Christmas Eve 2011

Although Christmas was two weeks ago, the specific memories had already begun to fade.  As I looked back over these pictures, I was reminded of how exciting and fun Christmas truly was. Of course, two special little boys had a lot to do with that fun!

I decided to share our memories in chronological order... we celebrated for two days straight, so here we go...

Christmas Eve morning began the fun with breakfast at my mom's.  The boys were overjoyed as they opened package after package.  It was very exciting!

High-lites include a batting machine with real bases, Thomas trains, camouflage coats for both boys (a must-have in Weakley County, right?! :)), an interactive globe, John Deere boots for E, new DVDs, John Deere tractors and dump trucks, and more.

Thanks Nana and Aunt Julie for a fun Christmas!

***

The next stop was lunch with the Bell Family at my Aunt Christy and Uncle James Denton's house.  Boy was it a full house of fun and family!  Every family member was there with the exception of my cousin Aaron, his wife Lauren, and their little girl Jordyn (16 mos).  And I suppose I should add that they are expecting TWIN BOYS in May! :) EXCITING!  We missed them, but as you will see in the pics below, we had a great time and I am so thankful for all who were there.  Our kids had a blast, too!

My family on the Bell side...

Front:  Daddy Denton, Mama B, and Aunt Sarah Beth

Back: my Dad and Uncle James Denton

Now for the grand and great grandchildren.  We've begun taking family pictures each year at Christmas and I really like the idea.  So here we go.  My cousins and their families from oldest to youngest.

Deena and her family...

Back: Devin, Deena, Logan

Front: Lauren, McKenzie, and Maddie Claire

Ginger's family...

Back: Leland, Ginger

In arms: Nolan and Sally

Casey and his family...

Casey, Dana, and Drake

Our family of four...

=Aaron, Lauren, and Jordyn would fall into the cousin order here=

Lanna and her family...

Lanna, GG, and Jenna Kate

My sister, Julie Anne, and her favorite boys, Lawson and Emmitt...

My cousin Lindsey and her boyfriend Stewy.

Stewy is from Australia and visited us for Christmas.  It was a pleasure meeting him.  Lindsey spent most of last year in Australia with him, and we all missed her; it was great to be with them.

The crew...

These sweet boys and girls were so much fun!

Back:  Lauren, Mama B, McKenzie, Logan, Daddy Denton

Middle in laps:  Jenna Kate, Drake, Sally, Nolan, Emmitt

Front:  Abby, Lawson, Maddie

I love them all!

Isn't Lawson's arm around Maddie so cute?

Now for a few snap shots...

=Emmitt and Jenna Kate=

Good golly is it hard to get a picture of these boys... this is the best I got over the holidays.

A Christmas Eve nap for Baby Drake...

Pretty Abby with her look-alike-doll...

I walked in the room to see Lawson playing so gently with Drake.  It made me smile.

Is this adorable or what? They play SO well together!

=Daddy Denton and Emmitt=

It was a good time!  The afternoon ended with Dirty Santa among the "adults" and gifts for the kiddos. 

***

Christmas Eve day ended with us spending the actual Eve at my great aunt's house.  I love the tradition of this night.  We've spent every Christmas Eve at her house for as long as I can remember.  I love the innocence and quaintness, if you will, about this night at her house.  The cousin time, the younger cousin time, my aunts and their humor, my grandparents, Aunt Bertice, the anticipation of opening gifts as we wait for the adults to finish eating, all of it.  I just love Christmas Eve at her house.  And the smell of her house is special to me, too.    

This is a snap shot of a few waiting for everyone else to make their way to the front living room for gifts.

The lovely Aunt Bertice.  Or Aunt B as some of the littles call her.

I'm not sure what happened with this picture, but trust me, she is a lovely lady... both inside and out.  

We love her, love her, love her.  And she loves us.

Opening gifts was fun, once again.  Lawson received a new pair of Nike tennis shoes!  Oh, my goodness was he excited!  It was so funny.  We had to put them on immediately.  And I will say that they are not my choice of shoes, BUT these were the only pair of Nike's I could find in his size.  Russ kept reminding me that he is only three and it doesn't really matter as long as he loves them.  He is so proud of them.  There is no calling them "tennis shoes".  "They are Nike's mom."

The boys also received a full hockey set including two goals, six hockey sticks, and a few pucks from Aunt B.  I can hardly wait to get them out once it warms up.  Or once we get into our new house.  It will be perfect for that mile-long-hallway.  

Emmitt received a musical, light-up little people airplane, as well.  It was seemingly made just for his little hands.  He has fun playing with it!

Sadly, those are the only pictures I got while we were there.  It was also a house full of fun.  LOTS of laughter, (my mom is one of four girls), and lots of fun.  I love them all, too.

***

Whew, what a day.  We had two sleepy little boys when we got home and they had a sleepy mama and daddy.  We left a snack for Santa and swept them to their beds. 

Nothing like Grandmother's Christmas candy and milk for Santa Claus, nor carrots and oatmeal mix for those Reindeer.

We finally fell fast asleep around 1:30 am and got a few hours of shut-eye before the big morning!  

Christmas Morning, Christmas Day, and New Year's to come soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

December 2011: Part 2

This post will wrap up the pre-Christmas memories.

Here is the Bragg Family Christmas tree... Mrs. Jane was happy for us to help decorate, and the boys loved it.

Lawson's class celebrated with a cookie decorating party on the last day of school.

Emmitt enjoyed the party, too. :)

Serious work...

They danced and played ring-around-the-rosy.

And throughout the month of December, Lawson made several different Christmas decorations including two ornaments. 

Aren't they pretty?  Homemade Christmas ornaments are so sweet to me.

More to come.

Thanks for reading!

New Titles

On Christmas morning, our family received some very exciting news!

Russ' brother, Jim, and his wife, Erin, are expecting their first child!  We are so excited about this sweet baby and can hardly wait 'til July!  Until then, we are working on our "new titles"...

yes, oh, yes...

Uncle Russ....  Aunt Selena....  Cousins Lawson and Emmitt....

Don't those new titles sound great?  I love them all!  I can't believe how excited I am about being an aunt.  We are now praying for this sweet baby who will join us this summer.

{I can't wait to find out whether we will have a niece or a nephew... I will keep you posted!}

December 2011: Part 1

I thought I'd share a few of our December pre-Christmas memories before the picture frenzy from the holiday celebration is uploaded.

The month has been sprinkled with a few note-worthy events, both Christmasy, and some not so Christmasy.

To start off, we've begun the remodel of our new {1957} house.  It's going well, and Russ is doing a fabulous job!  I am continually impressed with his "handy-man" abilities and am so proud of all he's done thus far.

We are still living with his parents, but spend a lot of time there working, cleaning, riding bikes, playing, etc.

Lawson has proven to be very helpful most of the time...

The green carpet will be removed once the painting is complete.

Here are a few of your first peeks...

There was wallpaper in a few areas, and thankfully it had been sized meaning it was very easy to remove...

 

We've got a long way to go.  There were very few light fixtures in the house as they used lamps which were wired to light switches meaning Russ' job was a little easier... thank you, Lord, for the existing light switches.  With that said, none of the bedrooms had lights, nor did the living rooms, therefore Russ is currently installing lights.  And at this point in time, the three downstairs bedrooms have lights, and he hopes to "see the light" in the front living room and in the mile-long hallway today.  We never expected to be so excited about lighting! :)  I took a few before shots and will post the afters sometime soon.

Onto some Christmasy things...

As mentioned in the Dear Santa Claus posting, we visited Santa's Village here in Martin one Saturday morning.  It was so pretty. The parking was atrocious, but the crowd inside was thin so we were only there for about an hour which was plenty long enough.

An overview in pictures... lots of lights, Enchanted Forest, Christmas music with entertainment, petting zoo, giant slide, carousel, Santa's Lap, train village, and much more!

The petting zoo was a hit with the boys, of course.

A funny memory not captured by pictures... As we were walking up to visit the camel, it stretched it's neck out over the fence, and snatched the cup of feed right out of Lawson's hand. :) He laughed and laughed. I think it startled us more than it did him.

And once again, here they are with Santa.

***

Remember the bike riding mentioned above? Well, here you go... one day we were at the new house working when I heard Emmitt laughing in the other room.  I walked around the corner to see them riding together on Lawson's bike.  It was adorable!  Lawson told me, "I helped him up and then I just started peddaling".  It made my day!

Yes, there is more green carpet...
Green was Mrs. Julia's favorite color.

***

On another Christmasy note, we enjoyed Lawson's Christmas program the middle of December.  It was a sweet program, and as always, watching children sing simply warms your heart.  It was a very "crowded" program so the pictures are not great, but hey, we did capture a few moments from the big night.

Granny got to go and Emmitt wanted to sit with her... she loved that, of course! :)

And that's that.  

A short and sweet thirty-minute Christmas program with sweet boys and girls.

***

The Christmas tree went up and immediately little hands were amidst the ornaments... three broken up to this point. 

So thankful for Mrs. Jane's understanding of toddlers and for her laid-back personality.

Fully decorated Christmas tree pictures to come in the next post.

***

Free Freeze returned this year.  And yes, his name changed as our determined three year old insisted that his name was Freeze and not Free.  So, Freeze it is.  Who knows what next year will hold for this little guy.  In case you're wondering, Freeze had very little influence on Lawson.  He wasn't a very big believer in Freeze, although he liked him, and when we would remind him of Freeze's presence, he quickly told us that he coudn't see/hear him.  What to do?

And so we don't forget - Lawson and his daddy decided one night at bedtime that Freeze has three elf brothers named Icicile, Snow Flake, and Frosty. Funny boys.

***

The last portion of December 2011: Part 1 involves Martin's Christmas parade.  Now let me tell ya... this was a fun night, the kids loved it, it was cold and drizzly, and we brought home coat pockets of candy, but... I couldn't help but notice how different this small town parade was in comparison to the "big town" parades in which we've become accustomed.  It was kind of funny.  Every fire department and police department in the county was there, daycare groups, boy scouts, motorcycle riding groups, horses, bands, and a few floats.  I mean what else could you want?  The important people in this little community were recognized.  It was neat, and once again, memories from my childhood were brought to light.  And through the eyes of a child, it was magical! :)

That's all for now... I hope to post more Christmas tonight. 

Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Dear Santa Claus,

Mailed to, and published in the Weakley County Press; Martin's local newspaper.

Dear Santa Claus,

My name is Lawson Bragg and I am three years old. I have been a good boy this year and would like for you to please bring me a few surprises.

For Christmas, I would like to have a new gun, a train table, a new big boy Bible, and if you make hockey goals, hockey sticks, and pucks, I would like some of those, too.

I also have a little brother named Emmitt. He is one year old, and he has been a good boy, too. Please bring him a train table, a little boy Bible, and a chair with his name on it.

We are very excited about Christmas, and we thank you for remembering us! We will leave you and your reindeer a snack so that you will be strong when you fly your sleigh on Christmas Eve!

Love,

Lawson and Emmitt Bragg

***

So, Martin has brought a new light to the holiday season... 

Our boys have experienced traditions from our childhood and are making many of the same memories that Russ and I made as children.  It has been very exciting.

A sneek peek into those memories... we visited Santa's Village and Lawson shared his wishes with the jolly ol' man.  And although Emmitt was scared, it was a lot of fun!

I am excited about the upcoming days as we celebrate Christmas and share the spirit of the season.

More Christmas memories to come real soon.

November Happenings

Well, hello there...

I'm still here although it's been a little over a month since my last post.  There has been a lot of change over the past few weeks, and for some reason the blog has been the easiest to move to the back burner.  I have a few things I'd like to document and a few pictures to add to our memories here on the blog...  

First off, we are officially residents of Martin, Tennessee.  Last Friday consisted of new drivers license, and address changes, which made us official here at 38237.  It has been a whirlwind of a move, to say the least, but we are happy to be here and are slowly adjusting. 

As to the whirlwind of a move... I had to check the date of the following pictures to remember when we actually moved as I just can't keep up with the dates any more.  Staying at home will do that to you, but during all of this, it seems as though we've literally flown by the seats of our pants. {I can't believe it is December 9!}

So, we departed from our Columbia home on the evening of November 10.  It was a long day of tying up loose ends, and loading last minute things.  We will be forever grateful for our realtor, Paul, and our neighbor, Trae.  We couldn't have made it without them.  They were truly blessings in our move.

 

In an effort to save money and not have to stay in a hotel, we stayed the last night in our house, and the boys slept in our room as their beds were already packed.  We left our bed as one of the final things to pack... they were so sweet, and slept like babies.

The next day consisted of Paul, Trae, and Russ loading the final pieces of furniture amongst other things and us cleaning for the new family that would move into our house.  They are from India, and it is a part of their culture to have a relationship with the ones in which they are doing business, so we got to know them really well. :)  Thankfully, they were extremely nice people.

And here we are ready to pull out... the boys thought the moving truck was very cool!

:)

We were only in Columbia for a short time, {12 months and 1 day to be exact}, however I've decided that it is never easy leaving your safe-haven-of-home no matter the location or situation.  Pulling out of the drive way with a few honks of the horn, as if to say farewell, caused a mixture of emotions which surprised me.  We headed East and spent the night in St. Louis before finishing the move the next morning.  In case you're wondering, the boys and I followed Russ in our van.

I believe that sums up our move to Martin, and overall things are going well.  We closed on our new house here last Thursday, December 1, and are continuing to live with Russ' parents as our "new 1957" house needs quite a bit of updating.  I will post the "before" pictures soon. :) 

***

On to Thanksgiving...

It was nice to celebrate Thanksgiving without having to travel, although it was a stressful day for me for some reason.  We had three locations to visit during the day and it was just a little much.  Or a lot much, to be honest.  We began the morning with the Macy's Day Parade which Lawson enjoyed more this year, then headed to my Grandmother and Granddaddy's for lunch at 11:00, my Mama B and Daddy Denton's for lunch at 12:30, followed by lunch here with Russ' family around 3:30.  It was a busy day, but hopefully next year will be different.  My main struggle with holiday marathons like that are the lack of quality time spent with family on such a special day... it feels like we eat and run to the next place.  I have some hopeful ideas for next year to remedy that... we'll see! 

Here are Russ and the boys watching the parade.

And a cousin shot at Mama B's... 

Maddie, Lawson, McKenzie, and sweet baby Jenna Kate with an unhappy Emmitt.

It was truly a lot for Emmitt who slept through eating with the Bragg family.

I did, however, love watching Maddie and Lawson play together.

Don't they look happy?!

Although Thanksgiving was slightly overwhelming for me this year, we truly have SO much to be thankful for.  I don't want the overwhelming emotions to overshadow our gratefulness.  God has blessed us with more than we deserve and we praise Him for each and every day we spend enjoying our life here on Earth. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

I hope you and yours enjoyed a blessed Thanksgiving.

Halloween 2011

It's hard to believe that this week began with Halloween.  As I was going through the pictures, it seemed as though Halloween was forever ago.  It was a fun night and the boys, especially Lawson, had a lot of fun.

Lawson was a cowboy... and he was the most handsome one I've ever seen.

He shot many bears, coyotes, birds, squirrels, raccoons, and the such that night. 

And if you're wondering, the cowboys that live on our farm are also hunters. ;)

I love this.  It makes his mama's heart smile so big.

I know I am way biased, but he really is the cutest big brother in the whole wide world!

And then Mr. Emmitt... he didn't enjoy his costume so much.

Do you see him?

He is in the dog stage right now.  The stage where he is learning the different animals and the sounds they make.  Dogs are his fave.  Hence, the dog costume... he wasn't digging it.

{And for our memory, Russ' parents have a Jack Russell named Parker.  Just this week he is saying Parker very clearly.  Exciting!}

So, I didn't push it.  He just wore his costume without his ears... and he was an adorable little puppy, wasn't he? :)

As Russ and I were looking through the memories from the night, I got to this picture and said, "if only he weren't trying to pull his hood off!"  And Russ' response... "that's the perfect memory for this year... that's how the night went.  If the hood was up, he was pulling at his ears."  He is right. 

Halloween 2011 was Emmitt, the puppy dog, "scratching" at his ears.

Sweetness...

...I could eat him up!  Definitely the cutest little brother in the whole wide world!

And a quick family picture before the trick-or-treating began...

It was a fun night.  Lawson is at the perfect age to thoroughly enjoy himself... both the costume and the trick-or-treating.  Sadly enough, he's had the croup so we visited family at a distance to prevent the spreading of germs.  Our trick-or-treat stops began at Mama B and Daddy Denton's where we met up with my dad, Mrs. Anita, and Abby.  Next, we visited MeMaw and PePaw.  And we finished our night up at my mom's.

We returned to Russ' parent's house for a warm bowl of chili and a boo-licious dessert!

Introducing the Flaming-eye Ghost! 

He was uber-cool, fluffy, and so yummy!

I expect him to become a family tradition, reappearing each year.

And that sums up our Halloween... Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!