Thanksgiving in Alabama

I have so many things to be thankful for, and one of the main things is family. I am thankful that we were able to visit my family in Alabama. And it actually felt like fall this time instead of summer!!! Last time I was there for Thanksgiving, it was 80 degrees outside.
Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving day.


Me and my sister Erin my cousin Traci and Erin

Justin and Jonathan watching my cousin Kelli play video games. I had to laugh because I kept saying "Kelli" and this is the best I could do to get her to look at me.

My sister Erin and her boyfriend Jeremiah

Ryan, my aunt Anita, and my aunt Pam

My Uncle Joe and cousin Dylan

Michael and a sleepy Ryan

My Aunt Sandra and my Grandmother ("Mudder")

My niece Hannah and Ryan

My cousin Trevor

My brother Josh and my niece Hannah

Thanksgiving in Alabama II

Tim... not expecting me to snap this! I think he and Harold must have been talking about Alabama football because look at their faces as I snap the pictures. This is serious stuff to them!

My uncle Harold carving the turkey (and conversing with Tim). Notice the cotton fields outside the window (they surround his house on 3 sides) and OF COURSE his Alabama Roll Tide sweatshirt.

My Mom on the left and my aunt Pam on the right.

My sister Erin on the left and my aunt Anita.

Thanksgiving Dinners

Today was our second Thanksgiving Dinner this week! Last night was the church's dinner and today was our school's. Here are some pictures from today. I forgot to get my camera out of the van last night, so I didn't get any from the church dinner.

The school kids & teachers are allowed to dress up like Pilgrims or Indians... thus the last couple of pictures I could not resist snapping.

Justin was a wiggle worm after school. I almost resorted to tying him to the seat so he would sit still long enough to eat!

Jonathan was just plain tired! He is in his room right now laying down for a nap.

I don't know why a couple of these pictures were so blurry. Ryan did not let this pretty candle stay lit very long!

David always makes a crazy face... I told him I was going to post this!

Justin took this picture of Jared & Janae.

Pilgrims
And a beautiful blonde Indian with dimples. Justin said "don't delete this picture Mom"

Have you ever gone dog fishing?

Well, It's a pretty day. I think fifties. I got out of the house a little bit today and it was weird seeing some sunlight! I am feeling much better. I'm SO ready to get these staples out! I'm supposed to see the surgeon in the morning so hopefully I will be allowed to be normal again!

The boys played outside from after school until dark! Have you ever been dog fishing before? My kids have! The dogs loved the attention!

Bramble was caught! Dixie was trying to bite it too until she saw me.... maybe I have food? Or what is that shiny thing I am pointing at her? Click on the picture for a bigger view. Bramble is hilarious biting the rope!

Gut butchering

Yep, I've done it! I decided that since I wasn't having any babies this year via my usual C-sections, I decided to have an appendectomy. I woke up early on Saturday in pain and after all evening in the ER, I finally had my appendix removed. I am doing well. Not a ton of pain... just realizing how out of shape my arms are. They are really sore today from bearing all my weight to keep from using my stomach muscles. After this, I think I am going to work on getting those arm muscles in shape! Charlotte (my awesome mother- in- law), Michael and my boys have been great. Also two of Michael's aunts have pitched in to help with meals. In times like these you realize how good people really are.

And yes, I have been accused of doing this for attention. :-)~

Hangin' around the house

I know I am on a roll! Three posts in 3 days! But I took some new pictures this morning and Michael showed me how to get the pictures on here more quickly. And especially for Mom and Erin who would like me to post them daily I am sure!
The boys are off school today and tomorrow so we are just hanging around the house. Last week I was so proud of myself because I went to the farmer's market and found a nice watermelon for a dollar :-) The boys LOVE watermelon. Well they ate it for 2 days and then got bored with it, so I cut it into cubes and froze it. Since it is fall (and since I don't usually make popsicles this time of year), I didn't have but one left when all three of them decided they wanted one. You know how that is...one says "I wanna popsicle", and then the next one says it and then they are all wanting one. So I pulled out the frozen watermelon and ran it through the blender with some Kool-aid. Here they are being silly and enjoying their watermelon slushies. They were pretty tasty!

I took these yesterday in the back yard. Dirt, leaves, sticks and toys everywhere but happy boys. Our yard has been so dry this year. We don't need a sandbox because they just play in the dirt where the grass has died. Oh well, maybe I can try to seed those spots in the spring.

Updated pictures of Megan

Here are some newer pictures of my niece Megan that her Mommy Susanne emailed to me. Isn't she pretty? I wish I had her complexion!

Justin and Jonathan (and Ryan)love her very much. Jonathan is always wanting to hold her. It is hard to get Ryan to sit still for pictures. Grammy has a whole different set of toys at her house so he is always very "busy" when we are there. Maybe next time I can get one of him holding her.

Michael didn't get to hold her for about 2 weeks after her birth because he had been really sick. He was thankful to finally get to cuddle her. (Holding a little girl is a new thing for him... we have an adorable niece in Alabama (Josh's Hannah) but we don't get to see her very often!)

I have more pictures but- for some reason- blogger isn't letting me upload very easily! I will hopefully post more later!