Jolly 'Ol St. Nick

We took the kids to see Santa in Lawrenceville at the historic Court House.

This is a tradition we've had for about 7 years! It is such fun and Santa always spends lots of time talking to the children.

How sweet is that? Rae was pretty nervous! She kept reminding me to stay close to her, but when she hopped up on his lap she looked soooo cute that I had to step back and get a picture. Just as this picture was taken she realized I had stepped away and began to cry:(

Sorry Rae, but I had to get the shot!
Ali wore my Santa earrings and was tickled when he got excited about her having them on. Ali had a HUGE list for Santa and had a hard time working it down to a couple of items. She was editing the entire drive over to see him.

Randee was shocked when Santa ask, "You do like the Jonas Brothers don't you?"

Santa does know everything!!

Nate of course thinks he's a little too big for Santa,

apparently not too big to give Santa a fist bump ;)

Our '08 family photo with 'Ol St. Nick.

Hope Santa is able to get ALL the last minute additions to the Christmas lists!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

Our Princess

Rae was invited to a princess b-day party and she was just too cute!!
The poncho she is wearing was actually made by my
Grandmother Stanger when I was her age.

She enjoys being a model!

She was soooo excited to be able to wear a little makeup!
She can always bring a smile to our family,
we are grateful to have this princess in our castle ;)

A Time of Thanksgiving

Here's a game of tag

That should be great fun,

Count ten of your blessings

Begin with number one.

Count to number ten

Then tag four others,

You can tag your friends,

Sisters, children or mothers.

My ten blessings:

1. My Saviour, Jesus Christ

2. My sweet, patient, righteous husband

3. Four healthy, beautiful children (inside and out)

4. A living Prophet

5. Family, near and far

6. Good Friends

7. Being raised in the Gospel

8. Being able to be a full time "Domestic Engineer"

9. My weekly visit with Ludell

10. Chocolate!!

I tag Alison, Heidi, Allyson and Randee

Just copy the poem above to your blog and add

your ten blessings below the poem.

Thankful for Sick Kids?!

I know how crazy that sounds, even as I type it I think what??? Yet this last week as my children have passed a cold one to another to another and finally another, they have each needed a day or two home from school. I have soooo enjoyed having that time with them to just "hang out".....watch TV, read, cook, talk, nap, just be together! Life is so hectic that sometimes a Mommy just needs some one on one time with her child, a minor cold to slow them down helps ;) Their teachers may have wished I'd forced some cold medicine down them, a few cough drops in their pocket, and pushed them out the door but, that's why I'm the MOM!!!!

Randee's 12!!!!!!

Randee is officially 12!!!
And what a beautiful young woman she is!!
She loved her chocolate/chocolate cake! It was exactly what she ordered Mommy to make, "Chocolate cake with chocolate chips and lots of chocolate frosting!!"

She was excited to get the 2nd book in the Twilight series. She loves to read and will probably finish the book in about 2 weeks. Wow!!!
For her "party" she will be taking a few friends to see the Twilight movie - FUN!!

Randee with all her loot ;)

~We sure do love you and are so thankful
Heavenly Father sent you to our family!~
Happy Birthday Sweetie!

p.s. Randee also had a daddy/daughter trip with Ran this past weekend to Charlotte, NC to see Aunt Kris compete in a dog show.

They had a great time together and so enjoyed visiting with Kris and her dogs!

Oh Happy Day!!

Happy, Happy Birthday Popa, dear!!!

After presents for our birthday boy, we celebrated
with a trip to his favorite steak restaurant!

A good time was had by all :) Very yummy food!

Wow! Now that's a bite!! Check out Rae's look of concern!
We sure love our father, husband, and friend!
Hope you had a great day!!

Autumn Time!!

Yesterday we had a great family day!! We went to north GA to see the fall colors. When we left our home the temperature was in the mid 50's. When we arrived at Brasstown Bald to picnic and climb the mountain (the highest point in GA) the temp. had dropped to 48. Which in its self isn't too bad, but with gale force winds it was fridged!!!!!! Most of our picnic was spent chasing napkins!! We actually had to pull clothes out of the goodwill donation bag in the back of the van to cover the legs of a few of us that had decided to wear shorts. The climb to the top was only .6 miles but it went up about 2,000 feet in elevation!!! Almost straight up!! Everyone made it to the top, some with more coaxing than others ;) The views were amazing!
It was a great "family day"

Looking south toward Atlanta.

The kids were literally freezing!! Temp. was just above 4o on the look out point and the winds, well you can see how strong the winds were ;) Mtns. in the back are the Carolinas.

Our sweet "Rae" of autumn sunshine!!

Our kiddos are growing soooo fast, it was such fun to take a day to stop and see the beauty all around us!

Look what I can do!!!!

With all my free time now that my little one is in pre-k I thought it was time I started a family blog. I so enjoy looking at others. I'm not the best at sending photos to relatives so maybe this will help ;)
This will be a family project: Nate is our photographer/computer guru, Randee will be designing the layout and changing it daily I'm sure and Ali & Rae are more than willing models! Nate literally has hundreds of pix of them, he loves to take all different kinds of pictures and well they love being the center of his attention! Oh, as for Ran he will be my silent but ever soooo supportive partner :)
~Deb