Carrie's Wedding!

We were so excited to be in Houston for Carrie's wedding. It was fun to be at all of the events to help celebrate this wonderful occasion!

Here we are before the wedding. I was honored that Carrie wanted to borrow my pearls for her "something borrowed!" She also wore our grandmother's ring for "something old!"

Cal (Carrie's nephew) was pretending to sleep on his ring bearer's pillow! Notice the computer behind him...we had Grump (our grandfather) on Skype so that he could watch the whole wedding from his bed! He couldn't believe that he could watch the whole wedding on "tv!"

Here are the bride and groom!

Here is our family. L-R Michael, Neil, Aunt Carolyn, Bennett, Me, Carrie, Cal, Jason, Mom, Uncle Mike, Courtney, and Dad. I just now noticed that Carrie's dad forgot to get in the picture!

Mr. and Mrs. Jason Baehr!

Here are Cal and Bennett. They had a blast playing at the reception!

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving was a hit this year! My cousin Courtney planned a HUGE Thanksgiving feast, games, crafts, and even a Fall backdrop for posed photos. It was a lot of fun! Since both sides of Carrie's family was in town for her wedding...they had to use the church to hold all 65 of us! We made tons of food and tons of fun!

Here are Carrie and Bennett.

Here was our team for the game. We thought we had a winning team when choosing it, but we ended up with a total of 3 points. Maybe next time! (Gammy was watching Bennett while we played!)

Here are the 4 cousins. Michael and I only have 2 1st cousins TOTAL on both sides. We have lots of 2nd and 3rd cousins on our dad's side though. Here are me, Michael, Courtney, and Carrie.

We were making the craft here. It was a Fall frame for the posed Fall picture. After the craft, they had an apple peeling contest and homemade apple-sauce making! Bennett needed a nap during the apple stuff so I missed that part.

Uncle had a grand time playing with Bennett. They played the whole time!

Thanksgiving 2009 family photo!

Show Us Your Life-Christmas Traditions

Kelly is hosting Christmas Traditions today! One of my favorite family Christmas traditions is the Christmas Elf. This has been something that my dad's family has done for a few generations and I can't wait to pass it down to my kids. The night before Christmas Eve (Dec. 23rd) everyone puts out their shoe. We usually put them under the tree. You wake up on Christmas Eve and the Christmas Elf has filled it with goodies! Depending on where you sleep, your shoe will have different items. There was a more healthy elf at my dad's house who left an apple or orange and $10. At mom's, there would always be pez, candy, and other special gifts. This has always been such a wonderful memory for me!

This is what I imagine it will look like this year for the Christmas Elf.

Carrie's Rehearsal Dinner

Carrie and (Jason) Baehr's (everyone calls him Baehr pronounced "Bear") rehearsal dinner was so nice. The Baehr's really know how to host a dinner party! We were so glad to be invited to this wonderful occasion in Houston! We ate a fajita dinner at Pappadeaux's with all the fixin's.

Here are the bride and groom.

These little Baehr's in sombrero's and panchos sat at each person's place. There were personalized m&m's that said "Carrie and Baehr" at each place too!

We were so excited to see our family! Cal is so sweet. He loves when "Baby Bennett" is in town. He always wants to hold him.

Here is my mom with my favorite (and only) aunt Carolyn and favorite (and only) uncle Mike. They were all born in May in 1955, 1956, and 1957! I won't say who was born in what year!

Cal was giving himself bunny ears in our picture!

Thanksgiving Break Part 1

Thanksgiving Break is everything that I hoped it would be and more. I have only had a full week off work 1 time and it was for my wedding. It was nice to not have to feel guilty for taking off work!

We started off the week by going to Ruston for Richard's birthday. Tuesday, we went to lunch with Carolyn, Chad, and Baby Yates (on the way!). We ate at Artspace and they did not have high-chairs!

Art Space was having an exhibit of photos of people who were alive during the Great Depression. We happened to stumble upon this photo of Neil's grandmother! It was crazy to see a picture of her posted up on the wall and we had no idea it was going to be there! She looks great doesn't she?

After lunch, Bennett and I went to help Pops choose his Christmas tree at Akin's. We had a good time. We even saw one of students working there!

Happy Birthday Grand-Machine!

We were happy to drive to Ruston yesterday for Neil's dad's (Grand-machine)birthday. Here's a little background on "grand-machine." Richard gave himself the nick-name "Machine." A lot of people call him that too. We everyone was trying to come up with their grand-parent names...Neil came up with Grand-Machine for his Dad. We thought it was fitting and pretty funny too. Let's hope it sticks!

Here are Gigi (Richard's mom) and Richard.

Grand-machine and Bennett. Bennett gets so excited when he sees Richard!!

Happy Birthday! Bet you can't guess how old he is!

Rebecca, Me, Neil, Richard, Janine, Bennett, and Grandmother. Andrew had to go to work so he missed the picture!

Happy Birthday Richard! Here's to 56 more years!

Compassion

I have been wanting to sponsor a Compassion child ever since I first heard about the program a couple of years ago. I always ended up putting it off or forgetting to go online and do it. Neil and I were talking about it and decided to do it. We are so excited to be sponsoring a little boy named Bendy from Haiti. He has the sweetest little face will be 5 this December. I am just so glad to know that I can send $38 a month to something worthwhile and not waste it on something frivilous that I would forget about 2 days later.

So today, I opened up my envelope and saw this sweet picture:

And then I wrote a letter describing our family and what we like to do. It will be translated for Bendy by Compassion's translators. Later on today I will pick up a picture of our family to send with the letter.

After reading Kelly's Blog, I just really felt led to sponsor a child. I think it is also a great way to give money to the church without just writing a check to your home church. I feel like I will be able to see my money go and help someone in need!

Congrats Aunt Rebecca!

Rebecca graduated from Tech on Saturday! Andrew graduated too, but went hunting instead of his own graduation. I hope he doesn't regret that. You get a really proud feeling when they call your name and you graduate from college. Oh well...maybe next time!

Anyway, Rebecca graduated! Me, Mom, and Bennett drove over for the graduation party. We were going to go to the graduation, but they called her name right as we were pulling in to Ruston. I was glad we went to celebrate this wonderful occasion!

Here are Aunt Becky and Bennett. He is wearing blue for Tech!

It's official! She has a diploma and everything!

Richard, Rebecca, and Janine. (calendar-worthy.)

Me, Richard, graduate, Janine, and Bennett. (Neil & Andrew were hunting and missed the family portrait!)

Yay! She got a new TV for graduation.

Congratulations Rebecca! We are so proud of you!

Visit from Indy

We were in for a special treat when our friends stopped in from Indianapolis. We get to read all about them over at the Daily Sweatpants but seeing them was a treat! Leslie and I made a southern breakfast so they would have something to hold them over as they made their way to Houston. We talked about various blogs and how funny it is to "know" people and you have never even met them. It was hilarious to speak of things like "Kelly's Korner, The Joliff's, and Daily Sweatpants" and actually have someone know what you are talking about! For the people who ate with us and had no clue... sorry about that!

Our Southern Feast! On the other side of the table are garlic cheese grits and crescents. I had to have my fall gourds for my tablescape!

Sisters in the Mystic Bond (Yes, I just typed that!)

The Daily Sweatpants and Baby Beignet. (Her nickname for Bennett)

Mr. & Mrs. Ben Knowles

Christmas Tree Shopping

We went Christmas Tree Shopping last night! It would be nice to shop and smell the fresh pine and sap smell, but we went to Lowe's. I like the idea of a real tree, but the upkeep is just too much for me. And I like to keep my tree up for over a month and keep the lights on 24/7. A dry tree and hot lights really don't mix. So, we got a beautiful "real-looking" 7 foot pre-lit tree! Bennett was excited to look at all of the lights too. I plan on decorating my house for Christmas next week while I am off for Thanksgiving Break!

Yes, I realize that he doesn't have on socks. He takes them off and chews on them! Any ideas??