10 years of Thanksgiving

Every year in college, my group of friends would get together and celebrate Thanksgiving and actually have a decent home cooked meal during the year! :) Thanks to EC, we have tried to continue this tradition. It is hard to believe it has been going on for 10 years. Although not everyone from the group can attend each year, we have added several spouses and kiddos to the mix. My, how times have changed. I realized I didn't do so well with pictures at this years gathering. I have also realized I take way too many pictures of the little ones and not enough of the adults. I will have to work on that.

Here is how our Saturday started off. LAZY LAZY!



Little Miss Thing giving her fake "Cheese" smile before heading out to the festivities.


Come to find out, poor thing was running a really high fever. Mommy didn't know what to do, as she has never had a high one before. I thought it was just teething, but when I got home and found out it was 103.6 I about died! Poor baby.

Although she was not feeling well, she still managed to put on a smile. Even Erin said she must be really sick because Lila let Erin hold her like a baby for several minutes. That just doesn't happen!

Here is Graham at his 1st Friend Thanksgiving. Lila wore this shirt last year at 5 months. Here is Graham at 6 weeks in the same one. :)

One of the only "adult" pictures that I took is of Amy holding Graham for the first time.


We are blessed to have such a great group of friends. I am more and more thankful each year. This group has seen each other through highs and lows, marriages, and babies. And although we may go weeks, months, and sometimes years without getting together, when we do it is like nothing has changed. Happy Thanksgiving Month!

That is the Question(s)

To cut or not cut "the mullet"....that is the Question?



I figured a picture of her riding on the John Deere was appropriate.:)

To get a fairy cleaning lady or not? That is the question. I totally struggle with this one. Just when I think I can do it all myself, I have a week like this one. If you know of anyone good..PLEASE let me know.

My Baby is not a baby anymore!

Actually, she is. She will always be my baby. Lately, she has wanted to be the smallest baby in the house though.

First Smiles

Although, I am pretty sure I saw Graham's first for real smile on Saturday night, Nov. 8th while we were getting ready for bed in Asheville, here are a few I caught on camera today. SO SWEET!! I love him!

Shoes and...

HATS!! Yes, in addition to shoes, hats are Lila's other love. She really wants Graham to wear them as well, as noted in the picture below. Poor Graham!

You're Gonna Miss This

So tonight I am upstairs attempting to get some work done. Michael is downstairs holding Graham watching the CMA's. He yells for me to come down because he has something he wants me to see. He turns on the program for me to hear Trace Adkins sing, "You're gonna miss this." We both just look at each other, and then at Graham and tears swell up in our eyes. There isn't a time that goes by whenever I am out with the babies that someone doesn't stop to tell me how "they just grow up way too fast" and that their baby is now 18, 25, 30, etc. Tonight as I watched Lila twirl around the living room dancing and Graham lying in his daddy's arms, I thought to myself, "I don't want to ever forget this. I want to always remember how they are right now."
Sadly enough, I am afraid that I will forget... and I am gonna miss this.

The Mountains, Good Tunes, Young Love...

if only we still had the jeep! Michael and I packed up and took the kids to the place we fell in love. (Technically, he told me he loved me outside of The Crack (CrackerBarrell) in Cocke County.) Hey, that was the only place to meet halfway between Knoxville and Asheville.
Anyway, back on track...we called up some great friends and asked if we could come visit and crash with them in Asheville. It was absolutely Gorgeous! Ryan laughed at me about how many times I could say the word "pretty" in one sentence.
But seriously...pretty doesn't even begin to describe this:

And this is the view from the exact spot I remember thinking that I could marry Michael. Maybe I was just caught up in the scenery...HAHA, just kidding!


We had a great time and really miss our grand ole' friends there! Here are a few pictures from the trip.
By the way...Lila was the best she has ever been in a long car ride. We tried a DVD for the first time the last hour of the trip. She loved it. However, now she points to the screen and asks for Elmo everytime we get in the car. :)
Graham, of course, was sacked out the whole time!

Lila had the best time playing with the boys. Camden and Lukas were so fun! Poor Camden couldn't get away from Lila. She just wanted a kiss! She even chased Lukas around the house for one, but no luck there either. She did however get to take a bath with 2 boys!! SSHH...don't tell!






Graham just got to be loved on the whole time.

And the answer is NO...he is not available.

Neither is she! They are married to each other. :)

Lila also became big buds with Kris or "Kissy" as Lila called her. We had a great time visiting with the newlywed "Florida Fans." Kris got her a book titled Lila Bloom, so she thought it was appropriate for Miss Lila Rose. It has now become one of Lila's favorite books. Thanks Kris and Adam!



Watching my boys and baby girl like this in all of God's Glory made the whole trip for me. I was in heaven!




AAAHH...Good Times! Oh, and Congratulations to Nate and Shannon on their new baby girl! What wonderful parents we know they will be. We cannot wait to get all the kids together! We Miss you Asheville.