Thanksgiving in Heber Springs

Daddy & Abbie Hangin' on the couch

Cranium: the word was Rodeo, the result was hilarity (this is when I peed my pants a little)

Two of these guys are surgeons and are befuddled by this game, the other is licensed to carry a concealed weapon...be afraid, very afraid...

Pam and Wendy during CRANIUM: again, the word was rodeo

Blowing out the candles on Abbie's family party cake

Daddy taking a moment to fish

Jumping on the new trampoline

Aubrie and Fannie...making friends, sharing crackers

Daddy and Brie

Crazy Aunt Wendy

Abbie and Mommy

Run Brie Run!

The Happy Couple (almost 10 years...)

Riding on the Zip Cord

Mom and Dad are Twinkies!!

My beautiful Sisters, Niece and Daughter

Abbie, PawPaw and Back Phat (the turkey)

My little Pilgrim: Costume made at school

We love going to Heber for Thanksgiving and this year was no exception. It was so fun. Here are some memorable pictures from the weekend.

I would have to say the funniest moments of the weekend were centered around the Cranium game. It was hysterical...like pee your pants hysterical. Check out the pictures, it might make you question the sanity of the men in my life.

FUNTASTIC PARTY!

The Birthday Girl at Funtastic

Brie and Abbie

Carsyn, Brie and Abbie playing Busy Bee

Opening Presents from Mr. Ken...

It's my Cake!!

Brie, AJ, Abbie, Carsyn and Emma waiting on the cake

Good Buddies: Eric and Kaden

Our friend Hannah (or Kid Hannah as Abbie calls her...)

Magdalen and Abbie Grace

Daddy and Brie at the Party...

McKenna and Abbie team up for a crazy game of Air Hockey

Emma and Abbie

Party Crew: Elaina, Eric, McKenna, Hannah, Magdalen, Abbie Eric and Kaden

What a great time was had by all at Funtastic. Funtastic is Abbie's idea of heaven...she loves the games and the noise and the pizza. I have to admit...the pizza is actually quite great there. She has been looking forward to her party since we booked it and as a testament to her excitement, she didn't fall asleep on the way to her party. Generally, Abbie is snoozing when we get to any party, but this one she stayed awake for. All of her buddies were there and she cheered everytime someone came in the door. Once everyone arrived, we divided up the game cards and it was a free for all at Funtastic. We played until it was time for pizza then we ate till we were all uncomfortably full and followed it up with a princess ice cream cake. Abbie was thrilled to see that the princess that was front and center on the cake was her favorite: Sleeping Beauty. We opened gifts (she made out like a bandit, I tell you!) and then everyone ran off to play some more games. The only glitch of the afternoon was a couple minute period when I lost Aubrie in the busyness of the party but she was located with Ms. Tracy (praise the Lord) and all was well with the world again. Abbie ended the day by spending the night out with her cousin AJ at Pap and Nonnie's house. She had a blast! Thank you to all who made her day so very special. Enjoy the pictures! Happy Birthday Abbie Grace!

Abbie is FIVE!!!

Opening Presents

Aunt Shana helped us celebrate

The GIANT new pink pony from Nini...the name: pink glitter sparkle pony. It was exactly what she wished for.

Birthday girl with Mommy

Abbie is FIVE!!!

Oh my goodness...my baby girl is Five years old. Where did the years go? We celebrated her actual birthday by doing anything that the birthday girl wanted to do. We went to a movie (Madagasgar 2) and were the ONLY people in the theater. Brie ran around like crazy (good thing that we were the only ones there) and Abbie enjoyed it immensely. Phillip took the day off so we could spend it with her. We went to dinner at "Gagwall's" and had her favorite...cheese dip and chips with chicken strips. It was a great night. These pic's are from after dinner when we did the birthday cake and presents. ... Five years full of blessings and fun and the girl that made us a family. Wow.

Falling in the Leaves

Aubrie in the leaves

Aubrie and Paci in the leaves

Midflight!!!

Siding down into the leaves

Running through!

Happy Fall Ya'll

I love the fall...not just because my birthday is in the fall (although that helps) but I love the sense of change that comes in the fall. I can literally smell when it starts to change...the air smells different to me and it gets me so excited to think about what is to come...Thanksgiving in Heber Springs, Abbie's Birthday, decorating for Christmas, making Christmas cookies, Christmas music at Body & Soul with Jingle Bells on, My Christmas Tree...so many wonderful things that just the change in the air gets my blood moving faster with anticipation. One of the things that I love to do in the fall is watch Abbie play in the leaves. This year, we have our little Aubrie joining in the fun too! She was not sure what to think about the huge pile of leaves but she eventually consented to sit in the middle of it and explore the textures and sounds. It was so fun to watch her as she picked up the leaves as best she could in her mittens and moved them around. Abbie is now a veteran leaf pile jumper. This year, my dad moved a HUGE pile of leaves from his yard to ours and strategically placed the pile at the end of our slide. Abbie immediately went up the slide and slid down into the pile. After she had done this a few times she suprised me by standing up and launching herself off the top of the slide and into the leaf pile. I was anticipating another picture of her sliding and as I snapped the picture, she was midflight...the result is posted above. What can I say, change is in the air, my baby isn't a baby anymore...she's a toddler and my toddler is now an adrenaline junkie jumping off the top of slides.
I LOVE THE FALL!!

Guatemalan Girlfriends

Sandra, Michele, Tanya, Sessia and Abbie Grace

Abbie, Sessia, and Brie

The girls, bundled up on the swingset

Abbie, Sessia, Michele and Brie

My parents hosted some wonderful ladies from Guatemala this week. They have been here in AR teamed up with Fellowship Associates Residency Program. Tanya's husband is a pastor in Guatemala. It's so fun to meet all these missionaries and see how God connects all His people from all over the world. Abbie just fell in love with these two girls... Sessia and Michele. They both speak English beautifully and are so sweet to her. They are experiencing a new climate here with the changing season and the cold! This is all of us playing around in our backyard.

Breakfast with Santa

Abbie Grace

Abbie and Eric

They were giving out Fire hats...these guys are ready for an emergency!

This is what really happens when you take a picture with kids...one is struggling to get out of my arms and the other one is in a mid-tackle trying to take me down to the ground...

Tracie and Tracy with Brie Baby

The posed shot....

Eric, Abbie and Aubrie

Abbie after Santa moves away

Our encounter with the Claus Family

Last week we had Breakfast with Santa at McCain mall. We got up, got dressed, got excited, drove up to the mall, took out the super stroller, met up with Tracy and Eric and then experienced sheer terror at the presence of Mr. & Mrs. Claus. Yep, terror...especially from Aubrie. We didn't have to pay for the terror, thank goodness. We were going up there to take pictures but that dream quickly faded when we approached Santa and Aubrie attempted to climb over my shoulder. When her escape plan didn't pan out, she opted for hiding her face in my shoulder and shaking with fear. Abbie, my normally outgoing child, clung to my leg like it was a lifeline and wouldn't make eye contact with either Mr. or Mrs. Now, understand that these were some of the best and most pleasant Clauses that I have ever met. Not scary at all...so needless to say, we passed on having our picture officially taken with Santa. Maybe next year, maybe not...I'm just glad that my expectations have been set low, okay really low, for any and all Christmas encounters with Santa for 2008. Our holiday song will go something like this...

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La stay away from Santa...