Happy Birthday Clay!

Happy Birthday Clayman!
Love you more than you'll ever know!
So very thankful God gave you to us!

The Fry Guys?

Just another pic of a tree....that really looks like the Fry Guys. Remember the old McDonald's Characters from years ago? Ok, well you'd have to add big eyes, socks & tennis shoes, but with a little imagination but that's exactly what I thought of when I saw it!

Chandler's Cross Country

Wanted to share a few photos of Chandler's Cross Country team!

Great group of kids!

The goofy photo!

Running @ a meet!

Great Pic!
All the kids harassed Chandler because it took him FOREVER to decide on his pose!
Love that kid!

Clay's Birthday Party

With Clay's birthday being so close to Christmas, we always try to have the party early so that it doesn't get caught up in everyone's Christmas plans. We planned a skate party. We invited a few close friends & family...those make the best parties & had a great day!

We started the party by decorating our own mini skateboards.

The boys loved this! They were very creative!
I wasn't sure how this would go, but they all really liked getting to create!

Clay's Skateboard cake!

Tom & I created a simple skateboard for the day!
It turned out really cute!

Clay blowing out the candles!

We got this banner for the party & for him to hang in his room!

He was super excited about it!

We took the kids down to the local elementary school to ride skateboards, scooters, & bikes. They played & had a great time!

Clay swinging on the catwalk!

The boys posed for the pic.
Great group of boys!

Ever Wondered???

On our quest to find a dog, we saw this building & had to stop in the road to get a picture....so just in case you ever wondered where the elves were stored....they're in Cabot, AR!

Duck Fever

Clay got to go duck hunting for the first time! He loved it!
Got a spoonbill! Tom grilled it up for him! Delicious! He is hooked now!

Our First Dog

We have a story....Clay wanted a dog. He's wanted a dog for over two years. Every day I hear...I wish I had a dog. Honestly, every day. I'm NOT exaggerating! Everyday. Finally he wore me down. He is his father's child. I was the final hold-out. I did not want another eating, breathing, pooping being in my house.

We had a friend who had talked to us about giving us one of their dogs because they had 3. They decided they couldn't part with their little husky....so....last Friday I took Clay to the mobile adoption unit to look at dogs. He was grinning from ear to ear. We looked at 3 different animal shelters & ended up choosing the first dog we saw from the first mobile unit. A lab pit mix we think.

He's the best dog. Very sweet. Has only barked once...a big deep Whoof! He's house trained! Sits! And is very well mannered! He is the best dog....he's wonderful. Clay gave him his name: Drake Remington!

Drake coming out of the cage after his surgery @ the shelter!

Clay chose an orange collar for him. It looks beautiful with his brown coat!

Clay & Drake & the shelter!

Clay & Drake

Happy Birthday Tom

Happy Birthday Tom! Hope your day is awesome! Love you Lots!
Photo taken on train from London to Holyhead!

A First for Me!

This week I tried something I've never done before. I canned! My grandmothers did it for years, and I've watched & maybe even participated but I've never personally done it! But this week I canned salsa. My cousin, Marty, sent me a recipe so I thought....why not. I borrowed Mom's pressure cooker & got all of my supplies & set to accomplish! I was very nervous because I had NO clue what I was doing but since I can read....I figured...I certainly could figure it out! I ended up with 7 pints of salsa. It's really good & spicy! Tom requested chunky so I did alter my cousins recipe/steps a little. He said he didn't think it was very good....as he was literally drinking it from the bowl. I will share some with some friends....who are not spice-a-phobes b/c the recipe did call for 1 cup of jalapenos! It's really good but as Marty warned...the heat slips up on you! Delicious! I think I will make a "mild" batch for those who can't handle the heat!! I'm sure I'll try this canning thing again. I suppose I need to keep at it until I'm not nervous anymore!!!

What am I?

We always find interesting things at the cabin.
Some we can identify...some we can't.
Any ideas?

This is some type of mushroom....we think...

This was identified by Clay & Ike as snake eggs.
It's some pod/seed of something. Not sure.

These two are the same as the one above.

Cabin Fun

Swinging! Really high!

Love the face!

I surely thought the rope would break!

And there were 3 on a swing......

A bunker for protection....not sure from what....

Deck Time!

Roasting the mallow!

Halloween weekend, we took a trip to the cabin & our nephew, Ike, got to go with us. Clay was super excited. They had an awesome time exploring the woods, creek, & just playing! Ike got to roast marshmallows for the first time. He did a great job! And they got to shoot bottle rockets too! Lots of fun stuff to do at the cabin....that you just can't do in the city!