December moments....

We are SO grateful for all the memories and moments of the season. God has TRULY been faithful to us all year round, and I can honestly say, that during this Christmas season, we have been reminded of it time and again. These pictures, taken during the last few weeks, are just reminders of how blessed we truly are...Bruce sharing the Christmas story with Abigail and ten of her friends at our Happy Birthday Jesus party on December 23...
..some of the children playing "Freeze Frame" during our Happy Birthday Jesus party (where the kids do silly motions as long as the Christmas music plays but they must freeze as soon as the music stops, no matter what position they are in)...
...me in our new 2010 Toyota Camry..a true answer to prayer when our van's repair bill exceeded its value a couple of weeks ago (I'll do a post on that another time)....
...Abigail and me at church on Sunday after our musical, just outside the Heritage Room....our decorating committee is SO talented and did a wonderful job on the tree....
....Abigail and her buddy, JAM, at the same location....
...Abigail with a gift from Kim, her sitter, who is a true blessing to our family...she is a very mature and responsible young lady..who loves and cares for Abigail when we need to be away or just want a date night....
..another car picture.....we HIGHLY recommend Bill Penney Toyota here in town....they have been SO so nice and Tommy Terrell our salesman is also a joy to work with even if he is a Tennessee fan.....
..Abigail has such a pretty smile..and Bruce and I are so grateful for such a precious daughter....

..friends..ten of them (plus Abigail) celebrated Jesus's birthday with us....we are so grateful that she has good friends at church, at school and in the neighborhood as well....having good and Godly friends is so important!!

I have to laugh.....

I really do consider myself much more of a 'dog' person, but this little guy has truly stolen our hearts!!! He does some of the funniest things and truly keeps us on our toes. Midnight is a sweet cat, and while he tends to want his own space and really does not care if he pleases us or not (which is SOOOOOO unlike our dogs who wish to be right in the middle of things and they truly like to make us happy), we love him all the same.

These photos were taken over the last couple of weeks...with Midnight finding interesting ways to entertain himself....and us just laughing at his antics!!

..Midnight visiting my Creative Memories Open House.....looking thru and eating some of the papers......
..Midnight stretching out in one of the boxes as we were trying to decorate the tree.....
...Midnight found my apron hanging up and decided to play with the strings...this kept him busy for a while.....
...Midnight became very attached to my favorite duster....began carrying it around...the fighting with it...I think he's decided this is his special friend....he loves it. I guess I may have to buy him a clean one for Christmas ????

..Midnight starting to chase his tail in the Christmas decoration box....so funny!

Grammy's birthday

On Sunday, November 1, 2009 we had the pleasure of celebrating Grammy's (Dolores Aquila's) 73rd birthday with her. She is such a vibrant and youthful woman...who loves her Lord, her family and her friends! With the exception of her second child and his family (who live in Texas) the rest of the children and grandchildren were present for the special lunch at Connor's. This is one of her favorite places to eat...and I have to say, they do know how to make a special day truly special there.

..Grammy opening a card..
...one of Grammy's gifts.....
..special homemade pumpkin ice cream....Connor's special treat to the birthday girl.....
<..but GRAMMY wanted a whole serving of strawberry shortcake.....her own piece and would not share with Mary...so she ordered her own...ate it ALL and then finished Mary's as well. As you can see, the portion size is quite ample. We have STILL not let her live this down !!

...just a little late.....

I finally dumped all the photos from my camera onto the computer and realized I never posted Abigail's pictures from the fall carnivals at her school and our church...I am just a little late :)Abigail at the church carnival with two of her best friends....spider girl and gangster.....
...Gangster and Abigail....
...Abigail just before we left for her school carnival...

We were so tickled to find this Twister costume at Walmart. It was so unique, and though 'mass produced' we did not see anyone else wearing it. She won best overall costume at her school costume contest :) She enjoyed wearing it three times...for her school party on the 30th, trunk or treating at her school on October 31, then wearing it at our church carnival on November 1.

Botanical Garden Walk Thru

On November 13, we had the opportunity to visit the local botanical gardens for a walk thru of the Christmas lights. Abigail enjoyed doing this with a special friend! The drive thru will be fun too...and we plan to do that twice in December. While walking we even met up with some of Abigail's classmates, and you'll see them pictured below as well. We always enjoy looking for the newest lights/displays...it's a game to spot what was added since last year :)...this is our FAVORITE display...the real meaning of Christmas....
...Abigail with her peace sign face painting.....
..and "J" with her Christmas tree....The girls got these done as we started the walk thru.
..the girls trying to decide who was on Santa's nasty and nice list....
....from left to right....."L", "S" (Abigail's classmates), Abigail and "J"

Thanksgiving 2009...

Each year, our Thanksgiving is a bit different. We never know who will be with us..some years a lot of family can come; some years, not quite as much.....some years, a special guest....some friends....some years just family. This year we had 12 people in all, a rather good sized group for us. The food was probably the best I remember ever having....and the company was awesome. We are truly blessed as a family, a church, a country, and a community..me with our special guest, Mrs. Teresa...
...Maddie, Abigail, Grammy and Ben in the kitchen after the feast......
....Abigail with Granny and Granddaddy just before they headed back to Georgia......
...Vince, Mary, "Mom" and Bruce...three of the four Aquila kids.....
..our little family...not sure why I was distracted.....
...the bread and deviled eggs..Mom's homemade rolls (on the back row) were a HIT.....
..the turkey before it was carved....he looks a little pale, but was more brown in real life....
..the turkey once he was sliced.....

..the dressing....it turned out really good this time.....

Scarecrow Trail

Over fall break, Bruce, Abigail, Abigail's friend "J" and I all went to the scarecrow trail at the local botanical gardens followed by a yummy meal at the Olive Garden. This was the day after a 'slumber party' which we always seem to work in over a school break since "J" is in a traditional school setting.

The girls (as well as the grown ups) had a blast seeing the creative 'crows' and also visiting the butterfly house during the trip. These are just a few of the scarecrows we saw.

It's hard to believe we'll be returning in a week to see the Christmas light members only 'walk thru.' BOY, does time fly!!...walk like an 'Egyptian'.....
.....for some reason the girls walked around talking with very southern accents all day, so the 'southern belle' was their favorite scarecrow......
...not quite sure...is he juggling?????
..hmmmmm....

..they thought the hippies were funny.....this was THEIR hippy pose....

Beach time.....

At the beginning of October, we were able to go to Orange Beach, Alabama for a few days for a wedding, but also for a mini vacation. We have already decided to plan for another trip there next year around fall break time, if at all possible.

Because the wedding was associated with someone from our church, there were others from our church there, including a family which includes one of Abigail's buddies. So, she enjoyed playing with her buddy some while there. We enjoyed the condo stay...just having some extra space and the kitchen well stocked was wonderful and unexpected (we have never stayed in a condo before.)...me after getting up from being knocked over by a wave....swimwsuit/coverup and all...we all thought it was funny :)
...taken after dinner at the first place we ate....it was a great place to eat.....
....Abigail 'netting' for shells.....she collected a lot which we have displayed in a neat glass vase in one of our bathrooms at home.....
..riding on the luggage cart....she always has to do this....
...Abigail and her buddy MacKenzie on the beach just before the wedding started....
..the living room of our condo.....
...Bruce in front of our condo...the Phoenix V...
....Bruce and Abigail on the beach just after sunset...
...our family at the wedding.....

...Abigail on the beach our last morning there...she had been shell hunting one last time :)