Our Papaw

Our Papaw went to be with the Lord Saturday night.  Although he lived a long and wonderful life it was quite a shock to all of us.  Our hearts are heavy, but we find great comfort knowing that he is with Jesus experiencing a perfect peace and reuniting with those that have gone before him.  Him and my Mamoo would have celebrated their 70th anniversary come March and he was so proud and talked about it every day.  He was the most loving, patient, funny, and humble man.  We are all better for knowing him and are greatly blessed by the impact he made in our lives.  He was a true American hero that served his country well.  We will all miss him dearly, but will reunite with him one day and for that I am truly thankful!

You can read his obituary here.  We will be celebrating his life with family and friends tomorrow.

A verse that comes to mind when I think of my Papaw is:
Matthew 23:12
"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Mamoo and Papaw with my Dad on his 60th birthday

Me and the girls with Mamoo and Papaw Easter 2012 - I love how he'd wave at the camera :)

Mamoo and Papaw with ALL their grandkids and great-grand kids - 10 girls and finally a boy!

Love, love, love this picture of my grandparents together

Santa Visit 2012

We went to visit Santa this evening.  It went MUCH better than I expected (re: Ava).  She does not like any type of dressed up person or character.  When we went to Disney (another post I hope to do soon) she was fine with them as long as she could keep her distance and didn't have to touch them so sitting on Santa's lap violates all her "character" rules!   All week she said she didn't like Santa (even when she saw Santa figurines) and that she was not going to sit on his lap.  But she did!!!  I'm so proud of her.  She had a legitimate fear and she faced it.  I'm learning more about her complex personality every day and today she showed great courage.  I know it might sound corny, but she came a really long way today.

MA couldn't have been any more excited to see Santa!!  She was so supportive and encouraging to Ava and  equally proud of her little sister hanging in there.   Love these two girls so much!!!

Mad that Daddy put her on his lap!

Maybe if I yell loud enough I can get down

Settling down and distracted by the guy shaking the Elmo doll

No smiles from Ava, but we'll take it!  Sweet MA loving every minute!

As Santa and MA discuss her 1 request, Ava is a little unsure about his arm around her :)

MA telling Santa how old she is (3)

MA excited about asking Santa for a Rapunzel doll

Ava telling Santa she wants a "present"  specifically a "pink present"

Excited about their candy canes afterward!

"New" Swing set

So about a month or so ago my parents neighbor was looking to get rid of their play set in their backyard. So they so graciously went over and took the whole thing apart for us and trucked it around the block to their house! And this past week we hauled it home and put it together (thanks to our good friend Jeremy for helping!).

To say the girls were thrilled would be an understatement!! We've enjoyed the last few days of playing outside with the warmer temps, but I guess winter is here! Pretty sure the cooler weather won't keep the girls inside. We'll just have to bundle them up!

Need fashion help?

I have a pretty fun friend named, Sherri who is starting a new career as a Partner Stylist with Edit by Lauren (with my other friend, Lauren :) ).  They offer wardrobe consulting, closet makeovers, personal shopping and more.

Check out Sherri's official announcement about her new venture!  So excited for her and Lauren!

MA - Photo Shoot :)

This girl has got so much spunk!  Don't know what I'm going to do with her.  She makes me smile :)

Just so I remember she asked me to take all these photos so she could see her silly self!

Ava's 2nd Birthday Party - The Details

As I mentioned in my previous post we did a Dr. Seuss themed party for Ava's 2nd Birthday.  It was my most fun party to date (out of all 5 of them ;) ha!).  It was so much fun and just what I needed to help release my creative juices that I can't or don't tap into as often as needed.

Decorations on the front porch column

The party favors.  Each family received a board book and some candy.

Happy Birthday to you book (By Dr. Seuss) for guests to sign

The cute little rhyme my cousins came up with to ask people to sign the book

Dessert table

Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes with the first set of "hair"

Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes (with new "hair" on top of the old cotton candy that dissolved into the icing!)

Yertle's Caramel Turtles

Sally's Sweets

Happy Birthday Banner!

Drink table

Food Table

Green (deviled eggs) and Ham

Ten Apples Up On Top

Hop on Pop "corn"

There's a Wocket in my "Pita" Pocket

Table Centerpiece