8 is GREAT!!!

I don't know how it happened but, my baby girl turned into an 8 year old crazy girlie...

This little red head is such a smart, sassy, funny, sweet, and good girl... Emree looked like the birthday girl in this skirt that screams PARTAY!...



She has such a fun day and was able to do whatever she wanted...So she decided that she wanted to take some of her friends to the movies and to the ice cream shop....

They had such a great time and loved the movie...They became totally wired on all the treats...

Then it was off to the ice cream shop....

She had, according to her, "the best birthday ever"...

*Sweet squirrel girl*...
That evening we sang her happy birthday with the family...
My Mom and Dad and my Mom's parents, Mama and Papa, came over to celebrate...
I think this is a special picture of her with her great-grandparents on her birthday....

Emree we love you and hope you had a fun day that you'll always remember! 8 is such a *special* year!!!!

Christmas Partaaays

So the kids had such a fantastic time at their Christmas parties on the last day before break...

Emree was a penguin in her play that the whole Second Grade participated in...She had been talking about this play non-stop since going back to school from Thanksgiving. I was kinda happy it would be over so that I wouldn't have to hear about Wyatt C. anymore and how Reese couldn't remember his lines and so-on and so-on...
Emree with her teacher... Her teacher was practically begging parents to sign them out early and I was happy to oblige. I'm sure she was happy the play was over too...

They made us cute gifts...Emree was so happy to give me a gift that she made...she knows I treasure those...
Rett had the best time at his party. And it made me want to be in his Pre-K class...

He had chocolate all over his face, a sure sign of a good party...

They danced and danced and danced...some kids were really taking it seriously...little Lizzie is hard core when it comes to dancing...She had me tearing up I was laughing so hard... I don't know how their teacher doesn't just die laughing everyday!...

Oh wait, this is why she isn't laughing at them, she's laughing with them...LOOK at her dancing in her longjohns!!! She is hilarious!!!...

It is a proud moment as a parent to see your child doing air guitar!...All he needs is a mullet wig and he's set!...
They had so much fun! But we were so happy to get our break started!

Addicted

Aleksi stayed with us quite a bit this December. We decided to put her newly aquired Annual Pass to work and went to Disney TONS when she was here... We went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot and had a blast...

On Rye's birthday we went to Animal Kingdom...

She is so much fun to have around and the kids love her! And for me it's my adult equivalent of having a slumber party day in and day out...Our conversations are embarrassingly shallow and consist of what kind of work Audrina is having done and how we should pluck our eyebrows...I love it!...

We went to Hollywood Studios for FHE and saw 5 million Christmas lights on display...It really made us feel "Christmassy"...

Yay! Christmas!!...

They had snow falling from the buildings onto the street and great Christmas music playing...The kids couldn't believe it was "snowing"!...

Aleksi even got in on the action...Can't wait to do it next year!

Cousins!!

We went up to Gainesville this past weekend to see the new addition to the family! Evan and Eowyn had sweet little Louis on Friday and we couldn't wait to meet him...He is adorable and needless to say I was in absolute heaven holding him!...

The cousins had a blast staying up late and playing together...Edesse and Brynn are Eric and Karen's two precious little girls and, seriously, they are two of the cutest kids I have ever seen!...

It was Rye's 3rd birthday on Saturday so we sang him "Happy Birthday"...

All the grandkids together...My parents treasure each and everyone of them...And the kids just think the world of them.

From oldest to youngest...Emree 8, Edesse 5, Rett 5, Rye 3, Brynn 2, Louis 2 days....

Brynn and Rye had fun hanging out and "talking" to each other...we don't know what they were saying but it went on for quite awhile....

Rett had fun playing Spore Creature Creator...which is now on his list for Santa...

Emree and Edesse had their own personal photo shoot with Nana...They are so much alike. They love being together, but sometimes that can mean trouble...

And of course we can't have a family get together now without my parents dog, Ami...She's such a good girl and lets the grandkids manhandle her...poor thing!...
It was such a nice treat to see them all before Christmas...This makes three grandkids birthdays in December....Let's try a different month next time, okay guys!!

2008 Christmas Picture

I know you've probably already received a card or seen it on FaceBook, but here it is again...



Wishing you all the gifts of the Christmas Season...Love, Health, and Happiness.

These are our outtakes...very similar to the winner, but with more legs...

Everyone happened to be in good moods this year! That is AMAZING!!! I'm sure it is the same for you...taking a family picture is pretty stressful...I think we lucked out this year because there were a few times that I thought it was going to turn sour...

Tried to mix it up with a different background...

Rye is giving his cRaZy smile...

It got dark really fast, but now I know for next year the potential of this locale...

Hooray! Another year in the bag...or in the mail!!!