Dinner with Channing's Dad

Feeding Popaw a fortune cookie

Shelby made friends with one of the waitresses.
(Imagine that!)

Here we are

John and Kim

Weekend with Family in Texas

We spent the weekend with Channing's family in Texas. It was good to see most of the family. We had lunch with Channing's mom, Angela's family, and Kelsie's boyfriend on Sunday after church. That afternoon some of the family came over to Lillie's house for a surprise. Lillie, with the help of Channing's niece Tara, made a dvd for all of us with pictures of her and the family starting with her childhood. Channing said he hadn't even seen some of the pictures on the dvd! What a great surprise! (Thanks, Lillie! And thanks, Tara, for helping Memaw put it together!) Sunday night we had supper with Channing's dad. Channing's sister, Kim, joined us too. The five of us had a great time together. (Thanks, John, for our Target gift cards! We had a lot of fun shopping!)

A Fun Evening with Old Friends

We had a wonderful evening with some friends from Harding. Travis and Annie Smith, along with their three children, came over for supper. The Smiths have been in Arkansas for Christmas and came to Searcy for the evening. After a yummy supper (I can say that because Channing cooked burgers) and some visiting, Annie and I left the guys and the kiddos for some time together. Annie and I got coffee at Midnight Oil, talking and laughing. What a gift that time was! It has been a long time since it was just the two of us! We both are blessed to have the husbands that we do!

Emma and Shelby

Playing Ring Around the Rosie

Channing and Travis were in Delta Chi together at Harding

Annie and I after an evening out

Pictures in Front of the Tree

Holiday Photo Shoot

We had the pictures below taken on November 9 for a MOPS fund-raiser. Tricia Turner Kauffman is the photographer who took these pictures.

Christmas Morning

Playing with her kitchen

"Santa got me Big Bird!!"

Nona and Papa

"He ate the cookies and milk!"

A Peak at Santa

We had a visit from Santa Claus on Monday night. I was able to grab the camera and get a few peaks. I wonder if I was noticed!

Putting presents in Shelby's stocking

Leaving a present under the tree

Shelby's toy kitchen

Sitting down for some milk and cookies

Writing a note for Shelby

A Visit from the Grandparents

The three of us returned from Tennessee on Sunday. Channing's mom arrived from Texas soon after we got home. On Monday, my parents came to Searcy to spend Christmas with us. Shelby sure enjoyed having Memaw, Nona, and Papa all here at once! It was the first time our parents got to interact with each other since the wedding. We all had a great time together. Below are some pictures taken on Christmas Eve.

Shelby and her new pajamas.

Daddy reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Bringing out the cookies for Santa

Leaving a yummy snack for Santa

Wii

One of Morgan's Christmas presents this year was a Wii video game system. As you can see from the picture to the left, Morgan was very excited to get this! Several of us ended up playing at some point during the night, and really had a wonderful time together. Everyone stayed until after 11 p.m. Who knew a video game would bring us all together like that! :)



Below are some pictures taken during the night. We sure had a lot of fun!

Channing bowled like a pro.

Lisa vs. Channing
Not sure who won this game. They were both pretty good.

Lisa vs. Morgan
It was Lisa's turn, but Morgan liked to practice each time.

I was really surprised to see this score after
playing against Nunda. I really didn't think
I had a chance. She got a lot of strikes!

A Little Red Wagon

Shelby got a new red wagon from Nona and Papa. She was so excited! As soon as the wrapping was off, she climbed right in with her baby doll Kacey. Uncle David gave Shelby and Kacey a ride through the house. Shelby was giggling and waving to everybody! When we got back to Arkansas on Sunday, Shelby asked Daddy for another ride in the wagon. It was cold, so we bundled her up for a short ride. I imagine we'll have a lot of fun in this wagon for years to come.

Tennessee Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Saturday evening. (My nephews Justin and Blake were missed!) After a traditional Christmas dinner, we opened presents. Then we played some games together, which I'll save for another post. This was a wonderful evening spent together. I think everyone had a really great time.

Shelby got this cleaning set from Aunt Nunda's family.
She's already been using it to help me around the house.

Giving Aunt Lisa a hug to thank her for her Cabbage Patch
Kid diapers and Little People Camping Set.

Shelby and Morgan

Uncle David reading I Love You a Bushel and a Peck

Nona LOVES Shelby's "Hallelujah" picture!

Papa opening a present

Memphis Pizza Cafe

Saturday we met a couple of my high school friends at Memphis Pizza Cafe for lunch. Leslie and her husband were in town from Alabama for Christmas. It was a treat to see Leslie again, especially considering the last time I saw her was the fall of 1996! Hopefully we can do it again, and it not be another 11 years from now. Wendy, David, and Chloe met us as well. We missed Kameryn and were sorry she wasn't feeling well. Shelby and Chloe had fun playing together, as usual. It's always fun to see my little girl playing with Wendy's girls. I'm glad we live close enough for them to be a part of Shelby's life.

Chloe and Shelby

Leslie, Wendy, and Deidre

Chloe and Shelby reading a Little People book

Fun with a Brown Paper Bag

While supper was being made Thursday night, Shelby got a paper sack out of the pantry and started playing with it. I saw her trying to put it on her head, so I cut a hole for her eyes and arms. I actually cut holes for each eye, but they weren't in the right place so I had to make one big hole. She loved running all over the kitchen with the sack on her head. Who knew a brown paper bag would be so much fun?

Zoo Lights

We went to Memphis last Thursday to spend the weekend with our family there. That night we went to Zoo Lights and got to walk around for a little bit. Nona and Papa joined us and we had a great time. The lights were beautiful. Shelby had a ball!

Giving Daddy the Eye

Elf Yourself

Go to this site. I think I can guarantee it will make you smile.

Our Weekend

This weekend started off with a wonderful visit from Charles, Julie, and Ryan Kiser. They were in town for his sister's graduation from HU. As usual, Channing and I felt so blessed by our time with them. We are so thankful for friendships like the one we have with Charles and Julie!

After the Kisers left for graduation, our weekend took a turn for the worse. Sometime between breakfast and lunch, Shelby came down with a stomach virus. We must have said, "Bless your heart" a lot to her, because one of the times Shelby was sitting on the potty, all she could say was, "I have diarrhea. Bless my heart!"

Thankfully, Shelby was better by Sunday morning; however, her daddy stayed home from church with her, just in case. I was blessed to hear a powerful testimony by one of my dear friends during class. Thank you, Lara, for sharing with us. I love you!

After lunch, we made the drive to Little Rock to go see Santa. This year went much better than last year! All three of us were in the picture, but Shelby did talk to Santa and blew him a kiss. Who knows how brave she'll be next year! We got more Christmas shopping done at McCain Mall and Target. I am just about done, and am so glad!

Tonight we watched the Survivor finale and were fairly pleased with the outcome. Anybody else out there Survivor fans?

Hope you guys had a good weekend. May you be blessed in the coming week!

Sleepy Girl

Look what we found in the backseat when we got home tonight! We ate supper at the Bull Dog in Bald Knob and got home around 7:15. Shelby was so tired, she didn't even wake up when I took two pictures of her sleeping!

She didn't take a nap today. I don't know what her deal was. I laid down with her, and fell asleep for a little bit...not even 30 minutes. When I woke up, she was just looking at me, eyes WIDE open.

Her daddy carried her inside, put a diaper on her, and put her in bed. She was limp the whole time. She did wake up as he was taking out her barrettes, and whined a little. But she went right back to sleep. Surely she'll be asleep until morning!

Well, I'm off to get ready for our MOPS meeting tomorrow morning. I'm on the steering team and I need to get the questions ready for discussion groups. And then there's a Christmas movie on at 8:00 that I want to watch! Yipee!!

Breakfast with Santa

Saturday morning, we attended Breakfast with Santa at Downtown. Shelby was so excited when Santa arrived! We enjoyed a yummy breakfast with several of our friends and then got a family picture with Santa. Shelby even sat right next to him! She didn't talk to Santa until we were walking away. As I was carrying her off the platform, Shelby turned out to Santa and reminded him that she wants Big Bird for Christmas! Santa better not forget!

Shelby and Danny Isom, one of the Shepherds at Downtown

Shelby and Daddy eating eggs, ham, biscuits, and gravy
(Channing's fleece sure makes his belly look big in this picture!)

Too Cute!

The other day, Shelby wanted to watch the Veggie Tales video, The Toy that Saved Christmas. She got comfy on the couch like this all by herself and asked for all of her babies. She is just so sweet!