Christmas 2011

This year was a wonderful Christmas for our family!!! Braylen was definitely a believer which was so neat. ANd the Elf on the Shelf was the biggest hit of all. Our Elf's name was Artie (not sure where she came up with that) but still to this day she is wanting Artie to come back and visit. She was SUCH a good girl when ARtie was around. Grant made a comment that for every holiday we need a thinger majig like Artie.....lol! It was pretty amazing how good she was when Artie was watching.
So the girls got some fun toys from Santa and TOO many gifts from all their loved ones!!! It was such a wonderful holiday that I look forward to next year...hoping that Carsen is more into the Christmas spirit. Here are a few pictures to look at.








Also....I have added some pictures of Braylen's school Christmas program. She was an angle and loves to sing. And her Christmas party...they had happy meals which made them very happy!!!

We are still here....

Haven't done this in a while but now I can do it on my phone so I wanted to share the photos of Bodie and Braylen having fun at the mall! Bodie is here for the Christmas break. Braylen and Bodie get a long so great together.

Pictures I have forgotten to share...

This was last spring....I think right after Easter!


This picture explains their relationship. The way things are going now, they should be the best of friends.

I love this! Carsen has changed so much, Braylen still looks the same.

This was cute but Braylen was having a hard time pulling it because the grass was so thick.




Carsen's first birthday pics. She was loving the icing.



Had to get a cute picture of her ruffle bloomer....too bad you can see some of the diaper....!


She is such a busy body, that I am surprised that we were able to capture any of these.


Are you guys for real....you put me in a picnic basket....lol


She is such a sweet girl but is very needy. Wants to be held ALL the time.


Hope you enjoyed the pics. Sorry, I forgot to post them on here.

Halloween Celebrations

We started out our celebrations with a FALL FESTIVAL at Braylen's school. They got to dress up in their costumes and play in the jumpies, decorate cookies, make sand necklaces, eat popcorn, and go on a hayride...it was so much fun.






Our next celebration was with our Life Group through church. We meet every Friday night and have a salty/sweet snack and then do our group discussions/lesson. This past Friday was a tad bit different, we did fun food and just got all dressed up and dances with the Wii and the kids hit a pinata and just celebrated being together.







Our next celebration was Pumpkin carving. Elisabeth and her family were in town and they came over to carve pumpkins and so did our good friends, The Cook FAmily. We then went to a nice dinner and came back and ate yummy apple pie.




Our last celebration was Halloween night. Everyone came to our house, we ate wings and pizza and then got the kiddos dressed for a fun night of "trick or treat." It was a blast and the kids all did so good, it just warmed my heart to see them all having so much fun. When we were done, the kids came back....ate some candy, ran circles around the house for about 15 mins and then it waas time to close shop. All the kids were winding down and the costumes were off, the jammies were on, and until next year!!!

Fall Fair

This year was such a fun year for the fair because Braylen could actually ride some rides. We went on opening night (free admission and unlimited rides for a certain $ amt.) We went with her best bud Georgia and her mommy and daddy. It was a blast. I was hesitant at first because I didn't know how Braylen was going to react on the rides but having Georgia around was saving grace. There wasn't a fear in the world with those two together, they conquered all the fun rides and even did the Caterpillar roller-coaster (i was shocked!) When I was a little girl, I was scared to death of the roller coaster but now of course I LOVE THEM.


(braylen looks like Jackie O here)


(when they are together they are both BIG HAMS)


(of course matching face paints)




The Cumming Fair almost lasted 2 full weeks, so of course we had to go another day. We decided to go with Elisabeth, Dad, and the two boys. Elisabeth and her family were in town for a week because Adam had a conference in Atlanta.....we were so excited to see them and let the cousins have fun time together. So anyways, we got to the fair early evening and were able to do two rides until all of a sudden...it started raining....! It was such a bummer because the kids were all excited about the fair and riding rides together. Well we decided to stick it out and let the rain clear out, but in turn, we were wet and the temperature dropped several degrees....so damp and cold....brrr! It was a great time regardless, Bodie and Braylen had a ball and Bodie has NO fear which helped BRaylen not be scared either....loved it.

(first ride after the big rain...it was very wet and there was no one on it....ha)


(this makes me giggle.....)


(i have a picture of me very similar to this....wish i could find it)


(Poppy and his grandkids)

Fall Happenings..

We went to Elijay to Hillcrest Farms for some good ole apple pickin'. This has become an annual event with our good friends. At Hillcrest, you can pick your own apples, eat lunch, play on jumpies, play in the petting zoo, ride ponies, just tons of things to keep you occupied. Here are some pics to enjoy and I had to add an OLD picture of the same kids....I believe it was two years ago. Oh...I got TONS of apples....and have made 2 pies, apple sauce and have eaten an apple everyday along with sharing them with my kids. I have had the apples for a month......LOTS of apples....heehee.

Carsen turns 1

(Going to her party and riding in her new carseat....she is only 19lbs.....but we assumed the cupcake and icing would add another pound. She was itching to face forward.)



Next was Carsen's BIG celebration of turning ONE...or maybe it is an Adult celebration because we survived ONE year of being parents of TWO precious, determined little girls. However you want to look at it, it is still a wonderful celebration.
We chose to combine Carsen's birthday with Coleman's birthday (they are 5 days apart from each other.) We are very good friends with the Cooks (Coleman's parents) and knew we would be inviting the same people to the parties so we thought....why not just combine them....! And the party was SO MUCH fun and a super duper success. Below are some fun pictures of the party....












(We chose to ask guest that instead of bringing a wonderful gift, why not bring a book or dvd that can be donated to the Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta!)