Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 Recap....

We have never hosted a Thanksgiving dinner before and let me say it is a little bit stressful. I will forever appreciate the work that goes into preparing for the big day. Our day started out with my obsession that EVERYTHING MUST BE CLEAN!!!!

I had to pull out my inner Drill Sargent......

mixed with a little bit of my inner Mary Poppins......

Dave and the kids were a huge help and everything got done!!! YAY!!!

We had our friends the Barringtons come over along with Dave's cousin and her husband. We had a pretty good spread of yummy food. I was highly impressed with the way things turned out except for this little number...............

What the #@*&!! is this you say....... Well ... It is a fried turkey. Yep fried as in FRIED!!!! Those of you who know my husband and his cooking of meat know that he has a phobia of serving it undercooked. He is afraid that we will all end up with some sort of food related bacterial infection if he does not thoroughly cook it.

I was thinking we would cut it open and all we would hear is "poof" and all that would be left inside this little number would be bones. Luckily I was wrong and there was some meat left - VERY WELL DONE!!!

Thank heavens we had another baked turkey to serve along side this beauty.

This is Patrick. Porters new found best buddy. In fact, Porter was ready to pack his bags and move into the Barrington house because Patrick offered him these things...

1. $100 a day allowance

2. No rules

3. Pepsi on your cereal is allowed

4. Play outside all day

and on it goes.....

But I'm pretty sure that these little sweeties would not appreciate a new brother hyped up on Pepsi.

This is Amelia

This is Rachel
I sure love these boys of mine.

I have been very blessed to be their mother.

I am so thankful for them and my cute husband.

Oh Porter..... the new and upcoming photographer...... I went to upload my pictures and found some wonderful works of art........... Here is one of my favorite photos

Strategically placed???

__________________________________

Then we have the photos that I took of him at his request. I did not pose him. This is all Porter. :)

Hmmmmm.......................

I took this one just because they are cute. I came downstairs to find this adorable sight. I had to throw it in here.

Remembering The True Meaning Of Christmas

As my kids get older I am finding it more and more important to impress upon them the true meaning of Christmas. This year I decided to order this picture of Christ and put it by the tree as a constant reminder of why we really celebrate Christmas. Of course I want Christmas to be full of fun and magic but I also want them to feel the importance of remembering our Savior. I would love to hear any ideas or traditions you have in your families that help to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

So here is the finished Christmas Tree! I had a hard time getting a good picture but you can get the general idea. I love waking up and turning on the lights - it makes my day!!!!

A Quiet Place

Today I walked in the kitchen to hear some crazy noises coming from the cupboard. I opened it up to find Porter quietly playing his Leapster game system. I asked him what he was doing in the cupboard to which he replied, "I need some peace and quiet."

If only I could squish myself in there!

Time for a little Christmas Cheer

There is nothing that brings more instant joy than looking at a lighted Christmas Tree. I don't know what it is but it just makes me happy. So we decided that we would bring on the happiness a little early this year. Only 43 days until Christmas!

I think Dave was happy he did not have to put the entire tree up all by himself. He had some very happy helpers.
Porter very carefully placed each ornament side by side in one big clump. He kept saying, "This is the bestest Christmas Tree ever!"

We ran out of hooks for our new ornaments so a picture of the finished product will be coming soon!!!! I love Christmas!!!

Colton

I really went back and forth as to if I should publish this post. I am not a big fan of bragging and I was worried that this may sound a little braggish. But I've decided that we are really proud of Colton and some of the choices that he has made and most of the people who read my blog love Colton too and would be proud of him right along side of us.

We received a letter in the mail with an invitation for Colton to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C.

The first paragraph in the letter addressed to us said, "I am thrilled to inform you that, based on his academic achievements and leadership potential, your son, Colton, has been nominated to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference to be held in the spring 2010 in Washington, D.C. Colton was nominated by his teacher, Mrs. Lakeisha Valentine, who recognized him as one of a select group of students with the scholastic merit, maturity and strength of character to represent Ft. Rucker Elementary School at this unique leadership program for exceptional students. On behalf of the members of the United States Congress who serve our Honorary Congressional Board of Advisors, I congratulate you on Colton's achievements. You must be very proud."

We are so proud of Colton and this recognition he has received for all of his hard work. We've always been proud of Colton and the way that he tries so hard to do what is right not only in his school work but with friends. He is always looking out for the under dog and to be honest it is that attribute that I am most proud of him for.

We let Colton read the letter addressed to him and his face was beaming. I tried to catch a little bit of it in pictures but it is impossible to capture a moment like that in a picture. He was almost in tears because he could not believe that this was for him. Every kid could use a letter like this to boost their self esteem.

We are so proud of you Colton

Annual Chili Cook Off

Today was the annual Fort Rucker Chili Cook off. They had all the aircraft parked on the field so the boys were able to climb inside all of the helicopters which made them soooooo happy. I love watching their eyes light up with excitement and it is kind of fun to watch Dave's light up as well.

Proudly standing in front of the ApachePorter was so funny - he jumped right into the helicopter and looked at the man supervising

and said, "How do I get this thing started?"
Gotta check out the guns
Taking a back seat in the Black Hawk
Probably the best part of the day for Porter was getting his very own red balloon.

I was thinking today of how much I love being with my cute family. Dave and I love being around our kids and are so grateful that they still love to do things as a family too. I hope that never changes.

Halloween

Sadly this was about the only picture that I got of the boys this Halloween. We took this picture on the way to the Trunk or Treat Friday night. I love this picture because I intended on taking a picture of Porter who fell asleep BEFORE all the fun and I was lucky enough to capture a little phantom in the back. YIKES!!!! He looks pretty scary in this picture. When we got to the Trunk or Treat my cameras batteries were dead. So this ended our Halloween pictures. :( Oh well.... The boys had so much fun.

Colton is twelve this year and our family rule is no trick or treating after you are twelve. I thought he would be upset this year but he wasn't. He spent his time helping the young men at a booth for the kids and he loved it. He is such a great kid.