How Blessed We Are On This Day!

 Well, this Christmas we are truly blessed beyond words with family and friends!  May, who is baby crazy, loved holding cousin Juliette during Christmas Festivities!

 Jesse getting some Juliette love as well!

 Jesse & Claire before heading to Christmas Eve Mass.

 May starting to get the hang of the whole unwrapping the Christmas present thing.....she loved it!!!

 Claire is following her brother's footsteps in the love for Legos....

 Dad and Gretch

 Knowing my love of hot tea, May brought me loose leaf tea from China and it was delicious!

 Two very tired parents......

 Getting a little love amongst a chaos of goodies!

 Among our many activities this Christmas Week, my Grandmother, parents, and Aunt Cathie and Uncle Charlie, had a wonderful lunch and lots of fun with presents and good company!

 Claire showing off her new Minnie Mouse watch from Great Grandma!

 To round out our wonderful day, The Hollingsworths and Lance's sister and family came over for presents, fun, and desert!  Lots of fun was had!

 Claire opening her gift from The Hollingsworths.....once put together, that thing was much taller than Claire!  Also, Jesse received an XBox 360 Kinect from them and at this moment is still setting it up!  So much fun!  More pics to come of Jesse with his newest toy!

Jesse and Claire with Jesse's Christmas gift from Great Grandma!  This is sure to provide Jesse (and Claire I'm sure) with hours of entertainment (I'm looking for headphones to plug into it at the moment!!)

Well, we had a wonderful day and are thinking of the many other families who are not quite as blessed on this day...Our prayers are with them. Merry Christmas to all!!!

Christmas Party Time!

Well, I will say that I was sweating it this year planning Claire's 1st Grade Christmas Party.  But, all the room moms got together and made the 1st Grade Party a huge success!  The kids really enjoyed it all!  Jesse and I came early and he really helped me set up and get everything ready. I had some help from other moms to make the flower poms and the Christmas banner, and the Christmas Tree toss game!

h

 Each place was set with a canvas and lots of colors to choose from to make their little thumbprints turn into dazzling strings of Christmas lights! 

 Next came Christmas Religious Bingo, followed by the snowball toss game!  Jesse and another dad manned that game, with Jesse as official scorekeeper.....

 A giant cookie cake was brought in and the kids loved the fruit as well!

I hope to use this game again next year!  Well, Merry Christmas and lots coming soon!

Love, Gretchen

Daddy Daughter Time!

 Well, Lance and Claire went to SFA's Father/Daughter Dance again this year, and had a blast!  Claire got to pick the restaurant before the dance, and she chose Pei Wei (good choice!!).  The rest of us stayed here and either studied for midterms, or watched a movie....I had pictures in my head of Claire doing Gangham Style and Lance doing the Running Man....Well, Lance allayed my fears when they returned and assured me there was no runningman or Ganham dancing from either of them......relief! Well, it was a perfect way to end a really amazing week!

Lots coming up, so lots of posts coming soon!

Love, Gretchen

What a Very Special Week!

 What a busy and wonderful week we have had!!  We found out that Claire had received the Christian Witness Award for her class and received it after mass at a special schoolwide ceremony (unbeknownst to Claire!)  She was surprised when her dad and grandparents showed up, and was so very proud of herself!!!

 She wore that medal with great pride all day, and now has it on her nightstand next to her bed!  We are so proud of her and the actions throughout the year that led to this award.  Go Claire Go!!

 A very proud mommy and daddy!

 Next up was Claire's School Christmas Program.  We got word on Monday that she had a speaking part, and I said, "are you sure you are talking about the same Claire???"  As you know, our Claire isn't the most outgoing of individuals, but boy did she memorize her lines and go right up to that mike and do great!  We are sooo excited for Claire and hopes now she'll want to participate in more plays.  She really seemed to enjoy it and all the compliments she got from fellow classmates afterwards!

"

The next special occasion was my grandmother turned 85!  She was excited and doesn't look at all 85.  I am so glad I share those genes with her!! Happy 85 Grandma!!!

It's That Time Of Year Again!

 It's hard to believe how grown up the kids are getting.....

 Hard to believe Christmas is upon us again! May had her first "Santa Claus" experience, and decided not to sit on his lap but chat with him from afar.  She told him she wanted make-up......we'll see if Santa can make that happen.

 Jesse and Claire chatting it up with Santa.

Goofing around while Lance was trying to take our Christmas Card pictures.

Happy Happy 40th!

 Well, Lance wasn't pleased at all that he turned 40 this weekend.  He was pleased however that he spent the day with family and friends....He was pleased that he spent his day eating Strawberry/Cream Cheese Cake AND vanilla cupcakes....He was pleased that he was treated to his very favorite BarBQ in Memphis.......He was pleased that the weather was a gorgeous 76 degrees.......and lastly he was pleased that his beloved Tigers won!!!  That in itself was a present for Lance, who was beginning to lose hope in his Tigers!

 Everyone enjoying themselves... I hope!

Well, I just had to do it!!!

Happy Halloween from Minecraft Guy and Little Red Riding Hood!

 Well, Halloween went off without a hitch around here!  Lovely weather and lovely company!  The kids, AKA Steve from Minecraft and Little Red Riding Hood, had a blast!  They were joined this evening by neighbors Ryan and Jillian!  Also joining in this year was May and her friend from school Maggie, who both loved their first American Halloween!

 The gang all ready to head out! Happy Halloween!

Love, Gretchen

Rev Up Your Engines.....

 Rev up your engines....Lance is almost 40!! Lance received his 40th Bday gift today....a 15 lap shootout in a NASCAR at the Millington Motorsports Park.  Because this opportunity doesn't come to town often, he got his birthday gift just a few weeks before the actual day....which he is NOT looking forward to by the way. We did not tell him about this until today, and he was very nervous about where we were taking him! Turns out he was very pleasantly surprised.  On lap 13, his car just stopped going....so after his car made it back around via a little push, he got to ride along with a professional for a bunch of laps and he enjoyed that as well!  And he got a really cool plaque to commemorate the whole thing.  I've got some good video, so I'll try to put that on here a little later.

 Lance before crawling into his little car window.....

 Off he goes!

 Coming to the stop area after his little malfunction.

After the ride and malfunction......

Well, I promise to post again soon!

Love, Gretch

Happy Birthday Lance!!