Thanksgiving '09

We were so excited to spend Thanksgiving in Baxley, GA with Mom and Dad Keeter, and Phillip and his family. We hadn't seen Mom and Dad in a long time, and hadn't seen Phillip since he got back from Iraq. Trisha and Amy and their families also got to come down as well. Only Betsy couldn't make it. We really missed them!

But we had a great time eating, playing games, going hunting and riding the mule. It's so crazy how well the cousins get along.

Phillip had told me that he had a surprise for the whole family. Right before the Thanksgiving meal, he informed us that he had requested a special ceremony in Iraq honoring Papaw Keeter for his years in the Navy. So the officer in charge took 6 American flags (one for each of our families) and flew it at their base in Iraq. Then the officer signed an official document stating that the flag had been flown in honor of Papaw, and then it was folded - like you would see at a funeral. Phillip presented each of our families with the flag. We all got choked up when we saw it. We still miss him so much. I don't think we have gotten used to the fact that he's not with us any longer. I was so proud of Phillip that he went through the effort to have this done for us! I can't wait to get it framed and hang it up.

Phillip and Trussie were amazingly patient having so many people in their house. It's such a beautiful and comfortable house. It definitely was a weekend to remember!

Bailey is 9!

Bailey's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. So she had to go to school, even though she thought that was totally not fair. :) I got her a little ribbon that read "Birthday Girl." She got to wear that to school.

When we got home, she opened her gifts and then we took her out to eat. She decided she wanted Mexican food, so we went to Cancun. It was quite a fun day!

By the way, I'm trying out a new way to post pictures on the blog, so let me know what you think. If you just click on the picture below it will start a slide show of all the birthday pictures.

The reason for this post...because Chase is so funny!

My Baby Turns 7!!!

Chase had his 7th birthday yesterday. How lucky is he that it fell on a Saturday?? So far we've just had family get-togethers for his b-day, but this year I decided to let him ask over some friends. He invited Stephen and Chandler. (Ben couldn't come.) So they came over around 4 pm and we grilled hot dogs and ate Star Wars cake!

Since Bailey's birthday is 3 days away, we decided to combine parties. So she invited some friends over as well. Only Simone was able to come, but we had a great time! She wanted a cookie cake with flowers, which was very easy to make!

We started out the morning by having a birthday breakfast - complete with candles!

The kids loved having cinnamon bites for their special breakfast.

Chase & his "loot."

GI Joe and Star Wars were the order of the day!

Ohhhh - Leggos!

Daddy picked out this football. Fun!

Here's his cake. I ended up using some of his gift wrapping paper for the picture (and just backed it with plastic wrap). The only thing I had trouble with was the icing. It didn't write very well!!

This picture just cracks me up because you can see his little face at the very top. I was trying to get a closeup of the cake and he wasn't about to miss a chance to get in a picture!

Here's Bailey and her cookie cake.

Sydney, Simone and Bailey

Stephen, Chase and Chandler

I'm so glad Betsy and Eli got to come!

Aunt Trisha helping serve.

Bailey and Chase ready to open gifts!

Another picture to totally crack me up!

Eli had only had a 1 hour nap and was SOOOOO tired.

We didn't plan to match today!

Towards the end of the day, they were getting crazier and crazier!

Settling down with the action figures. Ahhhh!

Bailey and Sydney playing Battleship.

Funny Quotes of the Day...

Chase: Mommy, when Chandler gets here I'm not going to go crazy and be wild. Wanna know why?

Mommy: Yes!

Chase: Because I'm 7 now and I'm going to obey.

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Chase: Mommy, when I turn 8 I'm going to start calling you "Mom", but not until then.

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One of Chase's gifts was a skateboard. Randy and I took him out to the driveway to practice and it was hard! After several minutes we decided to take a break and come inside. Chase was looking pretty dejected and said, "Well, at least I'm 7!"

Guess Who's Toothless Again???

Final Soccer Games...

We had such a rainy season for soccer this year. We had to postpone or cancel games and practices for several weeks. But we finally made it to the end and I was pleased with how Bailey and Chase had done.

This was Chase's first year and you could tell he was having a blast! He has been watching Sydney and Bailey play for several years now, so he knew exactly what to do.

These boys just had TOO much fun!!!

Bailey was amazing for her last game. She made a goal that was so impressive I just couldn't believe it. She really did "bend it like Beckham!" Everyone kept saying how awesome that goal was. What a great way to end the season!!

Halloween Fun!

The kids had so much fun dressing up this year! Sydney informed me it would probably be her last year to dress up. (I'm tearing up now! Is she really that old??)

Our church had a Fall Festival again this year. I took the kids by myself (a first!) and they did great. It was indoors, so it made it easy to keep up with them. Sydney actually found a friend and took off. I ran into Amy Saunders, so Bailey and Morgan hung out together. All in all, it was a fun night!

Sydney as Cleopatra, Bailey as a Renaissance Princess, and Chase as a Knight

Sydney wanted me to take a picture of her makeup.

Me - no costume, thank you very much!

Wendy Merrill - in FULL costume!!

Sydney got her face painted.

Chase did too.

Sydney with some friends.

Chase and his SS teacher - Mrs. Diann.

Bailey - after getting her face painted.