Decorating Papa and Nana's Tree - November 26th

Nana AKA Mrs. Clause has come to decorate the tree!

 All the grandchildren are ready. :)

Brady, Major, Haley holding Tori, Eli, Katie, and Tyler

 It is a tradition in my house growing up (which I have continued with my own children) that we get a dated Christmas ball every year (for example, this year's ball says "2014" on it) and if someone was born that year, then it is a "baby's first Christmas" ornament. Each of the children and grandchildren get to put on their "baby's first Christmas" ornament.

 This one is Nana giving an ornament to Tori to put on the tree, my sister, Bekah, is putting on an ornament and Tyler is waiting for his turn.

 Even my brother, James, will put on his ornament.

 My mom and dad, Papa and Nana. They are wonderful parents. I am so blessed to call them my mom and dad.

Thanksgiving in Michigan - November 22nd

We are so blessed this year to be able to spend Thanksgiving with all of my family! It is the first time in 9 years that we have all been together. The boys love their cousins, and they get along so well with them! Here are all 7 cousins enjoying some lunch...starting at the bottom left is Tori Neiman (my sister Rebekah's daughter), then going clockwise is Major, Katie Belcher, Brady, Eli, Haley Belcher and Tyler Belcher. The Belcher kids are my brother DJ's children.

The next picture is of Katie and Brady playing with Minnie and Mickey Mouse. These two could not be more alike. It is funny how DJ's kids have close to the same personalities as my kids in their birth order.

 The other thing they were really looking forward to in Michigan...SNOW!!!

Here are Katie, Eli, and Brady trying to build a snowman. The next picture is of Haley (in the pink hat) nailing Katie with a snowball. Don't worry, Katie got her revenge. :)

 Eli and Haley

 Katie and Brady

 Major

 Tyler

What a glorious day for some cousin fun!!

Eli's Thanksgiving Program - November 16th

We are so blessed with such a wonderful elementary music teacher at Alabama Christian Academy! Each grade has a performance every school year. This year, Eli's was at Thanksgiving. He even got one of the speaking parts! He's getting so big and he's so handsome!

Halloween - October 31st

It's Halloween! 

The boys have been so excited to go trick or treating. Their Aunt Kam was so sweet to send them a count down calendar for October with a different Halloween joke inside each day. It has been a fun way to count down the days! Since it was on a Friday this year, Bill couldn't be here for trick or treating, but the boys and I had a great time! This year was one of the funnest years we've had. Eli and Brady were totally into getting candy and were so excited to go door to door saying, "trick or treat"!

Here are Major, Eli, and Brady with the pumpkin, Jackie, before heading out on Halloween night.

 One of our neighbors down the street always has great inflatables for the holidays. Halloween is no exception!

 After this last picture, my camera ran out of battery so I wasn't able to get any pictures of all the candy they got, or of them at the football game after trick or treating. (We went for the last quarter of Bill's football game. They were very excited to get to go in their costumes.)

Another successful Halloween in the books! Love these precious ones!

Carving the Pumpkin - October 30th

It's time to carve the pumpkin! Daddy and his boys are ready!

 First, our resident art expert, daddy, must draw the face.

 Next, it's time to cut off the top and take out the innards!

 None of my boys are the, "I like to get dirty" type, so cleaning out the inside of the pumpkin is always interesting! Eli takes the first hand full, then Brady, then Major.

 Brady gets a turn carving the pumpkin.

 Eli, Major, Daddy, and Brady with the finished product, "Jackie"

Trunk or Treat - Landmark Church of Christ - October 29th

The Wednesday night before Halloween is Trunk or Treat at our church in Montgomery. 

This year, we have a dinosaur (Major), a baseball player named Yasiel Puig (Eli), and the blue Power Ranger (Brady).

 There was one game where you had to throw bales of hay to win a caramel apple. Poor Eli had to throw the adult bale of hay. So Major and Brady won the game for their age group and got the candy apple, poor Eli did not. :(  Poor guy. He really wanted one of those candy apples!

Rachel's 35th Birthday - October 24th, 2014

Every 7 years, my birthday is on a Friday. This means that Bill is no where around on my birthday because he is doing football things all day and football game all night. My 35th birthday was one of those that happened on a Friday. However, amid all the football craziness that happens on Friday, Bill did send me a huge bouquet of purple flowers at school. They were absolutely beautiful and lasted about 2 weeks! He also got me the framed scripture you see in the pictures with our family's name on it. It is very sweet and just perfect. It now proudly sits on our mantel. And I got to spend my birthday with 3 very sweet and precious little guys!