Eli's 7th Birthday

Eli turned 7 on December 1st!  This year, instead of a big birthday party, Eli opted to have two friends spend the night.  His two best friends, Max Granville and Ben Mize, both came for some time of celebration, but only Ben was able to spend the night.  We brought the boys home from school and let the playing begin!  These first few shots are blurry because I didn't realize that there was something on my camera lens.  We just got new flooring put in and I assumed it was a glare off of the new floors.  I eventually figured it out, but not until several pictures were taken with smudges!

Friday night was the first night of our new floors.  We had to get them replaced because of a flood, and we opted to get hardwood instead of replace with carpet.  It looks pretty nice!  The boys decided to get in their socks and have a sliding contest.  I was so afraid someone was going to go through a window or a wall, but it all ended up alright. :)  Here are Max, Ben, Eli, and Brady running across the living room for a good slide.

Eli and Max...Eli is opening Max's gift.

Ben, Eli, Max, and Brady

 

It was a remote control helicopter!

And from Ben...a leopard gecko!  Eli named him Hunter because he hunts for his food.

Ben and Eli

His gift from mom and dad and Papa and Nana was all the "goodies" he'd need for his gecko...a cage, lights, sand, water bowl, and a cricket house.  Hunter eats live crickets, so now we have to keep crickets as well.

Meet Hunter, our leopard gecko. (Photo taken by Brady.)

Football ice cream cake.  Yum, yum!

 

Saturday happened to be December 1st this year, so we had our traditional doughnut breakfast!

That evening, we went to Big Daddy and Gran Betty's house for birthday dinner and more cake.  Here is Eli with his Daddy.

Eli's request: chocolate chip cookie cake.  

More excellent presents for Eli...a Wii video game from Aunt Kam and Uncle Devin

And lots of great clothes and books and a marker set from Big Daddy and Gran Betty.

 

 Major had a really fun game going with Uncle Devin where he climbed up on the coffee table and jumped off into Uncle Devin's arms.

 Picture of Big Daddy taken by Brady

 And last, a picture of Major taken by Brady

 

Happy Birthday, my sweet Eli boy!

Thanksgiving in Arkansas

We have spent the past several years at our house for Thanksgiving, but this year, we decided to join my family for the holiday.  It is the first holiday that we have spent with my side of the family since Christmas of 2009...almost 3 years!

First, we have Brady's Thanksgiving project.  He was supposed to disguise his turkey so that the farmer wouldn't find him.  Brady made his a rainbow and see the glitter all round him?  That is the aura of God surrounding the turkey and protecting him.  Sweet Brady.

My brother, DJ, and his wife, Holly and their 3 kids moved out to Rosebud, Arkansas, about 20 minutes away from Searcy.  They live out on 10 acres of land and have 2 dogs and 2 cats and lots of room for running and playing.  We have very little room here in the city, so the boys loved having all that space and eventually they even warmed up to the animals.

Brady found he was great at climbing trees!  

The boys liked the little dog better than the big one.  They really enjoyed playing with him!

 

Grams experienced congestive heart failure the Friday before Thanksgiving, so we all hurried up to see her and God healed her!  We were told that she "might not make it through the night" and instead, she was out of the hospital in a couple of days and even came to Rosebud to eat Thanksgiving dinner!

Rachel's grandmother, Grams (Dorothy Elizabeth Otis Jones) 89 years old, with DJ's family.  DJ, Tyler, Holly in back, Katie, Grams, Haley up front.

Bill, Major, Rachel in back.  Brady, Grams, Eli up front.

Major with his great-grandmother, Grams

Grams with her 3 Belcher grandchildren: DJ, Rachel (me), and James

Bill and I both graduated from Harding University in Searcy, AR and twice we were able to go to Harding's campus and play with the boys on the front lawn.  Here are some photos of Brady, Eli, and Bill playing football!

 

Our family on one of the swings: Eli, Bill holding Major, Me (Rachel) holding Brady

 Papa (Don Belcher) feeding Major an ice cream cone at Chick Fil A

Sweet cousins having a great time together!  Eventually, they even fell asleep.  Here are Brady and Katie

Haley and Eli

My mom and dad (Don and Pam Belcher) had to go back to work on Thanksgiving Day, so we celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday.  Here are Brady and Eli waiting for our Turkey Bowl before dinner!

We sent the kids on a scavenger hunt to pass some of the time before the Turkey Bowl.  Here are Brady, Haley, Eli, and Katie

Turkey Bowl time! Papa was all-time quarterback.  One team was me, DJ, Katie and Haley.  The other team was Eli, Brady, Bill, and James.  Here is the first play of the game!

 

The game ended in a tie: 14-14.  Here are the proud Turkey Bowlers!  James, Bill, Rachel, DJ, Papa (back row) Eli and Haley (center) Katie and Brady (bottom row)

Grams with James and my mom (Pam Belcher, AKA Nana)

Thanksgiving dinner...on the floor!  Haley, Brady, Katie, Eli

Someone in this family has to have the role of Grams and take pictures of people while they are eating.  I guess that person is me! :)  My mom and dad (Pam and Don Belcher) with Grams and my Aunt Maurine and Uncle Buddy.  (Uncle Buddy is my mom's brother)  DJ is in the background in the recliner

Tyler in the high chair and Bill in the other seat with the kids sitting in the floor.

Major in his booster seat

Tyler Kyle Belcher

Nana getting Tyler

DJ's family: Holly, DJ, Haley, Katie, Tyler, with Grams

My family with Grams: Bill, Major, Rachel, Brady, Grams, Eli

Six great-grandchildren! Brady, Eli, Grams, Major, Katie, Haley, Tyler

James, Rachel, DJ with Grams

 Nana and Papa with their 6 grandchildren: Haley, Nana, Major, Papa, Tyler, Eli, Katie, and Brady

 The Belchers: DJ, Rachel, James, Mom and Dad

 Poor Brady had all the fun he could take at his cousins' house!  He fell asleep on Eli on the way home.

 Happy Major!