Goodbye 2008

I thought I would make one last post for 2008 since it is New Years Eve and I'm sitting at home with the kids. David is at work and so our New Years Eve will be uneventful. I guess that is what happens as you grow older and have small children.

I was just thinking today about New Years Eve 2000/2001 - how much fun that weekend was. I flew to New York City with my good friends, Becky and Marissa.

We saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and during our visit out there a major snow storm hit the city and it practically brought the city to a standstill. The Mayor came on TV to let the citizens know about the roads and traveling on them and I remember how funny we thought it was that the mayor of New York was on the news regarding it.

Here is a photo of me standing outside in the snowstorm.

They brought out dump trucks and bull dozers and scooped all the snow from the roads into the trucks and then took the snow and dumped it. I'd never seen anything like it - the snow was gone from the roads by the time we were ready for the New Years Eve celebrations.

We really had a great time tromping through the snow and enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. Here is a fun photo of me - requested at the time courtesy of my friend Becky - I am supposed to a be sleeping bum on the subway.

Here we are on Times Square securing our spot to watch the ball fall. Our hotel was just down the street from the ABC Studios that you see on TV with the strolling news - and that is about where we are standing in this photo. Now as amatueur Times Square celebrators, we thought we had to get out there early and early it was. We secured our spot at about 1:00 in the afternoon - and this is where we hung out all day!!! Let's just say as the evening rolled on - we were exhausted from standing there and realized that we pretty much wasted our day - as we could have gotten there much later and still been this close, especially since our hotel was right there!

This was the third time I had been to New York over New Years Eve - the first time I went out there I spent my time with some friends who lived there. They were from the area and had no desire to go out to the area to watch the ball fall. That was back in the early 90's, then I went with my husband and a couple other friends in 1998/1999. We got out there too late and ended up a few blocks away and was part of the celebrations, but didn't get to see the ball fall.

Well, I always wanted to see the ball fall and as close as we were this time - if you have heard the story before, you know the ending...but, if you've never heard the ending to this story - it's a sad one. The ball came down and our family and friends back home were watching on TV to see if they could "spot" us in the crowd...and Becky, Marissa and I were sound asleep in our bed back at the hotel. How did this happen? Well, we had stood out there all day and almost all night, to the point that we couldn't feel our feet anymore and we were downright exhausted. Around 7 p.m. or so, they wanted to head back to our room and I insisted we stay out there - afterall, we came to NY to see the ball fall. Same story at 8, then 9...then 9:30 came and I couldn't take it anymore. We were starving, freezing and it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. We stopped at the deli across from our hotel, got some hot soup, went back to our room, ordered more room service - ate all that food, closed the curtains to our room - this part is the best - you could see the ball from our room, but we were so tired of the ball - we closed the curtains - swore off the ball forever - turned off the lights and went to sleep before Midnight! Unbelievable!

This is what memories are made of and even though I didn't get to totally fulfill my desire to see the ball fall and the streamers coming down - I did get to experience a large part of this and maybe one day...just one day I will actually be there to see the ball drop.

See you in 2009!

Dawn

A Weekend in Review

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas! Our Christmas was very nice and we had a good time with all of our time spent with family.

We spent Christmas Eve with David's parents and the kids had a good time opening their presents. Zach got some money in a maze box and he wasn't too thrilled to know he had to solve the maze to get his money out. It was quite humorous to watch him work at it - but in the end, we ended up prying the money out as noone could get it solved. I think everyone had a good time.

When we got home from our Christmas Eve celebrations, I decided that I would go ahead and get the presents wrapped before I headed to Midnight Mass. This is something that I normally do when I get home, but didn't want to be up much later than I needed to be. Zach, Hunter, Peyton and I went to Midnight Mass and I think both the little ones were asleep before the end of the second readings. Anyone who has been around Peyton when he sleeps knows that he snores - and it's not a little snore either - he snores loudly! Luckily, there was a lot of singing and that helped. Aubrey and Tanner stayed home with David and he had them both asleep by the time we got back. I was glad I had been proactive in the wrapping of gifts, because I was quite tired and still was close to 2 by the time we got the stockings all stuffed and presents all arranged under the tree.

The kids got up around 9 on Christmas morning, which was quite nice after the late night. I put some cinnamon rolls in the oven and we spent time checking out what Santa brought us. I think they all had a great time and enjoyed their presents. Zachary is quite excited about attending a catchers camp next weekend and improving his baseball skills. Hunter got a couple of playstation games and was very happy about that, as he normally has to fight Zach over his games, so to have his own was quite exciting for him. Peyton got some new monster trucks and he was on cloud nine! Aubrey got a princess dress and I don't think she has taken it off much since Christmas! I got a couple pictures of her, but she wasn't cooperating too well and at one point she looked at me, pointed her finger and said "No More Pictures, Momma"! Point taken! Tanner enjoyed his new little remote control puppy and was really into the opening presents this year. It was a nice day for all of us. We spent the day at home and I didn't even get out of my pj's, how nice! I laid down around 12:30 to take a small nap with Tanner & David while the kids were playing and I think I ended up sleeping for 4 hours!

I had to work on Friday, but that wasn't too bad. There was only a couple of us there, which was very nice and productive. It's always good when there isn't anyone there for me to visit with all day - I got so much work done!

Saturday morning I got up and headed to Smithville to take some family photos for a friend of mine at work. They turned out very nice and I'm very excited to show them off to her tomorrow. After I got home from pictures, the kids and I got all packed up and headed down to my parents to celebrate Christmas with my family. The kids were all excited because their cousins were also at Grandma's and they had a good time playing. I spent some time with Brian shopping at WalMart for some things for Sunday's get together. We had a good time and was able to spend some quality brother-sister time together.

The kids and I attended Mass with Grandma & Grandpa on Sunday morning before heading to the Harris Family Christmas with my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. It was a nice time and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Then we headed out to my parents to have our Christmas with my parents and siblings and the kids all had a good time.

The best present came Sunday evening while unwrapping gifts at my parents. My mom opened a card with a picture of some baby feet and the date July 17, 2009 on the card. It took her a moment, but not too long for us to all figure out that my brother Matt and his wife Megan are expecting their first child in July. We are all very excited about this new arrival and I can't wait to meet my new niece or nephew. This will be my parents 12th grandchild - our family events are loud and chaotic, but fun - I can't imagine it any other way!

I hope to have some pictures put on here or Flickr soon of the weekend events - but I'll put a note on here when they are ready.

Until next time...

Dawn

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas wishes to all our friends and family!

We are getting ready to head out in a short bit to spend Christmas Eve with David's parents.

Later tonight, we will head to Midnight Mass for our annual Christmas tradition. I absolutely love Midnight Mass - it is the most beautiful of all celebrations and being that the true meaning of Christmas is Christ's birth - it only seems fitting for us to be there. Of course, we could attend Mass earlier on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning - but this is something special.

We are looking forward to spending a quiet day at home tomorrow, unwrapping our gifts from Santa and playing with our new toys. We will be spending time with my family this weekend and I can't wait to have everyone together. Unfortunately, the military didn't allow Carrie and Tony and family to come home for Christmas, but they will be in our thoughts as we are all together.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and joyous times with family.

Dawn

Stomach Bugs and School Parties

Well, Monday brought me the flat tire and it didn't get any better on Tuesday. I woke up around 3 a.m. to Tanner getting sick. I think he just had some milk that didn't set well on his tummy as it didn't last long - but let me tell you the sour milk smell is awful! I got him all cleaned up and the bed cleaned up and layed back down to go to sleep when he got sick again and I was starting to feel a little uneasy. We headed downstairs and Zach was on the couch watching TV, by this time it was 4 a.m. and I quickly inquired as to what in the world he was doing up watching TV at this time of morning - he just looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm so sick". I called in to work sick and Zach and I spent the day sick together. It lasted right about 24 hours, but it was a rough 24 hours. Tanner was over it by the time his dad got home from work at 6 a.m.
I normally dodge these stomach bugs, but it sure hit me this time. Unfortunately, it was also a snow day at school and I have to say - these two things don't go hand in hand when the sick person is mom! David had worked all night, so he slept all day and the unsickly kids were wild as could be and I had such little energy to deal with it. Zach and I took turns taking naps and watching them. It was quite the day! I'm hoping that David, Hunter & Aubrey are able to keep it away, so far so good.

Today was the boys school Christmas parties. I took off work early to attend them and have a few pictures to post, but will do that later. They had a pretty good time. Hunter's class had made Gingerbread houses yesterday - this was going to be part of the festivities today, however, his teacher was afraid of the impending weather that they wouldn't be at school today, so they did them a day early. They had a good time though, they made a snowman out of apples and marshmallows, played a little game and had some snacks.
When Hunter's party was over, I headed down to the Early Childhood for Peyton's party. They also made little Gingerbread houses and then proceeded to eat them. It was much fun for them and they had their fair share of sugar.

So, I have to vent a little again...sorry, but while at Hunter's party one of the mom's was talking about how bad she was feeling and how her son had been sick, but she didn't want him to miss the party. I just said, I sure hope no one catches it from you - since I had it Tuesday and know how miserable it was. I sure wouldn't have went if I had been feeling bad. This is unfair to the children by exposing them and to the adults, as well. I'm hoping I'm immune since I just had it - but seriously, a little common sense is appreciated!

Aubrey informed me this evening that she wants to go to preschool like Peyton does. I told her that she would be able to go next year when Peyton starts Kindergarten and she seemed okay with this. I told her she needed to enjoy her time at home with daddy and Tanner because school would be starting soon enough. She just said - Okay mommy. She's so funny.

I have finished up my Christmas shopping and am looking forward to spending time with our family over the holidays. I have been a little behind in decorating and we STILL don't have our Christmas tree up - but, this is a top priority this weekend and it will be up before Santa arrives, so we will be okay.

I will post some pictures of the boys at their Christmas parties later.

Take care...

Dawn

Brrrrrr, It's Cold!

Wow - is it cold or what! We had a team luncheon today at work, but it was later than normal. We left around 3:30 to head to Stroud's for the rest of the day. I headed out to my car and hopped in and went to drive one of my co-workers to her car, my car didn't seem like it wanted to go, which I understood as cold as it was. Well, I quickly figured out what the problem was - flat tire! Luckily, I didn't drive too far through the parking lot and lucky for me the security guys are used to helping out with car problems. The security guy, Michael, was so nice and acted like it didn't bother him a bit - even with the temperature. I think I owe him some brownies or something along those lines to thank him for helping me out.

Peyton stayed home from school today. He was feeling much better after being sick yesterday, but I felt like I should adopt the 24 hour rule. David said he had a good time at home today, but I think Aubrey missed being the "big" kid at home today with him here. I was happy not to get him out in the cold this morning, but he'll be back to school tomorrow.

Tanner is sure showing his personality lately and it's so much fun watching him become such a little boy and not quite the baby anymore. He loves to dance and is so cute. I will have to catch him on video sometime to post - it's just too adorable. Just a little story about Tanner, he does not like to be covered up with blankets - never has. But...he likes to have a pillow and sometimes will want to be covered up with a pillow, it's the strangest thing (in my opinion). He just disappeared for a moment and just walked back up dragging along my pillow - so now he's sitting on the couch next to me with this pillow covering up his legs. He also seems to have "adopted" a couple of my blouses - he carries them around with them everywhere, like his favorite blankie, only it's my blouse. I wonder how he would feel if I decided to wear them. I wonder if it's his "security blanket" of sorts. I don't know, but it's funny.

I thought I'd share a few pictures of Tanner from the past couple days. The first one is from our "Cowboy's" photo shoot and the last two are from our visit to the Bass Pro Shop when we went to see Santa.

I hope everyone stays warm on these cold days!

Dawn

Happy 82nd Birthday Grandpa! Two big events, two days in a row! I hope that you had a great birthday and many more years to come! :)

I thought the weather was supposed to be a little warmer this afternoon and not get colder until later - I guess they had that forecast incorrect. We stayed in most of the day though and missed Mass this morning because Peyton isn't feeling well. He has a little stomach bug that I hope he keeps to himself and doesn't share with the rest of us.

We did take some pictures this afternoon of the kids in their Cowboys gear and then I made the picture below and ordered it for David for Christmas. I think he will love it! Every one cooperated and I was pleased to get at least one picture of them all together. I am so excited that I want to show him the picture now, but Christmas is 11 days away - I think I can hold off.

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend and stays warms with this blowing cold weather.

Stay safe...

Dawn

The Christmas Miracle

The kids and I met up with my friend Lori and her kids today for a fun day. We went to the Bass Pro Shop here in Independence to see Santa! The kids were so excited and Lori and I were looking forward to it, although, we both agreed we would probably walk out of there today wondering "What were we thinking"? Well, the good news is that we walked out of there not thinking that at all! We were so proud of all 8 of the kids - they were so good!

Now, for my Christmas Miracle - I can never get a good picture of all five of the kids at once. In every picture, there is always one that is making a funny face, not cooperating or something. When we arrived at the Bass Pro Shop today, right inside the door is this huge fireplace and they had a Christmas tree decorated next to it. Lori and I decided to take advantage of this scene and take a picture of the kids. The Walker kids went first and did a great job and now for the Bass kids - I'm not kidding you - I have never had a photo go so well as this picture and this is the first picture I took of them!

From left to right: Peyton, Hunter, Aubrey, Zach and Tanner


Maybe they cooperated so well because they knew we were getting ready to go visit Santa. I don't know, but whatever it was - it worked and I couldn't be happier!

It was pretty funny when Lori and I got off the elevator going down to where Santa was located, we stepped off the elevator - there was a line, Zach, Josh and Lily Walker, Zach, Hunter, Peyton Bass, Lori, then I was pushing the stroller with Aubrey & Tanner. This couple was standing there and their eyes got big, they looked at each other and I heard one say to the other, OH MY GOSH! The kids were very well behaved and everything was under control, guess they thought it was a lot of kids for two adults.

The line to see Santa was long and we were not sure we would wait, but we decided to give it a try and it went rather fast. We got our turn to see Santa and here is our picture - not quite as good as the family picture, but classic!

Zachary is trying to hold Tanner, who is crying and trying to get down. Aubrey had her fingers in her face and finally removed them, as we kept calling her name to move them - but had this "off" look on her face, Peyton is watching Aubrey or Tanner, not sure - and Hunter is actually looking forward. It might not be the perfect picture with Santa, but that's okay - this is what memories are made of.

I recommend the Bass Pro shop to visit Santa, I would have never thought about it before, until a friend of mine at work mentioned they had a display out there. There was quite a bit for the kids to do and the photos with Santa were FREE! You can't beat that for an afternoon or evening of free entertainment for the kids.

I posted some new pictures out on Flickr from today's event.

Until next time...

Dawn

Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa!

Happy 61st Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa Harris!

I am so lucky to have such a great family and wonderful grandparents. My Grandma & Grandpa Harris are such important people in my life and I am so happy for you on your anniversary!

Coming later..."The Christmas Miracle"

Until then...

Dawn

"Santa" Messed Up!

I mentioned about how I wanted to take pictures of the kids in their new Cowboy's outfits. I was only waiting for Aubrey's cheerleader costume and when I got home from work last night, David told me I had received a package. I was so excited because we were going to take pictures last night and I just needed to get her outfit out of the box. I opened the box as Peyton watched on...ok, let me just say this - the company name was NOT on the outside of the box and I was expecting the outfit so I proceeded to open and right before Peyton's eyes, we both discovered it was not the outfit I was expecting, but Monster Trucks! The exact Monster Trucks I ordered for Peyton for Christmas. Well, I quickly shut the box and said, oops that wasn't the outfit, but it was too late. Peyton was so excited and I told him that he was imagining thing and that there wasn't any Monster Trucks in that box. He followed me around for 20 minutes begging to open the box - he was certain he saw Grave Digger. David ended up distracting him long enough that I could get the trucks out of the box and replaced it with a random item and then told Peyton he could open the box, he was so excited and when he discovered it wasn't a monster truck, I told him - see, I told you it wasn't monster trucks.
Let me tell you this...I am not raising a dummy - he didn't fall for it. He cried for a while and I convinced him we would let Santa know that he wanted a Monster Truck for Christmas and he seemed okay with this and it hasn't been mentioned since. I don't think the Grave Digger will be a "Santa" gift now since he did see that one, but the bigger truck I ordered he didn't seem to notice, so hopefully everything will be okay.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is a couple weeks away. I am almost done with my shopping, just have a couple gifts left to get. I am done with all the kids except Tanner - he's been the most difficult for me this year being the baby, and the couple ideas I did have I couldn't find in the stores. I hope to finish up this weekend and enjoy the rest of the holiday season. We haven't put our Christmas tree up yet, but have that on our agenda for the weekend. We usually put up our tree around the 15th and then leave it up a couple weeks after Christmas, through the end of the Christmas season.

I had to e-mail Hunter's teacher today because he was so worried about his cupcakes. He just knew he needed to bring them on Friday and was worried we wouldn't get them there. I couldn't seem to convince him that the cupcakes would be taken on the day of the Christmas party. His teacher said she would talk to him and reassure him that it was better to bring the cupcakes on party day, but that the other items that she needed was what she was referring to as far as bringing on Friday. In her reply though, she asked if I would be willing to also bring a bag of large marshmallows as the little girl assigned to them told her that her mom said they couldn't afford to bring a bag of marshmallows. I agreed, but I thought about how sad it is that they wouldn't be able to afford something so small. It made me appreciate what I have. I am always worried about my finances, but this reminded me that there are much less fortunate people than us - a good lesson to think about.

Until next time...

Dawn

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Happy Birthday wishes to my mother-in-law!


Wow, when I drove home from work last night the temperature in my car registered in the 50's and what a change in 24 hours. It was a cold and slow drive home and this is the part of snowy weather that I don't care for. I do think snow is pretty and enjoy it when I don't have to get out in it. David said that the kids went outside for a couple minutes today to play in the snow, but it was so cold that they didn't make it very long. I guess Tanner threw a fit, he stood at the window all excited to see the snow falling, but was quite irritated that he didn't get to go outside with them. I'm sure we will have a snowfall without quite the freezing temps that he can go outside and enjoy it. Aubrey wanted to go outside in her ballerina costume with her coat and boots, but her daddy quickly informed her that wasn't quite possible - they are so funny.

Hunter came home from school yesterday and let me know that he needs to provide cupcakes for his Christmas party at school...only if we can afford it. He said he told his teacher he would check with us to make sure we could afford them. I told him that I didn't think this was a problem, but he was quite concerned about it. I wondered what he might be saying at school and what we would have said to make him believe that we couldn't afford cupcakes. I stopped by his classroom after dropping Peyton off this morning to let his teacher know that we would indeed bring the cupcakes and find out if Hunter was expressing some kind of concern at school. I guess it didn't have anything to do with us or Hunter in general, but that she has stressed to all the kids that if they were unable to afford to bring something for the party, whatever they were assigned, that it was okay and she would take care of that item. Well, anyone who knows Hunter knows that he is a worry-wart - he took this literally and the teacher and I had a laugh about it. I reassured him this evening that we would buy the cupcakes and I think he is feeling much better about this responsibility now. He is truly one of a kind!

Anyone who knows my husband knows how much of a Dallas Cowboys fan he is. It is quite an addiction and I decided for Christmas this year that I would take a family picture of the kids in Dallas Cowboy gear. I got the three youngest boys all a Cowboys jersey and was able to get Aubrey a D.C. cheerleader costume. I was able to get Zach a Cowboys hoodie and was all excited about this - well, today I decided that David might want to be in the pics too, so I spilled my surprised. He seemed excited about the idea though and as soon as Aubrey's costume arrives then we will be working on getting the photo taken. Thank goodness for eBay and the ability to purchase things like this at a steep discount! I'll share pictures when they are complete.

I am happy to announce that for the past several weeks, Aubrey is now 100% potty trained and is even staying dry overnight. We knew she was pretty close, but she just wasn't being consistent. It finally clicked with her and I am so excited! One left - I am looking forward to the day when this expense will end...although, I am still sad that my babies are not so much babies anymore. Tanner has gotten away with a little more than his older siblings, guess that's the baby for you.

I hope that everyone stays warm and is safe if out on the roads.

Until next time...

Dawn

Welcome Natalie Grace!

I would like to welcome Natalie Grace into the world! She was born at 5:01 a.m. PST and weighed 8lbs 9ozs and was 21 inches long. We are very excited about this new arrival into our family and I cannot wait to meet my new niece!

Dawn

I was able to get Aubrey in tonight to get her hair fixed after her self attempt to cut her own hair and here are a couple pictures of her getting it all fixed up.

The before side view of her hair - the sides had been about the same length as the back.

Sitting back and cooperating:
The finished cut - much shorter than what she had before, but she looks so cute with her new hairdo.She actually didn't do too bad of a job - and luckily she left her bangs alone - that would have been a much more interesting hair cut.

While Aubrey was getting her new do - I was visiting with Aunt Barbara and learned that David's cousin Kellie is expecting a new baby. I just think this is the most awesome news. We had an interesting discussion about when people learn that you are expecting and how they react and so as I thought about it more tonight - I just wanted to vent about this. She mentioned to me that it was quite different in the reactions received from people who have large families and those that do not. The larger family responded much more positive than the smaller family.

While I truly believe that our family is complete, I have to admit that my biggest irritation while being pregnant was all the questions that people feel like they can ask - even total strangers.

Questions and how I'd like to respond:

1. Was it planned? Obviously it was in God's plan - so yes.

2. Are you just having more to try and have a girl? I love my boys and if I had five boys - it wouldn't matter to me - I don't love them any less. To squash this one - I had another after my girl - so no, didn't keep having babies just to get a girl.

3. My all time favorite - Don't you know what causes that? I think I might have it figured out.

4. Are you done? Is it any of your business?

5. Are you getting fixed? Ok seriously, this is NONE of anyone's business and I really would like to respond with - I'm not a dog or cat who goes to the vet to get "fixed".

Wow, didn't mean to get on a tangent there, but seriously, why do people feel the need to make such comments. I LOVE my large family and while yes, it has it's challenges I figure that God hasn't given me more than I can handle (although some days, I feel like debating this one with the big guy) - but I wouldn't trade my children or my large family for anything. I even recently heard a comment that David and I didn't have common sense because we had so many kids - well, all I can say to that is - we are truly blessed! God has blessed us in so many ways and I wouldn't trade all the hardships, heartaches, rough times for anything - as, the benefits of a large family far outweigh the cons. I am the oldest of five children, and honestly, I can't imagine life without my siblings. We are all so close and I only hope and pray that my children will be as close as we are. Our family get togethers are such a great time and I attribute that to the closeness felt in a large family unit.

Okay, seriously, now I'm done with that subject! I mainly wanted to say how happy I am for Kellie and her family for their new addition.

Until next time...

Dawn

Happy Monday!

There is one thing that my boys like and that is a nice haircut, always courtesy of mom. I have my clippers and they line up in the bathroom and I try to keep them looking good. Zach is a little shaggy at the moment and needing a haircut, but that will happen soon.

Aubrey and I are the only ones treated to haircuts outside of the home and I just happened to get mine cut on Saturday. I have switched over to David's Aunt Barbara who does a wonderful job...however, Aunt Barbara - I should have brought Aubrey with me Saturday because when I got home today - she had decided to go ahead and cut her own hair! No more piggies for Aubrey...she will be making a trip tomorrow somewhere to get herself all straightened out.

Here are a couple pictures I thought I would share of her new hairdo:

The front/sides - she actually did cut kind of even and she left her bangs alone - I was surprised:
The back - which now needs to be cut as this little section that is all alone back there:

Aubrey and I had a discussion on how we don't cut our own hair and if we feel we need a haircut that we will call and make an appointment.

I met Lori for breakfast on Saturday morning and we had a nice visit. It is always nice to get together with great friends! I wish life wasn't so busy that we could get together more often, but I'll take those moments as I can get them.

I drove to Odessa on Saturday evening to take family photos for a friend of mine at work. I ended up getting pulled over by a policeman in Odessa - it was dark and snowing and as I came up off the exit ramp, I didn't realize the lane I was in actually was for the oncoming traffic. It looked like it was a one-way section - so he pulled me over. He was very nice though, just told me to be careful and sent me on my way. Thank goodness - it would have been bad if I spent all I earned on a ticket!

After I got home from pictures, I packed up some clothes and loaded up the kids and we headed down to my parents. It was a snowy drive, but the roads were pretty good and we made it down there around 10:30. We had a nice dinner on Sunday with a house full of people, lots of laughs and goodtimes were shared by all. My Grandma and Grandpa Harris came out and Grandpa Bearce and JoAnn come down to join us all. My brothers were all there and the only one missing was Carrie and her family, but I called her on the drive home and shared some of the stories and we laughed so hard - so she was able to get some laughs, but of course, we wish she could be here.

Speaking of Carrie, she is expecting a little girl anyday. Little Natalie Grace has a due date of today, but I've heard that she isn't making her appearance quite yet - maybe she will arrive tomorrow to share a birthday with her brother. Happy 8th Birthday tomorrow Brandon!

I had better be going - I need to edit the pictures from Saturday's photo session, as I'm sure she will be wanting to get her hands on her pictures soon.

Here is a picture of my Pilgram Hunter and his placemat he made for Thanksgiving.

Have a great week!

Dawn