Christmas

We celebrated with my mom and brothers on December 21st. We exchanged gifts and had a family brunch. It was wonderful to spend time with them again. Thompson loves his Uncles and T-Lo. My dad came down in January and we celebrated with him.

 Then, Mary Beth and Damon came into town on December 22nd and we took the boys to see Santa Claus and then out for dinner. They spent the night and then Wade and Gayle drove up on Sunday. MB, Damon and William and I went to see Cirque Du Soleil as our gift from Wade and Gayle. It was a wonderful show and a fun memory. Sunday night, Gayle cooked Christmas dinner and we ate at our table and used my china. It made "hosting" Christmas very easy since she did the great cooking!

 Monday, was Christmas Eve and William finally was able to take the day off. We spent time together in the morning and then went to Church. After Church, my extended family got together at Lacey's for Christmas Eve dinner. My extended family is very special and they each bring their own unique qualities and special traits to our group.

Tuesday, Christmas morning we woke up with the boys and opened presents. We had coffee cake and sang happy birthday, Jesus! The boys each received 3 presents like the Wiseman brought for Jesus. For right now, that’s what we are using. I read about this idea somewhere and we liked it! Santa brings one present and stockings and we give them the two other presents.

Tuesday, night we went out with T-Lo, Hop pop and the Dyer family for a Christmas dinner. It was a wonderful Christmas.

 

 Crying because I wanted him to take a picture and wait to open the stocking...I can't really blame him. :)

Laura

Aunt Laura went to be with the Lord on December 15th. My sons were blessed to have their GREAT Aunt Laura! Thompson just loved her as did the rest of our family. My boys are also blessed to have their Great Uncle Richard and our cousins Ben and William.   "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." Proverbs 31:26 ESV

In November,  Laura asked me to join her and Richard to the aquarium. I was so excited to spend some time with her and Richard and for our boys to get to go also! We will cherish this day always.

7 years...no itch! :)

After Thomas and Jessie's wedding, we stayed in Charleston by ourselves to celebrate our 7 year anniversary. Kristi and Jay took the boys with them to Charlotte and we met them on the drive back to Atlanta. They were so sweet to spend time with them. The boys made a lot of memories with their god cousins. :)

In the morning, we slept in (8:30am) and then enjoyed walking around the market and purchased a couple of prints for our home. Then, we ate brunch at HUSK and shopped on King Street.  It was fun to celebrate in the city we met and married in. We are blessed to have eachother and be able to raise two wonderful boys. William, I love you! Thank you for asking me to be your wife.

Henry/Isaac Wedding

My brother, Thomas and now sister, Jessie got married on Thanksgiving weekend in Charleston. It has been so fun watching their relationship blossom over the last 5 years. The wedding was planned by my child-hood friend, Hannah Alexander and to say she is amazingly talented is an understatement. The wedding was stunning and perfect and it was so fun to be a part of it.

We arrived on Wednesday and stayed at the Ansonborough Inn. This was the first time we have ever stayed in a hotel with all four of us. My grandparents gave put us up in a suite so that it would be easier for us. Thank you so very much for that. :)

We hired a nanny from a sitting service for 3 nights and it went perfect. We went out to eat Wednesday night with the family! Then Thanksgiving night we had the rehearsal dinner at the Peninsula Grill for a thanksgiving feast. The toasts and slide shows were fantastic! It was a fun evening celebrating a wonderful couple. We received our gifts from Jessie that night. She purchased Annie (Maid of honor) and I (matron of honor) Tori Burch shoes!!!

 On Friday, the bridesmaids had to be at Lowndes Grove by 10am for hair, makeup and to get ready. The site was perfect and the day went off without a hitch! We had photos before the wedding which makes it so much easier. The ceremony was touching and sweet. After the wedding the celebration began with appetizers, cocktails and s’mores by the water! Then, we had a delicious dinner and out of this world band and dancing!!! It goes down as one of the best weddings!

Rehersal dinner:

  Opening the portrait McCord, Will and I had framed of Lowndes Grove (their wedding location)

Monk/Knauss Wedding

Mary Beth married Damon in a family ceremony on the Monk farm in Sylvester on November 10th.  It was a wonderful time. William and I were honored to be a part of their Day. You can read more about her wedding.

Pumpkin Patch

The boys and I picked out our pumpkins at Thompson's school. The boys had lots of fun looking at the pumpkins and deciding which ones to get. This year we purchased 4 pumpkins one for each member of our family! Thompson  likes to go out on the front steps and talk about the  Daddy pumpkin and Mommy pumpkin and Thompson pumpkin and Jonathan (He says Jon-a-fin) pumpkin.

September-Thompson is 4

Thompson is 4! Where has the time gone??!! I'm really looking forward to this year. He has conversations all the time! Asking one million questions! I just enjoy how much he loves learning and being with people he loves. He gives amazing hugs! He is still his Dad's #1 fan! He is enjoying his preschool! He runs into his class every morning. Thompson is funny and truly kind to his brother! He enjoys playing outside. He loves cars and trucks! He is really into Spiderman and batman.

We gave him a superhero party at Thompson Park. He had a great time playing with Friends. We went to his school party and it was fun to see him in action. We made cookies they were the break and bake kind. They had Happy Birthday theme on each cookie. Thompson helped me bake them and you would have thought I spent hours on those cookies. He talked about them for days and told his teachers he and his mom baked cookies! It was really sweet.

Thompson, we love you and we pray that God uses you in a mighty way. That you grow up to love Jesus and others and be a Leader. We are so blessed to be your parents!

Destin trips in August

We spent time at the Monk Farm. We all love it there! It is a special place for the Monk family! A place that is lovely and peaceful! We had a great visit with Grandma and Granddaddy! We love them so much!

August had two trips to Destin. We were able to go just the four of us early in August and then we went again sans William who had navy Duty. We met up with Thomas, Jessie, TLO, Kristi, Gdaddy, Sadie and Lilly! We had a wonderful time on both trips! It is a great tradition that we spent our 3^rd year in a row with the Cascios and even more special to have TLO, Thomas and Jessie there too! We love y'all!

 Thompson and Daddy (in the background) loved riding the raves

 

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