Christmas Program

BeBe came up for a Christmas visit to see the girls program at school. We had a great visit! She brought gifts from Jeannie that the girls immediately ripped apart. They slept in their new pajamas and here Ava is wearing her Christmas headband.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving at my mothers this year, which is our tradition. It was a great few days and as always - Betty delivered. We drove down Wednesday night after work and had a late dinner with her and Mike.

True to Lee's nature when we got up, he put Ava to work in the backyard.

Here she is blowing off the back patio.

and raking... a lot...

We watched the parade and enjoyed seeing some of my mom's customers, Gloriana. She texted them and told them they looked great - and they texted right back... from the float!

We relaxed on BeBe's porch. Lee insisted we take Rainey - the new puppy. BeBe was soooo excited. Not really. Nor was his mother on Saturday when she had to drive us back!

Ava in her handmade Thanksgiving hat, complete with Turkey Legs on the sides!

Everyone had their favorites - and BeBe makes it look like it only took a few minutes. My kitchen would never recover. The mess and the time this would take me - well lets just leave it at that. We are always amazed at how she makes it so effortlessly!

The hostess... and EVEN Joy came!

Mary Catherine, Reed, Grace Anne and Ava.

After dinner Jeannie, Jack, Brack and Taylor came over to visit. Always soooo good to see them!

Later we drew names for Christmas and played board games. Grace Anne taught us a new game called "Who Knew" which was a hit. I tried to teach a game - but it didn't exactly take off.

And the Binkley's slept.

Trick or Treat???

How very far behind I am. Here I am in the Christmas spirit, but I know that I must post pictures from Halloween! Now that we are all settled into the farm, I felt like I needed to let the girls have a Halloween party for their classmates. It was a fantastic night. Pam and I combined our decorations and created a very spooky party, in "The Grove" behind our home. Lee built a wonderful fire to keep us warm. Trick or Treat!

Grace Anne was an adorable Gypsy.

Cousin Clara was Witchy!

Hagan Cowgirl'd around.

Madi was Scarlett herself.

Ava was the Indian to Hagan's Cowgirl.

Dr. Bart told Ghost Stories.

And we just had fun. We stayed up late with Anne & Christian around the fire laughing and telling stories. The scariest part of the evening? The fact that my "costume" was my everyday wardrobe. As Christian said, "It's Holly, just taken up to 11."

The Weather Outside is - GORGEOUS

Oh how I love this time of year. We went to a dinner party last night and when we opened the door to go out to our car we were stunned by how much snow had fallen! I took a few photos when we got home - because it absolutely brought me to tears how pretty it looked. I love the cold air, the wet flakes on my face, and most of all, I love the silence of snow falling. I stood outside by myself for awhile, just admiring and feeling the Christmas Spirit.