Winter Wonderland

On the way back over the mountain we counted 70 abandoned cars on the side of the road.

hanging out

Opening Presents

Fun and Games

C

Defensive player of the game!

Blake is great at defense. Of course, basketball players have to play both offense and defense...but it's hard to tell when the ball changes hands especially at this age. He did a great job covering his man - no matter who had the ball. Look at how he dives for the ball though. The crowd goes wild (at least 5 of us do :) I'm glad we got to see Blake play.

Blake - SuperSTAR!

Blake takes on Jordan

Saturday morning, Blake had a basketball game. Jordan helped him warm up and tried to teach him a few manuevers - including how to hold the ball when you want to shoot.

Friday night!

Cliff drove through the snow (1 foot in the mountains) to get to Knoxville. Mom, Richard, and I visited Grandmother Fox. Then went to Cathy's. Cliff and I went with Mark and Cathy to a neighborhood party. I'm just glad we made it there safe and got to spend time together.

Nashville

A new tradition...2nd annual trip to Nashville to celebrate Beth's birthday and see Behold the Lamb. I flew into Nashville on Wednesday the 16th. Beth picked me up and we went to Opry Mills. We ate lunch at Chilli's, shopped and shopped, then we watched New Moon. We grabbed a pizza and checked into the Double Tree hotel.

On Thursday, we drank hot chocolate from Star Bucks...ate breakfast at Cracker Barrell and then shopped. Beth's allergies started bothering her, so we ate lunch at the bread company, got a pedicure and then went back to the hotel. While she rested, I read. Mom came to the hotel around 4 and we hung out till Beth got up. We ate at The Spaghetti Factory and went to the concert. How awesome! Labor of Love is my favorite! It really makes you think about the way Jesus REALLY came into the world...it wasn't pretty and neither was His death. What a sacrifice He made for us.

Friday, we grabbed a quick "Birthday Breakfast." Mom, Richard and I drove to Knoxville.

Orchestra Concert

Jenny plays the cello. I love these pictures of her smiling. She really got tickled at the concert, because Harris (the guy beside her) accidentally put some of their music on the stand upside down. She scrambled to flip the music around and try to remain composed :) She is sitting up front - that's a good thing. It means she is second chair - Harris was first... Jenny is a good cellist.

One of our traditions...the first Friday in December Miranda, Jenny, and Jordan get to invite a friend over to decorate the house for Christmas, decorate sugar cookies, watch a Christmas movie and spend the night. This year Miranda invited Lauren, Jenny invited Allison, and Jordan invited Chance. We decorated cookies and the house. We ate pizza and watched Elf.

Fun and Games. Saturday, we went to see the movie Blind Side. We ate Nachos for dinner. Sunday we went to church. Great weekend with family.

Happy Thanksgiving

Almost everyone arrived on Wednesday night for Thanksgiving. Grandpa Mike, Judy, Uncle Matt, Christian, Andrew, and Ethan. Thursday morning, we got up and ate a big breakfast before heading to the church to serve meals. We worked the line, plating food, washed dishes, and helped "Feed the Community." We left around lunchtime and came home to cook dinner. The turkey took longer than expected, so we didn't eat until 3:30. But it was good. Later Andrew and Ethan helped me make sugar cookies. We played game, watched movies, worked puzzles, shopped, and ate! Friday night we went to the Dorman state semi-final game. Dorman won! It was cold but fun.