslie to Sour Punch Straws - she loved them!  (Which was hilarious because I had tried to feed her some cotton candy just a minute before.  She made the most awful face ever & spit it out immediately.)  It was a cool night & we had a great time relaxing & talking.  We even got occasional text updates from the kids about how much fun they were having.   (Nice that they want to share their experiences with us instead of avoiding us!)  After the laser show Anslie & I rode home with Ben & Susie while Walton the chauffeur waited for the kids to finish.

They stopped at Waffle House for a midnight snack after the dance.   Anna's date had a 2 hour drive home, so he didn't join them. 

So many fun memories in one night for them!  They are a great group of kids & have a lot to look forward to in the years to come. 

A

Kyle styled Anslie's hair after her bath tonight.


A is for Awesome! Ha!

Strawberry Farm

Saturday was perfect for picking strawberries - it was in the mid-70's with a nice breeze.  We headed out to Southern Belle Farms ready to fill our buckets.  The kids have all 3 grown so much since last year at this time - when I look back at this post, I realize where all of our grocery budget has gone!  And no, we didn't adopt another teenage boy.  The Georgia fan in between our two boys is Will's friend Taylor.  

Anslie toddled along behind Kyle, who very patiently showed her how to pick a nice red berry. I love to listen to how loving the boys are with her & the way they encourage her to explore the world.  They never complain about helping her.  She loves her Bubba (Kyle) & Baboo (Will).

 She caught on very quickly to throwing the berries into the bucket

 and also to gobbling them up.

 So much so, that she was grabbing berries out of Kyle's bucket when he would put it down.

 MMMMMM!  Sweet & juicy!

 Southern Belle berries are delicious-

 We're headed home to make a fresh strawberry pie!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day.  We started the day with worship services at church.  

Nita K and Kevin were here visiting his family, so Nita came home from church to spend a little bit of time with us before they went to his family dinner.  

 The Browns came over for Easter dinner & an egg hunt for the kids.  Kyle & Will hid all of the eggs in the yard.  We decided to do coins in the eggs this year instead of candy and the kids loved it!  Here they are waiting for the "go" signal-

and afterwards with their baskets full of eggs.

"But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him."
-- Acts 2:24 NIV