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"