So very thankful!!!

I can't even begin to list all of things for which I am thankful this year. We are very blessed in our life. Our faith, family, and friends are among our greatest blessings!!

I thought I would share a few of the things we are most thankful for with you:

I guess we all know what tops that list!!
Our sweet Avery is the greatest blessing of all. She is the answer to all our prayers and we are so thankful that the Lord chose us to be her parents!!

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3!!

We are also very thankful for our families. We have the rare privilege to be in close proximity to our immediate family on both sides.

Robyn's family

Paul's family

The very best cousins a girl could ask for!!

We are also blessed with a great network of friends.....
both old....

and new!!

Who knows what the next year brings for us....we can only say that 2008 is a banner year and a great time to be thankful!!

Avery modeling her 1st Thanksgiving bib while posing with her "fish face".

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!

Let the chaos begin....

Last night was Kelby's first basketball game of the season. So that means now Kelby, Kolin, Mekenzie, and Mekarlie all have basketball season's in full swing! It makes for a very busy sports season around our house!! Of course they play for 3 different schools and 4 different age groups so we can't ever catch two kids at the same game. Uncle Paul and Aunt Robyn (and now Avery) have been long time supporters of all these kids so we will keep up the tradition. By the end of the season I guess Avery will be knowing basketball inside and out.

Good Luck guys, we hope you all have great seasons!!

Kolin is really guarding his man! He plays for the 7th grade team.

Kelby getting ready to receive a pass from a teammate. He plays for the freshman team.

Mekarlie going after the ball. She plays for the 6th grade team.

Our lone cheerleader of the bunch. Mekenzie cheers for both the girls and boys high school teams.

So if you see alot of sports pictures on the blog in the next several weeks hopefully you will understand why.

Happy Wednesday!!!

Weekend Recap.....

It was a really busy weekend for us. Of course it all started in the wee hours Friday morning when I went to the 12:04 showing of the movie Twilight. I really enjoyed the movie. I was prepared to be disappointed because I am often am when I read a book and then see the movie but this one really did surprise me. There were of course many more details in the book but the movie followed it pretty close. The ending definitely left room for a sequel (which I read online is already in the works). So if you are a fan of the books or just want to see what all the hoopla is about go check out the movie. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I did take my camera to so of course I have a few picture to share:

Since we were taking 10 teenagers I figured everyone would need snacks so I made a short trip to the Dollar Tree that afternoon:
the contents of my purse when we were at the movies. Even though the kids were embarrassed when I started passing these out they sure didn't mind eating it!

Mekenzie's friend Alexis even donned her vampire teeth for the occasion.

Kiesha, Mekarlie, and Me waiting for the movie to begin.

Lane and Mekenzie wishing I would just put up the camera and sit down. I have to point out that Mekenzie was dressed in her "Team Edward" tshirt just for the occasion.

Some of the girls that accompanied us.

We had a really good time and it was definitely an experience!! Even more so because Avery woke up at 7am the next morning!!

Here are just some random shots of Avery over the weekend.

This looks like the most mischievous face to me! I wonder what she is thinking?

My sweet girl!!

Usually she takes her bath at night but Friday we had to have a bath in the morning and here is why:

What to do when you are finished with breakfast.....
just dump out the leftover food and put your bowl on your head of course!!!

What is wrong with this picture??
Avery's latest thing is pulling the kitchen chair out from under the table, climbing up in it, and then climbing onto the table to stand up!!! Needless to say we are now keeping all the chairs away from the table!

Paul and I both work most Wednesday nights, Avery usually stays with Paul's parents and goes to church with them. She has brought home several coloring pages and other crafts but this is her first holiday creation:
Showing mommy what she made

A Thanksgiving Turkey!!

Saturday morning we decided to drag out all the Christmas decor. Paul and I have skipped putting up a tree the last 2 years (while we were waiting) but knew had to do it up this year. As I was getting all my decorations out plans quickly changed for decorating the entire house. Having a toddler exploring everything makes you rethink all those breakables you usually set out. We finally decided to go with a tree, our Christmas village, and then save the other things for next year when Avery can appreciate the words "no touch" a little more.

She is quite fascinated with the tree and lights since we didn't want to have her too tempted to pull off all the decorations we made a quick trip to Home Depot for a decorative barrier to the tree. Now Avery and Rowdy can admire the tree from afar and hopefully we won't have to worry about the presents getting unwrapped either.

Avery's first Christmas tree!!

Since we don't have a mantle we settled for hanging the stockings on the curio cabinet; high above little hands reach.

You know how most people have those exquisite little Christmas Villages? Leave it to us to have something totally different.
That's right a Disney Christmas Village!!

Complete with Mickey's toyshop and everything!!

Avery loves this Santa Mickey and play and dances to "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree". She dances right along with him, sometimes even holding Mickey's hand.

Our tree all lit up at night!

So that was our weekend. Sunday night it was back to work. I can't believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away!!

That also means Black Friday shopping can't be far behind!!!!!!!

Thanks for checking in!!

Meisey's Homecoming

For some this may look familiar but I was finally able to get the rest of the pictures uploaded and in the correct order so I am redoing this post.

Friday afternoon we ventured to the airport to meet Erin and family as they returned home. These are always emotional trips and the excitement builds as we first wait for the plane to land, then wait for to see the new family coming through the first doors and finally through the revolving doors to get to all of us. Paul, Avery, mom, and I go there pretty early and were immediately greeted by Ray and Barbara (Erin's parents) slowly but surely the rest of the crew started arriving so before long we had a pretty big group of people to welcome home this special little girl.

Because we arrived a little early Avery spent some time bonding with Mollianne and Meisey's Pa. Erin's dad brought along Honey Nut Cheerios to greet Meisey and Mollianne. Of course when Avery saw someone with food she had to have some too. Pa generously shared with Avery while we were waiting for their flight to arrive.

Okay this next picture just cracks me up
Here is Pa kindly explaining to Avery the nutritional benefits of Honey Nut Cheerios and the 5 ways they can lower your cholesterol. And look.....she is really paying attention to him!!

An instant friendship always begins with food ?!?

Bob's parents eager to meet their newest granddaughter

Gran and Pa waiting for the big moment.

Before we knew it the flight had arrived and we were all staring through the glass walls eagerly awaiting our first glimpse of the family.

This picture was taken through the glass as we were waiting for them to come into our area!

Coming through the infamous revolving door!

Meeting Gran (aka Erin's mom)

The very proud big sister.

Meeting Pa (aka Erin's dad)

Meisey trying to figure out who that crazy lady that keeps following her around with the camera is...

Me and Erin and our babies!!

This was our little corner of the terminal while we were waiting for luggage.

Trying to get a picture of all of us with our kids proved to be a little difficult:


As has become a tradition whenever a baby comes home, after we leave the airport we go to the nearby Fuddrucker's for a meal together.

One of the 2 long tables we took up at the restaurant.

We were so excited to meet Erin's friend Eloise and her daughter Dots!!

I love the look of joy on Erin's face in this picture.

Mollianne, Bob, Meisey, Erin, and Eloise

Dots and Mollianne

And just so the other kids don't feel left out I took some good shots of them too!

Avery demonstrating that even eating a hamburger can be done with no hands or utensils.

Valerie's kids really love their nacho cheese. V maybe you should just serve this at every meal.
K-Man showing us how to like the bowl.

Aubriana just can't get enough of the stuff!

Quint is a little charmer in his winter hat!

We had a wonderful time with our friends and are so blessed that we were able to be there to welcome Miss Meisey home!!

The very exhausted but very elated family of 4!!

One more picture of the guest of honor.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Thanks for checking in!!