The Fourth Of July

Our family celebrated Independence Day this year by eating homemade enchiladas, refried beans, and salsa. After that we set up chairs and quilts down by the river to watch the fireworks display.

It was nice to have my whole family in town (minus Eric, my brother-in-law) this year for the 4th. We made our Independence Day party a little bigger by inviting the Moore family and our friend, Ray Coast. My mom made 3.5 9X13 pans of beef enchiladas (Tex-Mex style) along with all the other accoutrements that normally accompany a Mexican feast. It was delicious! We only had three enchiladas left over! I was so glad, because I was able to eat all three of them for breakfast the next morning...cold!! :)

After we all ate, we packed up three vehicles and drove to downtown Northport to get a good spot for the fireworks show. We were able to snag three parking spots right next to each other (even though a little silver sedan tried to pull in front of us! Sorry, but a little 4 door piece of junk is not going to get in the way of a mini-van, an SUV cross-over, and a Ford Duel Wheel truck!) Anyway, we set up camp and had a great time!

Ava was scared of the helicopter that circled overhead.

Avery cheesed it up!!

Eli was content to suck on his fingers! He has teeth coming in :)

And Greta needed to fill up her belly!

Gigi got some time with Greta

Brendon was pretty much bored the whole time he was in Alabama!

Ava and Aunt Beet (Britt) had some one-on-one time. Ava would not look at the fireworks that were being shot off around us. It was too loud!

Poor Baby!! She was scared!!

Ava and her Aunt Beet again!

Nathan and Eli

I love this picture! Jeremy is in the middle of saying, "WOW!" Avery is looking at the helicopter that is flying right over us, Ava has her head buried in Nathan's shoulder, Eli looks caught off guard by the flash, and Nathan...poor Nathan!

Gigi, Uncle B (as he prefers to be called) and baby Greta! Greta slept right through all the fireworks.

Uncle B and Ava. So sweet! :)

Avery was so funny!!! She was laughing so hard at all the fireworks that went off! The louder the blast, the harder she laughed!

Ava finally settled down and watched the fireworks. She walked over to Avery's little lawn chair and took a seat.

On the way home from the Fireworks Extravaganza! Both of my babies slept so hard that night!

Playdate With The Taylor's

A few weeks ago, Ava and I made an impromptu trip to see our friends from church. Carla called and asked if we had an hour to spare to come play on the playground in their neighborhood. It was really close to Ava's nap time, but we decided to go play. She had such a great time playing with the rocks and with Luke and Sam. Mrs. Carla is also a lot of fun! 

Her favorite thing to do was transfer rocks from the ground onto the play equipment...

All three kiddos enjoyed the swings...

They had such a good time playing in the sunshine...

Say cheese...

Pictures Of Eli Moore

On Wednesday, I went to visit Maggie, Avery, and Eli while Jeremy was at work. Ava and I woke up early that morning so we could see them for a few hours before she had to come back home for a nap! I got to hold him for quite a while. He is a peaceful, sweet, little baby! When Ava and I were walking out the door, I remembered to get some pictures. Unfortunately, he was crying. Oh well! I guess babies do that! He was still precious!

30 Days of Thankfulness: Day 22

I am thankful for my friend Maggie! Today, I went to her house to get my hair trimmed and my eyebrows waxed. I got those two services for free! Maggie and I have a bartering deal that makes our lives easier. I watch her child for free on days when she has a doctor's appointment, and I get free haircuts! It saves us both quite a bit of money! Since I was stationary for most the time I was at her house, I only snapped one picture. Here is a picture of Avery and Ava playing together:

I am thankful to have made such good friends here in Alabama. I am also thankful that Ava will have Christian friends to grow up with!

A Play Date With Friends

Today, Ava and I had a little two and a half hour visit with some friends. Gabby and Anna Caroline came over to play for a little while so that Rachel could drop some stuff off at the consignment sale. We had a great time playing with toys and watching movies. Anna Caroline and Ava did not really know what to think of each other. They would get close to each other for a few minutes and then crawl away. I think they were a little overwhelmed with another "little person" in their midst! Gabby pretty much kept herself entertained by building a fort out of my couch cushions. She did a great job with the fort!

Here are some pictures of our time together:

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!

 Last week as I was cleaning and organizing some drawers in my bedroom, I ran across the coloring books and crayons that Jeremy always buys me for Christmas. I love to color. I find it to be therapeutic. There were days when I would come home from work and just sit at the kitchen table and color until it was dark outside. It was my outlet!! I am 3 years away from 30 and I still LOVE to color like a little girl! :)

I digress...let me get on with the story! I thought it would be a cool idea to have a coloring day with my friend Maggie. I remember her commenting that she would have been my best friend if we had gone to school together because of all the neat crayons I have. So, I called her and asked if she wanted to get together and color. She cracked up laughing and said, "YES!" Today was our nerdy coloring day (next it will be themed slumber parties!) (for our daughters, of course!) (wink!)

Even though we are adults, it is still fun to act like a kid! 

My tower of crayons!! 216 count, no duplicates (and yes, they are color coordinated) 

 Maggie's cute Christmas elf! 

Avery's masterpiece. If you look closely, you can see the little silver lines. That is Avery's handiwork!

 Avery and Ava playing together on the floor.

We had such a great time getting to visit with Maggie and Avery! We will definitely have to pull out the coloring books and crayons again!