Celebrating Jesus' Birthday!

We had a wonderful Christmas and were able to see both the sides of our family, which is a blessing in itself. We spent time in Birmingham and Georgia. We started off our travels at the Birmingham Zoo for Zoo Light Safari. Everything gets decorated with lights, including the train!



Then we were off to Georgia where we also went to see the lights at Callaway Gardens.


The boys went by the fire station in Hamilton to see Santa and the fire trucks. Of course, the fire engines trumped seeing Santa:)

Then we were back in Birmingham for Christmas Eve, here's the whole gang...

And finally back home for Santa's arrival and birthday cake for baby Jesus

Christmastime Festivities

We had our monthly supper club to celebrate Christmas last Friday night at Brian and Mary Ivy's new house. As usual the night was filled with laughs and the guys ripping on one other. Nothing says Merry Christmas like being made fun of by your friends. Really though, we always feel blessed by our friendships here in Huntsvegas.



This is usually how it goes...

Showtime!

Tate and Miller had their preschool Christmas show tonight which was absolutely adorable. Miller was an angel and Tate was a shepherd. Tate had been practicing the last couple of weeks being a sheep but somehow just before the show started he was promoted to a shepherd:) Tate was also concerned about Miller being an angel since angels are supposed to be girls, but I told him that most of the angels in the Bible were boys:) They both did a wonderful job and Travis and I were so proud!




Tate and some of his buddies (Hayes, Caroline, Ayers and Addie Grace)

Turkey Time

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Georgia with the Alstons. The boys enjoyed playing at the farm and seeing the butterflies at Callaway Gardens. Of course, we did our fair share of eating also. It is always one of my favorite holidays!


The boys in the "farm truck"



Miller checking out the butterflies

All the Boys

Our friends Brent and Julie came to visit this weekend with their son Boone. Travis and Brent were college roomates and we do our best to see them as often as possible. Boone is almost two so all three boys had a great time running around together.

Tate turns 4!

We celebrated Tate's 4th birthday with a Spiderman party complete with a moonbounce in our backyard. We invited all of the boys from Tate's preschool class, and of course his cousins. There were a few bumps while bouncing and a handful of tears, but overall it was a success!




We also celebrated with brownies at Tate's school. This is Tate with Ellie Kate, one of his favorite friends:)

Trick or Treat!

We had a great Halloween night of trick-or-treating with Spiderman and our little turtle. We went around the neighborhood with a few of our neighbors and their children. So fun!



This is Miller's way of telling us he is ready to go home...

Samford Homecoming

Yesterday we traveled to Birmingham to celebrate SU Homecoming. We cheered on my friend Amy as she rode in the parade to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her crowning as queen. It was so fun to get our children together and relive our glory days. We even PAID to eat in the caf and visited the bookstore. An older man asked Travis if he was playing in the game, assuming he was a current football player. It was a nice boost for his ego:)


The boys and Owen in the caf

Tate and Lolly who just celebrated her third birthday

The Great Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch, appropriately named Tate Farms, to find the perfect pumpkin for Halloween. The boys got to pet the animals, jump in the corn crib, and go down the big slide. The highlight was riding in the tractor-pulled trailer into the fields to pick a pumpkin right off the vine. The weather was cool so it really felt like fall. We had a great time!

Laughter in the Lou

This past weekend I had my annual reunion with my high school friends (although we have actually known each other longer than that). We went to St. Louis and had beautiful weather and spent our time either outside or shopping. There is nothing better than laughing with old friends that love you in spite of yourself:)


My oldest friend, from kindergarten til now...

Jen and her little girl named Story (she is the only child well enough behaved to be invited:)

Go Dawgs!

We headed to Tuscaloosa this weekend to cheer the Bulldogs onto victory over Alabama. It was a nail-biter to the end and a great game to watch. We took the boys around campus before the game and Miller was given a dog bone by an Alabama fan. Luckily he didn't try to eat it! It was a fun weekend for all!

Sharks in Chattanooga!

We had a great "Friday Fun" date again with our friends Ayers and Addie Grace yesterday. We went to the Tennessee Aquarium to see all of the fish, penquins, and sharks. The sharks were the boys favorites! We finished off the day playing in the water and fountains outside.

Labor Day on the Lake

We had a great Labor Day weekend with my sister and her fam at their new lakehouse. All of the cousins swam and played all day. And, the highlight was Travis dropping Miller off of the top of the boathouse, Tate knew better than to try it:)