December 31, 2009
Our Family Christmas 2009
Silas, Jolee and I had our family Christmas on Tuesday night before heading to Alabama on Wednesday. It has become our little tradition to usually, have a nice supper together and then open presents and enjoy the time we have to together, before all the hustle and bustle starts. Well, this year Mama was sick with a nasty cold and being pregnant and tired and all, our sit down nice supper we had together consist of pizza and chips and dip complete with coke for everyone! It was a HUGE hit with Jolee.

We had such a good time, it was so much fun watching Jolee open all her presents and how she got into everyone of them. Her comment for the night, after opening each present was.....it's what I always wanted, how did you know? It was precious! She was super excited, when she pulled out her "moving" toothbrush just like Daddy's, except hers has Ariel on it!

Jolee watching her Belle jewelry box. If you had talked to Jolee, about what she wanted for Christmas this was at the top of her list! Score!


She absolutely loved everything! It was such a joy to Silas and I just to watch her.



Sophie gave her princess walkie talkies, she was so excited. She kept saying, Sophie that is the best present..thank you and gave her hugs!




The camera was a huge hit, she loves taking pictures so now she has her very own. We have pictures of inside of the van, of fences we past on the way to Bama, you name it, we got the pictures! She has had a good time with that camera, I say let her take what she wants and we can always delete them later!





Jolee and Daddy with his new hat she gave him!


A very sick Mama with the beautiful frame Jolee gave me!


Jolee with her "Unitorn" Pillow Pet! This was at the top her list too, she loves that thing! It showed up on my doorstep Tuesday morning and we opened presents Tuesday night, that was cutting it close (due to it being on back order, because I ordered it in Nov.). But it made it here and all was happy!

We even have pictures on her camera of her new microwave!
Another wonderful Family Christmas! We enjoyed watching her open all of her presents, more than we did opening ours...1 that could mean we are getting old, but I think we just love our family and Jolee so much, that's what it is all about. Next year, we will have another little one to add to our family Christmas fun!



December 30, 2009
Our Annual Church Christmas Trip!
(Silas and Brother David)
Our Church loads up every Christmas and heads down to St. Augustine to enjoy the beautiful Christmas lights. And it is beautiful, but don't think for a minute we didn't enjoy some shopping and good food while we where there too!

(Hannah and Jolee)
We all had such a good time, walking the streets, enjoying the scenery and each others company.


Jolee and Carrigan all bundled up in their strollers!


Timothy, Carrigan, Camdyn, John Anthony, and Jolee in front of the huge Christmas tree!



Jolee got the doll she is holding that morning at church, from Sis. Glenda and she has not put her down since. As you can see she went to St. Augustine with us, she went to Bama with us for Christmas, she goes everywhere with us and her name is Chloie. So Sister Glenda, thank you so much for the doll, Jolee loves her!




A family picture!
It was such a fun night and to spend it with people from our church, made it even better!



December 17, 2009
Family Photo Shoot 2009


December 16, 2009
Christmas Creativity!
In between the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, Jolee has made some wonderful yet special crafts to help decorate our house for Christmas. She painted 3 wooden Christmas trees (the colors of her choosing) we hung our rainbow painted tree on our Christmas tree, so surprise Granna, Pappy, MeMaw, and PePaw if yours hasn't came in the mail yet....be looking for it!

And these fun decorations, are templates that I made her and she got to decorate them any way she wanted too! Some as you can see, have glitter, feathers, or stickers on them. We hung those up in our archway. We had such a good time together, working on these projects! She is so proud of the decorations she made. And I absolutely love it, it adds so much and it is her artwork.

Bless her heart, she was watching a Christmas movie in her room but didn't make it to the end. She looked so cute and precious laying there in her Footie Christmas Princess Pajama's!
Jolee loves watching Christmas movies, her favorites so far have been...Charlie Brown's Christmas and Santa Buddies. But if she see's one on as we are channel surfing, she wants to stop and watch it.
Her favorite Christmas songs this year are....Have a Holly Jolly Christmas (or as she says it, Have a Hoggy Joggy Christmas), Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, and Jingle Bells!
Christmas time is such a blast with her!



December 15, 2009
Christmas Parade 2009
A couple of weekends ago, well actually it was the night of the Bama vs. Florida game, you know the game where we beat them. Jolee was in her very first Christmas Parade. But don't worry all of my Bama family and friends, we made sure to watch the first half with our HUGE gator fan preacher and deacon of the church and after the parade, we made sure to go back and rub in who won and who was the SEC champions,etc. After that night, I have earned the name Sister Meanie from my preacher, to which I blamed it on the hormones and pregnancy! But oh how fun it was, and believe me those two would have been at my house beating my door down if their Gators had won.



But anyway, back to Jolee's 1st Christmas Parade. She rode on a float with her dance studio. It was an Angel float, so they were dressed in white and had halo's on and candles to hold. She looked so cute! She loved every minute of it. She waved and hollered Merry Christmas the entire time to all the people standing on the streets. I told her, you don't have to wave the whole time, her reply...oh yes I do. And if some people didn't wave back, she told me about it...Mom, those people did not wave at me. She was hysterical! When one hand got tired she switched to the other hand. She did a great job!


Kaitlin and Jolee on the float. Kaitlin dances there too and also goes to church with us. So loved already knowing someone and a older girl at that.



She saw alot of people from the church, that she knew standing on the streets watching the parade and she got so excited. But, when she saw the McCooks, she was beside herself. After we waved to them and they yelled her name out, she was pumped. Then she said, can we turn this around and go back and see Carrigan again. I tried to explain, parades just go straight, they don't really do U-turns.




Jolee with her teacher Miss. Leigh and her friend in dance class Alayna.





Jolee in front of the float at the end of the parade. She keeps asking, when she can be in another parade, and I told her next Christmas. So she said until then, we can be in our own parade in our van. So, yes as we ride down the road sometimes she says, ok mom stay straight in the parade and I will wave at people.
The joy and fun that children bring to your life is unexplainable!




December 11, 2009
Our Tree
So last weekend, we put up our Christmas tree. Jolee was beside herself with excitement! It was so much fun to watch her this year, she was very much into decorating it, talking about all the ornaments and where they came from and who's ornament is this and what about this ornament? Gosh, it brought back so many wonderful and exciting times of when I was younger and put up the Christmas tree with Joseph, Mom, and Dad. It was always a family thing, that we did together and we would talk about where our ornaments came from and so forth. So reliving it again, through my little girls eye's was so much fun!

Jolee and Daddy!

This year, our tree is different in the way that it is decorated. Jolee loved and was so excited about hanging the ornaments, we let her have at it! So at the top of the tree, we have a star, then it just has lights until it gets within Jolee's reach and then all the ornaments are at the bottom. We let her hang them, where and how she wanted to. So again, our tree....star, nothing, ornaments at the bottom but all the way around the bottom!
And we wouldn't change it, for anything!


I can not even describe to you, the joy Silas and I felt watching her that night. And the joy beaming from her!


Jolee and Mommy!




A glimpse of our tree. Some branches have like 5 ornaments hanging from one branch and her reasoning is...they need their friends to hang beside them at Christmas! Gosh, I love her!





Jolee giving Brennan kisses!
She loves to just go and sit and look at the Christmas tree. So, these days if you can't find her or if she is really quiet, that means you can find here up front, looking at the tree. She also, loves to take her new book that Pappy and Granna gave her up there by the tree...It is a Christmas book that is recorded in their voices, so they read it to her several times a day! Her favorite thing, is at night when Daddy comes home before bed time, they will both go and lay on the couch and talk about and look at the tree! Sweet, Sweet, Memories!



December 7, 2009
Thanksgiving "09"

(Weston)

Thanksgiving is always a busy, busy time when you live out of state and go home and fit in everybody's get together's. It's nothing like Christmas time and all the get together's you fit in then, but still it's a busy time. But we would not trade it for anything. Spending time with our family's is what the holidays are all about. We were actually in Bama the whole week of Thanksgiving this year, which meant I got to fit in some shopping. We (Me, Granna, and my Granmother) took Jolee to the Galleria to see all the Christmas lights and ride the carousal, and she absolutely loved it! We just had an all around wonderful week!



Also that week we got to spend several days with Weston, which Jolee and I loved! Oh my gosh, he is getting so BIG and he is so FUNNY! He and Jolee had a blast together.


Weston and Jolee playing dog. They took turns, putting the leash on each other and leading each other around, it was hilarious!



How sweet are they together. Love this picture!!

I did learn that week, that there is quiet a bit of a difference between little girls and boys. For example: At one point, Jolee and I were snuggled in the recliner watching TV and I look over and Weston is jumping off of the dog cage. At that point, I looked at Jolee and said...Oh no, I'm afraid we are going to have a rude awakening when your brother gets here. Weston is very active, but so very loving too.



Speaking of being loving....Weston giving Brennan kisses!



This was on the way back, from the Ford's Thanksgiving get together. She was exhausted and had played her little heart out. Sleeping with her is... Handy Ba Dandy (you would call him Raggedy Andy, but that deserves a whole post in itself) and Alice, who poor girl has had the flu for about 3 weeks now (clearly her mother, didn't get her the flu shot)!


Cousins Alex, Abbie, and Jolee all bundled up and ready to go outside and play with Grandpa! The Key's Thanksgiving get together was the quietest it has been in years. Only 3 out of the 13 grand kids/great grandkids where there this year. We sure missed everyone, but enjoyed the food and fellowship with the ones who where there.



Granna and Jolee playing in the sandbox, enjoying some "play" time. Mom came after Thanksgiving for a couple of days, to help bring some furniture down and also help me clean out some closets, 5 to be exact! Boy, did we work HARD! Actually, Granna worked really hard. I could not have done it with out her. So we are making progress on making room for Brennan, to come and join us!!




B-A-M-A...Bama all the way!
(Mason and Jolee)
The weekend before Thanksgiving, my little family headed up to Tuscaloosa to go to the Bama game. The night before the game, we spent the night with some of our very close friends..the Kimbrows and got an extra surprise when the Holland family came over too! We all had such a wonderful time, we laughed and talked all night while the kids played and played! Thank you Brian, Corie, Mason, and Evan for a wonderful time, we love you guys!

The next morning, we headed out to enjoy some time on the quad and to show Jolee around campus, before the game. She has all the books about the UA, and when she saw the sights in person, she was so excited and said that is in my book, that is in my book!

Her favorite part of the whole day, was getting her picture made with the UA dancers! She kept asking, where they where during the game? could she go see them again? That is all she talked about and still is talking about! She loved it!


Jolee and Daddy headed to the stadium. I Love this picture!


Run Girl Run!


We met up with Silas's best friend from high school, Ben and his wife Angela.
Jolee in front of the stadium!


Big Al, she like him from afar!



Jolee and Daddy during the game!


Jolee dancing at the game, she really loved it. She cheered and shook her shaker the entire game!



That was a really good game, we came to play that day. Like how we came to play and beat the Gators Saturday night! Can I just tell you, how excited we are that we WON that game! Living in Gator country, it sure was nice to show up to church on Sunday morning and see some of our dear brethren on Sat. night after the game and hear no smack talk coming from them!!!! Jolee ofcourse, wore a houndstooth dress to church yesterday!


Headed out of the stadium, she loves to ride on her Daddy's shoulders!


Jolee infront of Denny Chimes, or as she calls it... the big building that is in her book. She kept wanting to go back and see it. Which you know thrilled her Daddy!

Jolee carrying her and Brennan's souvenirs!
We all 3 had such a great time, that day! I guess I should say 4, because Brennan moved the entire game. I guess it was all the noise, even though Daddy said...he already knew where he was at.... a Bama Game! It was just an all around wonderful, fun family day. We can't wait to go again!