Decking the halls

 Our search for the perfect Christmas tree took us literally right outside the neighborhood this year.  Southern Homes and Gardens had really nice trees and we found a perfect one!

 Lincoln had the honor of putting the star on this year.  It was his first time to do it by himself!

 The boys divided their ornaments into piles.  The put almost every decoration on the tree this year!

 This was the first year that each boy participated the entire time.  They even "helped" put the lights outside. 

 After we were finished, Link stood on the chair and looked at every ornament.  He is obsessed with the tree.

Mommy and Daddy were exhausted after this adventure.  I put the Grinch on the computer and we took a nap!

I really love this house.  It is definitely my favorite house that we have lived in so far.  Having it all decorated for Christmas makes it even more homey!

Thanksgiving 2011

 We had a terrific Thanksgiving dinner!  Aaron, Danielle, Ariana, and Danielle's sister Mary all came over for dinner.  I didn't even have to beg to get a Thanksgiving blog photo in before we ate!

I had to add to test the camera angle out before the real photo.  These crazy kids decided to pose for me! 

Ariana Marie Cooper

 Nate became a Godfather on Monday!  Of course, he had to brag and brag that he was able to see her before me!

 I was able to hold her today, but not for long before these guys wanted her too!

 He kept peeking at her toes and fingers. 

When Link took her, he smelled her!  As we left, Link said, "She is the cutest baby in the world!"  We are super lucky to have them over for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Nate said he would set up the pack-n-play.  I laughed and said....I don't think we will need it.  We have plenty of arms to go around!

The brother!

 On our last day in Texas, we stopped by Josh's new house.  They moved in only a few weeks ago. 

 They have three kids and my fellas immediately fell in love with them.  They played and played! 

We were super bummed to only stay one night.  After talking with Josh about how we made it home in one day, I am hoping that they make a trip to Alabama soon!!!

McDade, TX

We ventured out into the big town of McDade today.

We all got ready for church. Yes, church is in the barroom.

 

 I had to take a photo of the kids by the old gas station.  They had never seen a real cactus.

 I asked them for another photo, but they ran to the car.  So, Dad and I took one together.

Papa and Gale's house!

 Helloo PAPA!!  The boys waited about ten seconds before they spotted the Mule.  They were dying to get a ride with Papa! 

 He opened the gate to the pasture and took off.  They were gone for quite a while when I heard the squealing and the screaming. 

 Once they got closer, I saw this fella driving.  Apparently, he let crazy driver, Lincoln, have a go at it, too!  He told Link not to go down a steep hill and he did!  Ethan started screaming and Lincoln started squealing with laughter!

 When they got back, Ethan spotted the swings.  He took a rest. 

Lincoln brought the toys out and played!  It was nice to spend most of the afternoon outside!

The girlfriend

Our second stop was at my friend Abby's house.  Abby and I have remained friends for fourteen years.  We were both shocked to realize it has been fourteen years ago when my mother (without my knowledge) told Abby to come ask me out while I was at work.  I moved to Houston knowing one other person.  Abby knocked on my door that first Thursday and asked me to go out with her and we became fast friends!!! 
We have not seen each other since we had our kiddos and we were so excited for them to meet.  The boys fell in love.....literally.  They chased Kailen around trying to kiss her.  Link would yell, "Girlfriend, I am going to marry you."  Thankfully, Jason was at the deer lease and didn't see any of this.  I think we may have had to look for a hotel!  Abby and I are just excited that one day we may be related!

Heading to Texas

Nate has school until Wednesday and Ethan doesn't, so I decided to take the fellas on a road trip to Texas.

Our first stop was at a Casino in Biloxi, MS.  Seriously, the hotel was DIRT cheap!  I payed $48!  We quickly found out WHY the hotel was dirst cheap when we arrived.  SMOKE, SMOKE, and more SMOKE!  Our NON-SMOKING room reaked of smoke.  When I called the front desk, the lady told me she would send up an ozone machine, but we had to be out of the room for an hour.  Our hotel had a restaurant, so we went to dinner.  On the way to dinner, we were smoked on in the elevator, the hall, and the restaurant!  BUT...it was cheap! The hotel had an arcade, so we killed some more time after dinner.

 Ethan still had some remnants of his cold from earlier in the week.  He begged to go to bed.  Link and I let him have his own bed. 
The next morning we jumped up and hit the road for Texas.

We stopped at the first Texas rest stop for a bathroom break and some pictures!

The Artist

Wednesday was career day at school.  After much deliberation, Ethan decided he wants to be an artist when he grows up.  I have so say....he's pretty good!  He loves to draw and his pictures are way better than I could do!  When I told him he could be an art teacher, he said "NO WAY!"  I guess his art teacher at school., Mr. Darby, is also the music teacher.  He thinks if he was an art teacher he would also have to teach music. 

Smooches to Memaw

 Memaw left today.  The quote of the night from Link was, "I wish Memaw was still here.  She always helps me find my Pirates of the Caravan crew." 

This fella has been under the weather.  He missed school yesterday and had to do double homework tonight to make up for it.  He was not a happy guy.  He wanted his Memaw, too!

Popcorn Party

When Lincoln found out that Pappy was not coming this visit, he told us that Pappy was going to miss the popcorn party!  So far, I think that they have had a popcorn party every night....snuggled right up to Memaw!

Dinner Conversation

Lincoln popped into Memaw's lap at dinner tonight.  We were all eating and chatting and I hear Nate say, "Lincoln please do not put your carrots between your toes!"  He is so crazy!  He wore clothes for a few hours today and spent the rest of the day running around in his undies!

Family night

Tonight we turned off the TV and spent some quality time together.  We started off making a thankful chain.  Each of us had seven links.  It turns out seven links was not enough to cover the fireplace.  Ethan proudly volunteered to write more!

 I think the end result turned out nice!

We ended the night playing Star Wars Operation.  It's so cute.  R2D2 is being operated on and he makes the cutest noises.  It's not at all annoying like real operation!  

 We let Link operate as many times and he could.  This was his expression after his first successful operation!

Ethan came away the big winner....it could be because he held all the money!

A little Daddy time

Nate had an idea last week.  He decided he wanted to take each boy individually to do something special.  He also let each kiddo decide what their special treat would be.  Lincoln chose to go see Puss in Boots with Nate after school yesterday.  Ethan chose to play mini-golf today.  I think they all enjoyed their special time together!

Ethan soccer pictures

One of the dads on Ethan's soccer team presented us with the nicest gift last week.  He has a great camera and took pictures every game.  He put each child's pictures on a disc and gave it to us.  The following pictures are a few of my favorite.

 I am pretty sure that this is him right before his goal.

And, I think this is him after his goal!