Dad's photos

My dad came to visit a while back and I downloaded some photos from his camera. These are not recent but some of them were worth publishing.

Here are the "boys" with their Papa shirts on. Christian's says "Papa's Side Kick!" and William's says "I'd rather be Hangin with Papa!"

It's so rare to get a photo with our entire family in it. My dad is the extra bonus.

Here are the kids in their various regalia showing off some personalized presents from my brother.

I got the boys and Alena some cap pistols for Christmas and they put on an elaborate show for us. The Cowboys fought the Indians but it ended well with the two parties making up and smoking the traditional peace pipe. (Who knew old Lone Ranger episodes could be so corrupting?!?)

Erilynn's Baptism

Erilynn was baptized on March 8, 2009. We were so proud of her!

Take 1 white canister, construction paper, lots of tape and imagination and you get a pretty nice homemade cow! Good work, Alena.

This was a pretty cool photo of grandpa and the boys in matching shirts going for a walk.

Snow Day!

On March 1 we finally got a good 5" blanket of snow (and just the previous day I was complaining about our lack of snow this year). We got up early, dressed our warmest and drove to Barfield Park and went sledding before church.

One snowman is so passé, so the children built an entire snow family. I guess they were on to something since passersby were stopping to take pictures!

AWANA Olympics

We got to attend the local AWANA Olympics this year. Hannah and Alena enjoyed competing.

The spectators can get pretty rowdy at these Christian sporting events.

Alena is the second from the back in this race followed by her good friend Chenie. The girl in front is A'Nayia, one of our neighbors that we started taking with us to AWANA when we go.

Here is Hannah and another girl in the 3 legged race.

And here's William in the face making contest. Be careful! Your face will freeze like that!

February Fun...

Our Sunday school class had a "Daddy and Daughter" date night. I cleaned myself up (for all the good that does) and Hollye helped all the girls get prettied up. We went to the Macaroni Grill and had a blast. We had fun talking and drawing funny characters on the table cloth and even had a waitress serenade us.

This is William and his favorite stuffed animal. It is a big white stuffed horse with spots on his back. William named him Lightning Spots.

Here is the picture I took of the children having their picture taken at gymnastics. Every child after the third child at ETC gymnastics is free, so we went ahead and let the boys go too. Hollye said she had the best time relaxing in the stands and watching someone else try to keep up with the boys.

Alena at Eight

Finally getting to 2009! Alena celebrates her birthday on January 29.

Here she is posing with all her loot next to her side-kick Christian. He is a die-hard thumb sucker (as long as he can find a tag).

Alena's favorite present was a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang DVD. I think this was Alena's 2nd favorite present. Hard to beat 1 pound of Sugar Daddy!

Alena is one of the most creative children I've ever seen. Here, with Play-Doh, she's modeled herself and the puppy that we're soon getting.

Other news from January:

• Hollye got Laser eye surgery. All went well and she is now contact and glasses free! Don't ask what it cost!
• We made a down-payment for a dog that has not yet been born and will have to be flown out to us from Idaho (because it's a rare-breed: Bolognese)

Christmas Wrapup

Here are some pictures of the children showing off some of their Christmas presents.

Hannah and Alena in their Indian costumes. They really have enjoyed them since they are Lone Ranger aficionados (we don't have cable so we buy older shows/movies that are not as bad as today's shows seem to be). Alena noticed a pretty pink-handled gun for sale at Cracker Barrel, but it was, of course, made in China. Instead I looked online and found a site that sold antique toy guns that were made in the US. Then I spray-painted the handle. (I know, I'm just not normal).

William and Christian - out on patrol.

Alena and Hannah pigging out on their chocolate goodies. Notice the cake on the table. It is "Christmas cake" and it is so good. Mmmmmmm.

Grandpa visits again

My dad makes frequent trips to come and see us (and help us move!). We all love to see him and Faye when they come.

Faye spent some time teaching the children how to crochet.

The children enjoyed playing in the tents that the Berrys gave to them. Let's see if we can all squeeze in at the same time.

A day of playing really takes it out of you. Now the challenge is to find a good spot to take a nap. Looks like William found a nice soft spot (on top of Grandpa).

Special Events

Hannah's solo performance at the First Baptist Church of Smyrna and her teacher Mrs. Rawlings. Hannah entertained everyone at the senior adult banquet by playing "We wish you a Merry Christmas". Mrs. Rawlings later told me that many people had asked her about the little girl who played solo and they all said how wonderful she played .

The boys love to play with Erilynn's tea set, they call it a game. They pour tea, add sugar and cream and bake pretend cookies to put on the saucers. Yum! Thank you Grandma Owen for the tea set!

The children love to decorate the gingerbread house. They are all smiling because they have eaten half the candies!

Celebrating the Christmas season

As Christmas draws near (last year), excitement build around the house...

Shepherds come to visit the little baby Jesus.

Erilynn with the stocking mother helped her decorate.

Pretty girls show off their Christmas best. On the edge of the picture you can see all the Christmas cards we received (we hang them on a ribbon around the door).

Winter treat

Being in Tennessee we enjoy all the seasons although all are pretty moderate. It doesn't snow as much as you would think, so the children really enjoy getting out and playing in it when it does come.

A snowman is always the first order of business on a snow day. The kid in blue is one of our neighbors.

The next thing that usually happens is the kids all beg for sled rides. Poor daddy gets worn out pulling them around in circles because Murfreesboro is pretty flat.

Thanksgiving...

We went to visit the Berry family for Thanksgiving last year.

William and Christian enjoyed their special attention from grandad.

Daniel force-feeding our poor William the rest of the chocolate pie. Hannah thought she looked glamorous in her giant earrings.

Steven (aka Silly Billy Barbie Boy) was worn out from being a jungle gym for the children. He and Erilynn decided to have a little nap.

Erilynn's big birthday...

Erilynn had a nice birthday party. She is now 5 (going on 15).

Erilynn enjoying her presents. Doing our part keeping the Chinese economy strong!

Followed by a big party at the mouse house (Chuck-E-Cheese's).

Fall Festival time...

Here in Tennessee, we Baptists don't celebrate Halloween. We have a "Fall Festival". Like we're all farmers or something. On Halloween we stay home and give out candy and children's gospel tracts to all the heathens that come to our door. :)

Here we have Christian (Batman), Erilynn (Cinderella), Hannah (Toy soldier from the Nutcracker), Alena (Cowgirl) and William (Superman). The bags are for collecting loot from the various tables around the parking lot.

Here we see Superman explaining to Batman the need for eternal vigilance in the fight against malevolence, tyranny and girls.

Here's Cinderella decorating the pumpkin that will soon carry her off to the royal ball.

My brother John (left) challenged me to a cage fight death match at the local bounce house. Silly boy may be younger than me (by like 12 years) but I outweigh him by probably 30 pounds.

Back in October...

We're pretty good at finding free or very cheap stuff to do with the family. Here we are at a local pumpkin patch.

Hannah looking really cute.

Erilynn, Christian (note fresh scar on forehead) and William.

Five people doing the "chicken dance" in a corn maze. Is this an old episode of "Hee Haw"?

Another weekend we went on the church "Father/Child camp-out". The 3 girls were old enough to go and we had a great time hiking, fishing, camping and climbing these weird vertical wooden objects.

Miscellaneous fun...

Erilynn decided that she was all grown up and in need of some eye shadow. Since she, of course, does not own any, she decided to use some lip gloss instead. Glamorous, no?

The girls and friend Ashley (in the clown suit) preparing to put on a show for us.

Christian decided that his recent concussion was not enough so during a game of tag, he decided to take a dive head first into the hall tree. An hour later, the doctors were gluing his forehead back together. I told Hollye, "We have some Superglue in the garage. I could have saved myself around $800."

I think it was puppet day at AWANA. Hannah's is a king, Alena's an Indian and Erilynn made a princess. They did a fantastic job!