Christmas on the River

The first weekend in December, a group of us went to Christmas on the River in Demopolis, AL. During the day they have a flea market and parade. We got there mid-morning and did some shopping at the flea market and then got a good place to watch the parade.

Blaine, Seth, and Hannah waiting for the parade

The boys did not want to get their picture made!

watching the parade

Country music singer Ashton Shepard was the Grand Marshall.

They had some really neat floats

the carousel

After the parade we all ate mexican and got checked in the hotel. We had a party to celebrate a sweet little girl's birthday! Reagan turned 4 that day!

That afternoon we found our way to the banks of the Tombigbee River for Christmas on the River.

The kids all got swords that glowed in the dark, which kept them occupied until the parade started.

There were some really pretty floats....

an angel

a house and tree

This was a dragon made by putting several boat together. Flames came out of the dragon's mouth and his tail moved. It was really neat!

After the parade, we ate supper and went to bed. We were all so tired! Sunday morning we got up and ate breakfast at Cracker Barrell in Meridian and headed home. It was a fun trip!

30th Birthday Weekend

Last Friday morning Suzanne, Ginger, and I headed south to Foley, AL for our annual shopping trip. This year we coordinated it with my 30th birthday which was last Monday. After a few stops along the way, we got to Foley around 2:30 and started shopping! Later we checked into the hotel and then went to LuLu's for supper.

It is a really fun place to eat. There was a live band and we were right in front!

I ate grilled shrimp and fries and they were SO good! There is a big difference in the shrimp there and here! Thanks girls for the delicious supper!!

After shopping some more, we were ready to call it a night! We were all worn out! Suzanne was getting caught up on facebook!

Ginger... Saturday morning we were up bright and early to get started. After breakfast at Cracker Barrell we hit the outlets again. We got so much done! We couldn't leave town without eating at Lambert's!! We ate a late lunch at Lamberts and hit the road to Mississippi! I got home around 9:00 Saturday night. We had such a fun weekend and got a whole lot of shopping done, too! Sunday night was our church Christmas program. I have pictures to post (hopefully) soon! I am so far behind posting!

Monday was the big birthday...3-0!! Suzanne had decorated my office for me! She had balloons and signs everywhere!

It was a good day! Neal took me out to The Ruster for a birthday supper Monday night. It was really good!

Oh Christmas Tree....

On Thanksgiving each year after we eat lunch, we go in search of the perfect Christmas tree. (I'm behind on posting!)

We drive by the Christmas tree farm most every day, and Blaine has been looking really hard for the perfect one.

Is this the one???

It didn't take long to find it!

Notice the short sleeved shirts on Thanksgiving! It was so hot that day!!

Waiting for the workers to get back with the tree.... Picking out our real tree is one of several traditions our family looks forward to each year!

Couples Trip to Death Valley

Last Saturday morning, a group of us went to Baton Rouge for the LSU/Ole Miss game. This has been in the works for several months now. I think we all had a blast!! Chasity, Becky, and me on the way to the game from the hotel.

Our hotel, the Marriott, from the stadium. I think it was like 3 miles away.

Our crew: Jewett and Becky, Chris and Chasity, and Neal and me

The Ole Miss fans! Ha! They were the only ones that didn't wear LSU colors!

We are big MSU fans, but pulled for LSU on the trip!!

The stadium

Welcome to DEATH VALLEY!..We had to walk SO far to get to the stadium and then walk up several stories to get to our seats!!

It was the perfect day for a game, although, it was so hot that afternoon. We got sunburned and then were freezing by the time the game was over!

LSU warming up

Ole Miss warming up

the mascot, Mike VI

LSU getting "fired-up" before the game!!

The band's pregame show

TOUCHDOWN....LSU!!! This was the first touchdown of the game!

TOUCHDOWN....OLE MISS!! It wasn't long until Ole Miss scored!

I didn't take many pictures throughout the game. The game was so good! We couldn't have picked a better one to go to!! LSU barely pulled it out by a touchdown at the end!

It took us forever to find our vehicle and get out of that huge campus!! We finally decided on a place to eat. I don't think any of us enjoyed it, though!! We were all so tired when we got to the hotel. We were in bed by a little after 11:00. Neal and I had some college kids staying across the hall from us and they partied ALL night. That is until security came for the 2nd time. They were running down the hall, thowing apples, hollering, and beating on our door! We knew they were throwing apples because there were half eaten apples all down the hall the next morning. I think they finally quitened down around 3:oo am. Chris and Jewett were so nice to schedule Neal and me a wake-up call for 6:00 Sunday morning. I could have killed them!! haha!! We got back home around 3:oo Sunday afternoon. Jean Jean and Grandaddy were so nice to babysit for us. We all had a really good time!! It was so good to get away without kids for a couple of days!

1st Tooth

Blaine has had his 1st loose tooth and finally pulled it last Friday night. We were eating at Big Bill's and I asked him if it had gotten any more loose. He started playing with it and it just fell out! He was so surprised and happy that he had pulled it all by himself!! The tooth fairy came and brought him money. He said that he thought he should get $100, but we informed him that it wouldn't be anything close to $100!!