Snow many memories

Who would believe that we would have a white Christmas? While driving to Gran & Papa's we hit the snow about 30 min into our drive...since the weathermen were predicting more for our house than Gran & PaPa's we didn't pack our snow clothes! Well that was a big mistake! We celebrated Christmas with a great dinner & then exchanged some gifts. While opening our presents it really started to come down! The evening was complete with sledding in our pajamas! It was so much fun & after a good night's sleep the kids were ready to take on the hill in the park!

We headed home after our sledding adventures! The snow was much wetter at home so playing outside was limited! They did take a few spins on the tire swing! Bailey & George were excited to play in the snow as well!

Happy Birthday Jesus

Away in a manger... one of my favorite Christmas songs...so this year we spent Christmas Eve in a barn! Complete with cows & carols. What a memorable way to celebrate Jesus' Birthday. The kids were talking about how noisy it was with the cows in the barn... just to think about what it must have been like in Bethlehem. So thankful we did this but we did miss our traditional love feast at our church. We even ran into one of the kids teachers!

This was the year of the Paul Frank pajamas. It has been a family tradition to get new pj's on Christmas eve & this year Caden asked if instead of special Christmas ones we could have some that he saw at Target. So I guess you could say we just monkeyed around on Christmas morning. The kids put out milk & cookies for Santa and he left them each 3 gifts. Caden got a sole skate, rc helicopter, and a monkey pillow pet. Alli received a sewing machine, password journal and a dog pillow pet. After checking out Santa...YaYa, Granddaddy, Aunt Debbie & Uncle Jay all joined us for breakfast & we opened some presents. This year the kids made picture frames for all of the family! After sharing our gifts we hit the road to head to Gran & PaPa's.

Biltmore Girls Getaway

To celebrate my Aunt's 60th birthday we had a girl's trip to the Biltmore. Alli and I headed up on Friday and stopped in Asheville before meeting the rest of the girls. She wanted Mellow Mushroom for lunch & then we walked around downtown. That night we toured the Candlelight Tour & then had dinner at Cedrick's Tavern. On Saturday we went to the Grove Park Inn to see the Gingerbread displays & taste the gingerbread. We had planned on spending the entire day in Asheville but with bad weather expected back home we hit the road early. What a fun time with my Aunts & cousins!

Aaahh the Boardwalk at Sea

In early December our family set sail on the largest ship on the ocean with YaYa, Granddaddy & lots of characters from our favorite Dreamworks films. The ship was amazing and so many things to do we couldn't do them all! Our rooms were overlooking the boardwalk on the ship and this was a perfect location to relax & even take in a show at the aqua theater! Andy & Caden loved the manly cupcakes from the on board shop! The were cinnamon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting & bacon! We had lobster on the beach in Labadee & played in the ocean. Caden bought a gecko to add to his collection at the market. In Costa Maya Alli found a nativity scene for her souviner. Our last stop was in Cozumel. We all went swimming with the dolphins. Granddaddy went along and took photos for us! While we were on the ship...zip line, parades, ocean adventure, putt putt, swimming, flow rider, Chicago, carousel, aqua theater, ice shows, cupcakes, lobster night, photos, breakfast in central park, Coach, Making Memories we will never forget!

It's Great to be 8!

It is so hard to believe but our little Alli is 8 years old! She is growing up so fast and we are loving watching this little young lady grow! She is kind, thoughtful and always thinks of others! Alli loves to read & play outside on her bike. We started the celebration over Thanksgiving with a trip to Claire's. Yes, our little girl got her ears pierced. She was so brave & they really look adorable! She could hardly wait to come home and show off the new ears and then she opened some presents from the Abernethy crew.

On the night before her birthday, we went out to dinner with Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jay & YaYa to On the Border. Yummy Guacamole Live & Brownie Blast were great but nothing compared to her face when she opened our present! A little background, a few years ago we went to New York City and Alli got her first American Girl Doll. She loved Kit the funny thing is that Alli's hair grew & Kit's didn't! So for the past year and a half Alli has been saving her money to buy a new doll with long hair. She still has a way to go so Mom & Dad got her one for her birthday. She loved it! It was certainly a AG theme. YaYa & Granddaddy gave her an outfit for "Taylor" the new doll. Caden gave her a pink beanbag for her & Aunt Debbie & Uncle Jay gave her 'Sugar' the AG dog! The celebrations were not over...the big day was soon approaching.

Since her birthday was on a Wednesday we decided to squeeze a party in between school & church. But before the party she had a special breakfast fixed by her brother! , Cookies with all of her friends from school at lunch & then it was time to party... So thanks to the wonderful people at Michael's we hosted an American Girl Craft Party! Alli celebrated with her friends, made picture frames, friendship bracelets & each guest took home an ornament for their tree & some bath soaps! Aunt Ische even stopped by to see our Birthday girl & give her some AG books!

After the party we went to church. Alli was so excited for Mr. Neal to sing Happy Birthday to her. However, after he did she told him it was a little pitchy...maybe she can be a judge on American Idol! She loved it Mr. Neal! Thank you to everyone for making her day so special!

Gobble till you Wobble!

And that is exactly what we did! We had a fun weekend with the family in town. There were 16 of us for the big dinner but really it was more of a weekend marathon of eating! Andy made two delicious turkeys on the Egg! Our turkey was complimented with lots of casseroles, dressing, blessing, and pecan & chocolate pies! The cousins (Caden, Alli, & Maddie) played together in the tents and the big cousins played xbox. Track & Field was by far the best spectator sport! Special thanks to our dear friends who let us use their "bed & breakfast" for our out of town family! And yes we (Susan, Luke & myself) did make it out on Black Friday...3:30am...! We didn't buy too many deals but we had fun...it's tradition!

Sip N See

We hosted a Sip N See for Baby Luke in early November. It was a great time for our friends to come and meet him & spend a little time with Susan & Maddie.