Thanksgiving 2008

We had a very special Thanksgiving in 2008, because we were able to celebrate it with so much of our family. All the "local" family was there, of course. My brother & his 4 kids were able to drive up from Atlanta. Trevor was home from college, and best of all my grandmother was able to join us. (Trevor drove all the way to Memphis to get her.) My mom cooked - so much that no one could even sample everything she made.

Of course we missed my dad, and there were some sad moments, like when my mom said that the corn we were eating was planted and harvested by him. I think we're just barely starting to reach the point where we can talk about him without having to immediately stop because we get too emotional. For me, thinking about the corn brought back memories of my dad being so happy to pick & shuck corn - who is happy about that? He would get home from work, change, and ask who wanted to join him picking corn? I remember taking Connor, when he couldn't even walk, and he sat in the grass and tried to eat the raw corn that we had just picked & shucked.

That is a trait I wish I had more of - doing what needs to be done with enthusiasm and happiness. My dad did that. I want to do a better job of it.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

This is Noelle & Hannah (the two youngest cousins) collaborating on their Scrabble game. We think they are the smartest (and cutest) in the family.

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It wouldn't be a trip to Nana's house without jumping on the trampoline. Noelle loves to jump!

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And here we all are. I hope I have a lot of my grandmother's genes, because doesn't she look fantastic for being one week shy of 90 years old???

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Fall Creek Falls 2008

In October of 2008, we went hiking at Fall Creek Falls. It was beautiful, and we hope to go back as soon as the weather warms up. Here are a few photos of the day:

Photos from Noelle's party

My mom made her a little pillow with some soft pillow cases, and Noelle had to try it out.

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Connor with his creation he built from Noelle's new toy called "Superstructs pinklets."

Noelle turns 2 years old!

I can't believe it's already been 2 years since Noelle was born. She is such a delight in our lives. She went for her check up yesterday and in addition to a perfect health report, her doctor raved about her verbal skills. She is quite a talker. She weighed in at 28 pounds, and was 35.5 inches long - right around 75th percentiles for both height and weight.

Brain cell totally looks like the universe

Amazing.

Voting was beautiful

I had the nicest time voting this morning. When Noelle & I showed up to our voting location, there was a very small line out the door. So, we stood in the cheery morning sunlight and were completely blessed with the most beautiful fall colors. Oh, the trees right now are brilliant shades of yellow, orange & red, and these beautiful woods surrounded the parking lot. I wished that we could have stayed outside longer than the 5 minutes it took us to make it inside.

Noelle was so good, staying right with me. Behind us in line was a nice retired couple, and the lady was wearing a pretty fall sweater that had a little pumpkin hanging from the zipper. Oh how Noelle loved that little pumpkin.

Since I waited until late morning to vote, most people who voted with me were retired, stay-at-home moms, or disabled. The volunteers were delightful. I was so happy, not only to be living in our country where I have the right to vote, but to be living way out here in the "country" where there are such nice people. Everyone was so nice & friendly, I almost was sad that I was there only a short amount of time.

Happy Halloween 2008!

Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween. This year Noelle wore Connor's old giraffe costume (which I think came from my sister-in-law Chrissy - thank you!), and Connor was Spiderman. April came over to go trick-or-treating with us. My mom brought a good book, so she stayed in our house, read, and gave out candy to the trick-or-treaters while Lance & I took the kids around the neighborhood.

We tried to get a picture, and while we took several, here are a couple that give you an idea what they all look like. This is the first one, where Noelle is not in the mood for a picture, and Connor wants to be a pumpkin-head. And then the next one I like to call "everyone cut your eyes to one side or another."

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Lance took our kids to a Trunk-Or-Treat thing at a little church right around the corner from us. They had a bounce house there that Connor & Noelle enjoyed (as you can see from the little 3-second video below).