A Visit with McKenna

Rylan and I headed out to mom's to see McKenna Grace this afternoon. We were supposed to help her put up her tree..but Sam and BobbiJo already had it done. Usually when we put up the tree..someone either ends up with the tree on them, falling off the coffee table, or peeing their pants. It's an adventure for everyone to enjoy!! The only thing that happened this year was the star falling off the top of the tree and busting all over the place. We all jumped, including McKenna!

'Yes We're Closed'

After being stuffed two times on Thanksgiving day, we didn't think we'd quite had enough..so we headed to the Gypsy to 'Yes We're Closed'. We had a great time! We were able to visit with Tom, whom we haven't seen since vacation!!

And of course it is always great to see Jesse when he's in town! He's by far one of our favorite people to hang out with!(along with you Erin!!)

And a picture of all the girls!

Thanksgiving

I know it's been 3 weeks since I've posted..but if you know how busy I am..you understand completely! Thanksgiving went well. We had lunch at Grandma Cummins' and supper with the Rusk's. The guys were glued to the TV until it was time to eat.

McKenna Grace was cute as ever in her little red dress! She was loved on by everyone..probably a little too much! :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!

A Frolicking We'll Go

We were supposed to put up Christmas lights at Mom's today. It's a tradition! We all get together and spend an entire afternoon decorating the outside of her house with lights. We've done this for years! Even whenever we were in high school..we'd skip school (I know, we were bad kids!!!) and surprise her by having all the lights hung before she'd get off work. But..mom sorted through her lights this year..and after finding that half of the strands do not work..she decided that she didn't really want to do lights this year. ARGHH!! I'm still frustrated about it. People look forward to driving down the highway and seeing their house all lit up for Christmas. And besides..their house looks beautiful with lights on it! Bah Humbug!

So instead..we spent a few hours in Amity today frolicking in the woods and down by the creek and walking the trails.

Me, Rylan, Bart, Jen, Mom, and Lainey had a great day outside in the beautiful weather. We walked by and around the Sycamore forest where the Sycamore trees are growing so thick, you can't even walk through them.

I found lots of grasses that I want to cut and dry and put in an old crock on my front porch. They both have a little bit of fuzziness to them and they're absolutely beautiful to look at in the sunlight.

I found a really cool tree to climb..or shimmy up. Pretty sure I stripped the tree of all it's bark. I scooted the entire way across the tree..I wasn't tall enough to hold onto the branches above me like Jen was.

I finally made it halfway across where Jen and I stopped to chill for a bit.

Then we were off to the other end of the tree where we could hop down. Or at least that's what I thought I could do..but not so much. I'm not the most graceful person..as you can see in the picture below. I was freakin out because I was laying on my side about to fall off the tree..trying to figure out how I was gonna get down..and it was a longer drop than I thought.

But eventually..I jumped down and nearly landed on Rylan's shoulder. Jen is a bit more graceful than I am..and she came down with a little assistance from Bart and no major problems. I love days like today! No agenda to stick to..nothing to rush home to do..just a leisurely day of frolicking in the woods.

A trip to Nashville...

...is soon approaching! In a little over a month, we will be heading to Nashville to see Garth Brooks in concert! Yes...you read correctly! GARTH BROOKS!! He is performing 7 straight nights in the middle of December to raise money for the Nashville flood.

Rylan, Jen, and I tried for nearly 20 minutes Saturday morning before finally getting 6 tickets for his Thursday night concert! Bart, Jen, me, Rylan, Sam, and whoever Sam decides to take, are going to spend Thursday and Friday night in downtown Nashville. We are planning to relax and do some sight seeing..no shopping!!!! Jen and I both were jumping up and down and screaming our lungs out when she was finally able to get through and order all 6 tickets! It will be a much needed little vacation! We are overly excited and feel VERY lucky to even have gotten tickets.

Growing up with a family obsession of Garth Brooks only makes this concert that much more special! Dad was more than obsessed..which rubbed off on all of us! I can remember when Mom and Dad took Jen and I to our first and only Garth Brooks concert. I was probably 7 and Jen 9. We were SO excited and I remember being in the brown van while we were driving to the concert...and Mom and Dad gave us Little Tikes yellow binoculars. I remember using them during the concert..and I remember the energy in the air. Oh! I remember that he gave a little girl his guitar..other than that..I'm not sure I can recall much. But I remember he was awesome and put on a great show!

Anytime I mention Garth Brooks, Mimi has to tell the story of me when I was little. I was staying the night at her house..I'm gonna guess I was about 10 years old..because I think this was said when I was at her house watching Garth on TV, performing his concert in Central Park. Mimi says that while he was singing...I looked over at her, with my feet propped up on the couch, toes wiggling in excitement..and said " Look Mimi! Garth Brooks makes my toes twinkle!"  That has always been the joke when I mention him. So I called Mimi after we got the tickets and told her the news..and that my toes would get to twinkle while watching him LIVE in concert this time! She just laughed at me.

Katie VanBlaricum - Bloopers

Katie has many facial expressions that made me laugh as I looked through these. I deleted most of them but kept a few of the pictures that made me laugh and decided to share some that I intentionally took of her!

Katie VanBlaricum - WRHS Senior

Katie wanted to get some shots at the Embarras River on her 4-wheeler this time around. So we headed north on a road-trip to go to a place VERY familiar to me...Rafetown. Her pictures up there turned out absolutely awesome! The wind was a little frustrating, but we worked with it and made sure we had a good time during her session. My favorites are of her in the blue flannel!

Katie Miller - WRHS Senior

Katie did a great job during her session this past Saturday. We had to battle with the wind and chilly weather, but we pushed through and I was able to get some awesome shots of her. She's almost 6 months pregnant and you would never know it. She's such a tiny little thing! I love her blue eyes!!