Brotherly Love

I really needed my camera tonight but....it was at home. Just picture it in your head!! We were out running errands, by the time I get to the grocery store, Porter has had enough and wanted to stay in the van and watch a movie. Matt agrees to stay with them. He gets the cartoon going and after a few minutes looks back at the boys....they are each sucking their thumbs...Porter his right and Dixon his left and they are holding hands with their free hands! Isn't that so adorable? AHWWW....I sure do love my guys!!!

Holiday Fun

Before Christmas we had a great family fun day with Jason and his family at Stone Mountain Park. This is us on top of the mountain at one of the overlook sites. I will come out to this area up top. While looking to the right you can see the skyline of Atlanta. If you look straight down, there is a HUGE home....it rumored to belong to Puff Daddy. Did I mention, it was HUGE!! It was a wonderful day. Porter loves to spend time with his cousin Amelia. Sometimes they bicker back and forth as if they were sibblings but he always asks "When can I see Amelia again?" The weather was great....not too cold (unless you're on top of the mountain). We visited with the Snow Angel, Ms. Claus, Tiny the Elf, Santa, plus took in a show and rode the train. The favorite part might also be the yummy hot chocolate with mountains of marshmallows!

Matt, Jason and Jay took the kids to the other side where you actually walk on top of the mountain....that is NOT for me!! They quickly returned when they realized it is much colder and horribly windy on top!

Porter enjoyed chatting with Santa. Dixon was not so excited for the opportunity so he got to stay in his warm, comfy stroller.

We were getting tired at this point. We still had the moonlight train ride to go plus the Snow Angel was going to make it snow and fly off into the night.

Porter Has a Great Imagination

Several of you know that Porter has many imaginery friends...a whole gang of them really. From the time he was about 3 years old he has had a friend named, 'Pooey'. We learned of him one night when we were trying to have family prayer and Porter got up and ran away and said we couldn't pray without Pooey. We thought he would come back with a stuffed animal. When he returned empty-handed, we tried to start the prayer again and he said that Pooey wanted to pray too. We were lost for a few minutes then he told us again that Pooey wanted to pray. We finally caught on that Pooey was his new friend and we couldn't see Pooey. From that point on we had to make lunch for Pooey and remember to buckle his carseat etc.... From Pooey the gang was formed...there is Fa, La, and Lee. When I was having Dixon, there was briefly Baby Pooey. Next came Zuco. This week...we have added 2 dogs. I honestly can't tell you there names...I do know that one is a German Shepherd (in honor of Graham). Porter refused to get on the school bus until he could feed his dogs and make sure they were okay! The funny thing is...Porter is terrified of dogs in real life!

I love this little guy and treasure all of our wonderful times together!

Here are a few pictures of him playing. He really does have a great imagination and is very creative. The firetruck is supposed to be an ambulance carrying a new baby. (This was in honor of Shauna's new baby.)

Ground Breaking for Stake Center

It has been almost 5 years since our stake was formed. We had the privilege to attend the ground breaking ceremony for our stake center. I am so excited for the new building. Since my callings are Stake Activities and Ward Activities Director, I have big plans for the new space! I am overjoyed with the idea of picnic pavilions! I wonder if we get round tables? Hmmmm...all the things I would like to do....maybe even Stake Roadshows....who knows....our own version of field days....

Here is Porter playing in the dirt after the ceremony ended.

Dixon gets his 1st Haircut

Well, I waited a longer than a year....but the time had come! Dixon got his first haircut this past Sunday. We had waited until Nanny was available for this time honored tradition! He is no longer a baby....he is all toddler!

He decided about half-way through that he didn't much care for getting his hair cut. Matt came to the rescue...or so he thought. Matt held him and turned him as needed so that Nanny could finish the haircut.

Here is my new boy....doesn't he look so grown? He loves lolly-pops!

Black Friday Shopping

For the past month, someone in my family has been sick in some form! It has been very frustrating...2 of us are back to coughing and now Dixon is getting another runny nose! I am ready to pull out my hair.

This is important because Dixon had not been eating well but sleeping lots during our visit. So about 1 am on Black Friday, he wakes up and is not comforted to go back to sleep. I get up and try to feed him and he finally eats a decent amount of food. This wakes him up completely and I realize he isn't going back to sleep so I decided to check out what it means to shop on Black Friday.

Thanks to my handy dandy GPS, I was able to locate a Kohl's and Walmart. We ventured to Kohl's first and waited in the van until the store opened at 4 am. We made our few purchases and were waiting in Walmart's parking lot by 4:30 am. Once 5 am came around, we left our car and went to get in line at the garden center...it had a shorter line....about 50 yards compared to 350 yards...no kidding!!! About 5 police cars later, the doors open and I experience the madness of this shopping adventure for so many people.

I was able to make the main purchase I was hoping for and after waiting 1 hour and 15 minutes to checkout....we were on our way home....just as most everyone else was waking up. Jason had ventured out before us....he is an old pro at this shopping adventure and had a game plan clearly mapped out...including snacks!

The sunrise was beautiful. It is hard to tell but the parking lot was completely full. These are cars driving up and down waiting for someone to leave.

Here is proof that Dixon was wide awake and completely enjoying our shopping adventure. They even had a McDonalds in the store so he ate pancakes while we waited to check out. That was a good thing too since it took forever!

Fun at Marbles (Childrens Musuem)

One of our fun trips was to take the kiddos to a children's musuem. They had a blast and we were all exhausted from the fun and excitement of the outing.

Thanksgiving

I am so grateful for the many blessings in my life. One blessing in particular is great friendships! We have the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with our dear friends, The Millers. Now that they are living on this side of the country, we have never missed this holiday except for when Dixon was being discharged from NICU last year. Matt and Jason work on home projects at the hosting home. Mary Mike and I catch up and watch the children play.

We had a wonderful visit and the children enjoyed their time together just as much as we did.

Matt and Jason worked really hard and accomplished a lot being manly men!

Here is Porter and Graham, having a blast together as new best buddies! Mary Mike and I quickly learned that 2 boys can get into lots of MISCHIEF!! We still do not know how they came up with their many 'great ideas' !

Porter, Graham and Easton....thinking up new plans!

Henderson Thanksgiving BBQ

For the past 20+ years, my family has had a tradition of getting together on the Saturday before Thanksgiving at my father's home for a BBQ feast. Dad starts cooking days in advance...Mom cleans for days before and after!! It is a treat for everyone and one of the family get-togethers that I look forward to all year long! I think the best part of this tradition is visiting with our cousins, aunts and uncles.

This year was a special treat because Cousin Kathy and her family was stopping over in Georgia from Minnesota and my cousin Elizabeth and her husband Richard were able to come from South Carolina.

We missed spending time with Jennifer aka Scooterhead and Jared and Carl! Maybe next year....

I did get to play games and almost won....those darn dice wouldn't land properly for me...I think Jason spoke a hex on them!!!