Great Wolfe Lodge

Great Wolfe Lodge for the weekend...what a fantastic place that is. It started out as just the boys and then us girls met them after the first night and spent another night. It was amazing. The kids actually got to spend 2 whole days enjoying the water park. It was crazy fun!
We will definitely be going back!

100th Day of School Celebrations!

This year both Walter and Ann Elizabeth were able to celebrate the 100th day of school. What an exciting day!! Walter's kindergarten class celebrated with lots of fun activities such as counting to 100 by 10's and 5's, receiving a giant 100 dollar bill, 100 glasses, and a special snack where each child was able to bring in a 100 pieces of a treat to add to the mix. He loved it.
Ann Elizabeth's 2nd grade was able to dress up as a 100 year old, a 100 day old or someone from 100 years ago. She was thrilled. She chose to dress up as a 100 year old woman and it was hysterical. Walter and I laughed because she looked just the part. She would play a great 100 year old in a play some day.
Fun memories made again in Kindergarten and 2nd Grade.

New Year's Eve 2011 into 2012

New Years this year we stayed close to home. We celebrated the night before with all our our Charlotte friends for our annual friends Christmas/New Years Dinner. It was great to have a night out before New Years and not fight all the crowds.
We spent New Years with the neighbors having dinner. The kids played and it was nice to just be low key and relax.
Once we got back home we did our annual "crackers" for our hats and treats. It's great to just lay low sometimes and start the year off with the family at home.
This was probably the best New Years we have had in a long time!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!

Christmas was a great time. We spent lots of time with our family and did lots of festive things. From baking, to parties to church , it all was so wonderful


We started off the holiday by going to Lunch with Santa at Longview. It was so much fun and the kids really enjoyed getting to see Santa and giving him their list.










Ann Elizabeth and I did our annual trip to see The Nutcracker. I am not sure who love it more, but we both agree that it is a tradition that we would like to continue of it just being us girls!





                                                    Christmas Eve!


                                               Christmas Morning!








We are so blessed to have Walter's family with us the day off and my family the evening of. It is great to be able to celebrate such an wonderful time of the year with family. Nothing beats it!

Polar Express!

This year my parents gave us all tickets to ride the Polar Express Train for Christmas. It was a blast. The little ones had matching PJ's and we all drank hot coco and ate cookies during the train ride. The next morning we went back to the small town and visited the train museum and had lunch. It was so much fun!
We made a weekend of it and toured the Biltmore House while we were close. It was all decorated for Christmas and it was so beautiful!

Christmas Baking

Today we decided to spend the whole day at home baking cookies for Christmas. But at this moment, I have baked 3 different kinds and the kids are down stairs in the basement playing Wii. The first cookies I made were a bust, the 2nd-Walter's favorite, were not as puffy as they should be, but they still taste good...and the 3rd...are yet to be determined. Still need to do Buckeyes and a pie. I thought this was supposed to be fun...HA! My precious children, oh how I love them!











...

Ann Elizabeth turns 8!

Our sweet girl turned 8yrs old this year. I know I say it all the time, but I really can't believe it. She is getting so big.

She has grown up to me such a sweet young girl. She loves the Lord and really puts him first. She is the most compassionate child that I know and wants to make sure that no one has feelings hurt and that everyone is happy.
She is becoming more and more independant and is finding her own style. She really doens't care what anyone else is wearing or has, she does things her own way. I love that about her.
She loves dancing and basketball. She is really great at reading and school she loves. This girl has brought so much joy into our lives in the last 8 years and I can't wait to see what the Lord does with her in the future.

Basketball has started!!!

Thanksgiving together!

Thanksgiving this year we spent with my parents. We alternate parents every year so this year it was my Mom & Dad's turn. We went down around lunch time and spent the day eating and hanging out. It was great to see the kids playing together with my nephew. They are all growing up way to fast and we sure don't spend enough time together so this was a real treat.
The kids helped GiGi decorate her tree and then spent the night so Walter and I could go to all the great Black Friday sales. We love it.