Our 2010 Christmas Card...

Our 2010 Christmas Card..... This year I wanted to share with everyone the children's weddings. Reid and I are blessed with so many friends that we try so hard to stay in contact with each and every one of them. Christmas, for us, is always a great time to catch up on events. I am amazed at how many photo cards and newsletters I get each year. I love to see how our friends children have grown and I love to read the events of their year.

I can highly recommend TinyPrints for your Christmas Cards. I have used them for the past few years and the quality is incredible! As you can tell, the front and back of the three panel card was used! I think this has to be one of my favorite cards that I have sent.

Just trying to figure out where I'm at....

Chase and Jackie at their new home in the middle of the City of Lawrenceville. I can see them walking for coffee in the mornings and walking to dinner at night!

How embrassing... the last post I made was on November the 5th!! Life has been extremely wild here in our household. My IVIG treatments have been moved to every three weeks, with a little extra med. each time. I am amazed at how fast three weeks comes up. We have also been dealing with a sick daddy. Dad, who plays golf a couple times a week, has totally been knocked off his feet for the last couple of months. He has been in and out of the hospital, staying in CCU for a week and a half. We are still trying to get him well. He will be having surgery on the 2nd of December.

Chase and Jackie have bought a wonderful new condo. They are the perfect couple for living in the city. You walk out onto their balcony and you see the courthouse tower clock and all the city lights from the restaurants. Almost across the street from them is a outdoor rooftop restaurant. It is so beautiful. I hope to do better in the coming weeks to keep you up on my goings......

Our Science Lab....

If you had ask me yesterday after Church if we would be able to have Halloween the way that we like to have, I would have said, "No Way can we pull this off". This past month has been so wild and hectic with my DAD being so sick and Halloween was the last thing on my mind. But with DAD coming home this past week things have been looking up for our family. After Church Sunday, the children showed up and the decorations came out. Jackie help me to finish 140 goody bags (not near enough for our 200+ trick or treaters), Whit made costumes for her daddy, JD and herself. Chase and Reid hung the decorations. JD and Whit carved the pumpkin. Finally, Jackie and Whit put the final decorating touches to the house! I was so proud of how everyone pulled together to keep our tradition alive. And I forgot.... I made two pots of soup and a pot of Velveeta cheese dip... My sister also made a pot of her wonderful chili. We have so many family members come to our home for trick or treating and they are one hungry bunch when they finish roaming the neighborhood! I have to say that Lakeshore Estates has to be the best place to trick or treat for families!!! It is a blessing to see our streets full of families on golf carts, hay rides and just walking around!


Reid roasting pumpkin seeds.....


Whit painted our Welcome sign.....

JD with two of our favorite trick or treaters!

Jackie and our goody bags.... We always try to put scripture with our theme!

One pot of soup finished!

Reid's Science project for the kids tonight!

Jackie and Chase!

Whit, Yvette, Betty and Taylor... My dear sweet neighbors!

The Girls!

JD and Whit..... smelling the brains and heart they will be sharing with the kids.

Reagan, my sweet niece with her magic wand.... She kept the pot going for us all night with her wand... Toooooo Sweeet!

Yvette and Chase!!! I love this boy!

Science project for the kids!

Artsy Girls Day and YES JD cut his hair.....

First of ALL............. YES, JD got a haircut!

Neither Whit or JD wanted it cut, but he needs a job and the interviews hopefully will be starting soon. I think that if the company he is hired for will allow him to have long hair. he will.

Do you like it longer???

Jackie's first day of playing in the Studio...... I think she did an incredible job!!!

The top of Jackie's pieces....

Whitney's day in the studio... She is giving this as a wedding gift to a very dear friend this weekend in Alabama!

Our day (Jackie, Whitney and I) in the art studio Saturday was so incredible. I was able to teach the girls a few new techniques, we bonded even more and we all went home with completed projects! The only problem we had was one young man and two even younger men checking in with us all the time (Reid, Chase and JD). These young men are so funny..... We just had to see that everything was going fine (and of course many stolen kisses were taken). It was a day that I consider a true blessing. I would have never imagined that having Jackie and JD in our family would be so awesome. How blessed I am......

Also.....

JD and Whit have started their new blog Jitney's Journeys!http://jitneysjourneys.blogspot.com/

It basically is about their daily walk with Christ and the journey He is taking them on.

They love to video, so get ready to smile and laugh a little!

'Bout time for Chatter, Chatter, Chatter....

Finally, I have been able to start creating again! One of my mother's friends gave me the project of creating blocks for her and five of her best friends from High school. I was given very small pictures of places they would hang out, their mascot, school sign, crest and pictures of each girl in High school. I was also given a group picture of the girls from last year. I call my blocks ChatterBlocks because I want them to tell a story about a place or person when people view them. It takes about a week to create a block. I have to make time for creating the block, preparing the block and finishing the block. There are hours of drying time needed to complete each block. But I enjoy the end result, hoping that the person receiving the block enjoys it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

The first group picture of my children since the weddings!!!

I can't believe how happy we are all!
Chase, Jackie, Whitney and JD!

Eating the best food ever.....

Our food on the Island of Barbados was ALWAYS Incredible! Each plate was presented to us as a piece of art. It is so true that the way the food is presented can make or break the dish!

My selection at the Wedding.... Lamb shanks! The plates, etc. are from Earthworks. A pottery on the Island that has incredible creations. Chase and Jackie gave everyone attending the wedding a wonderful gift that was handmade by the pottery. That post is coming up!

Reid's selection at the Wedding!

One of the best meals.... Mark (Jackie's uncle) treated us to a barbecue dinner. The barbecue hamburgers were so good. My brother-in-law, Danny, had to have his secret..... Plain old original Kraft barbecue sauce... So Good!

Most days I had "Catch of the Day".... I love fish and I was able to eat it every meal if I wanted.

Flying Fish... Oh my goodness!

Death by Chocolate~ Almonds Resort It was so good and chocolaty!!!

The only beef I had during the week... It was so good! Champers Restaurant!

SHRIMP!

The best coconut pie ever!!! Champers Restaurant ~ Barbados

Wedding in Barbados... Decorations!

I am finally home and I made it through the two weddings! It feels so wonderful having two new children in our family.... I love Jackie and JD so very much and I am so proud to have them as part of our crazy family. Speaking of crazy.... I have to tell you about going through customs at the airport. During our stay at Barbados I decided I was going to create a memory jar for the kids. I picked up beautiful sea glass from the beach, worn coral, beautiful rocks from the cliffs at Bathsheba and last.... sand from the beach where we stayed. I packed everything so well, placed the sand in coke bottles so that it would be easy to carry home, all was so perfect to put my project together when I got home. Going through customs, they stopped us. It really didn't bother me to bad, all they wanted to do was test the SAND for drugs. Then all of a sudden I remember the kids telling me about some of the locals selling drugs ON THE BEACH. My thought was, "Oh no, I am going to jail because someone dropped some of their drugs on the beach, I had to have THIS SAND for my project....." To say the least I started getting a little scared. Customs to this point had already been cruel. The lady sat there, kit in hand, holding up her color chart. Well I am home, so we all know that our sand was free of drugs. Who would have ever thought my innocent idea of a free gift would have turned out so scary.

Anyways and Anywho, I thought I would post a few of the decorations from Jackie and Chase's wedding. Enjoy!