First Haircut in the US

Sydney got her first real haircut yesterday and hated every minute of
it!! She cried eventhough she was sitting on my lap. Of course that
meant I got hair all over me! She finally stopped crying but then
ignored everyone because she was mad. A trip to Baskin Robbins next
door fixed everything, though.

1st Grade Thanksgiving Feast

The 1st graders had a Thanksgiving Feast complete with little turkeys. Don't these girls make cute little pilgrims?

Sweet Child

Sydney has been such a blessing to our family. In nearly 5 months, we have moved from being strangers whom she would barely tolerate to being the family she loves to see. She can be quite an affectionate girl. She lights up and starts laughing when we pick her up from daycare, she runs to us when we return home, and she even runs across the yard when she sees Uncle Bob outside. She loves to raise up her arms so he'll pick her up and give him a big hug. She has a warm, loving personality and simply adores her big sister! We are so thankful for this special little girl who has been through more than we'll ever know.

Evan's Fake Birthday

Evan's birthday is November 26th, so it sometimes falls on Thanskgiving - but it ALWAYS falls around Thanksgiving! Her friends are usually gone for her party. The last few years we have started throwing her friend party a few weeks before the actual day. This has turned out to work perfectly. She decided she wanted to have a sleepover with pizza, decorating cupcakes, dancing - and lots of it, playing Barbie's and watching movies. Evan had such a great time and loved being with her friends.

A Champion

Evan has been taking gymnastics for several years now and loves it. She's really pretty good at it and always keeps her toes pointed. I used to dread the thought of her competing and traveling on the weekends. But now I think it would be a lot of fun. She might decide to compete as early as next year.

More Competition

Evan's 1st Mock Competition

The gymnastics competetive season is about to begin, so Evan's gym had a mock competition to help the team get ready. Evan's pre-team group was invited so the girls could see if this would be something they would like to do. Evan did a great job. I thought she would be shy and refuse to perform. Not so...she did a great job concentrating.

Mommy's Little Biker Babe

Sydney's Thanksgiving Program

"Who are all these people, Brody?"

Shake your tail feathers!

Sydney's debut as a turkey was awesome! I just knew she would shut down as soon as she saw the audience, but she was too busy taking it all in. I thought about hiding so she wouldn't see me and make a run for me. She stayed on stage, though, and smiled, jumped around and fell (I think. You'll see her disappear for a second in the video). Afterwards was a Sharing Feast, so we sat with Bruiser Brody and his parents. Sydney and Brody did NOT want to take off their feathers. They were so cute! They also didn't want to eat because of all of the excitement around them.

Mike's 2nd Bagpipe Competition

Mike placed second in his division in his second competition. Look at his sporran (the pouch that looks like a fanny pack)! I bought that for him for Christmas last year. I love it!

Julie & Melissa's 2nd Annual Witch Party

Double Double toil and trouble! We witches flew in from all over and had a cackle or two! We had several kinds of soup, appetizers and sweets. We then had a Black Cat gift exchange that was so much fun! I got an awesome purple spider votive holder.

Dancin' the School Day Away

They've got quite the moves!!

Let's Twist!

Oh, Elvis! We love you!

Evan and her boyfriend(?) Cade

Some of the decorations included 33s. It was so funny to see that these children had idea what they were!

50s Day

Evan with Mrs. Reger and Riley

For the 50th day of school, the first graders got to celebrate with a 50s sock hop and coke floats. I love watching Evan in social situations because she is so outgoing and confident. She absolutely loves to dance and likes to involve those who are not as sure of themselves.

The Gigantic Ball

Sydney, Brody & Emma

Silly Girls!

Evan and BFF Kassidy

We were supposed to have cool, beautiful weather, but the unpredictable Louisiana weather worked against us. It was quite warm if you were running around having a blast. As long as we adults were in the shade, it wasn't too bad. Inside the ball proved to be quite steamy!

More Halloween Fun

Everyone always loves the rollercoaster, and the new attraction is proving to be fun, too. Both are compliments of Uncle Keri and Aunt Jamie!