Today was a crazy day. We got up early and made it home in time for my meeting and Kaitlyn’s soccer game. Below are all the fun pictures from the last week that didn’t fit into any other posts!
Animal safari!
Kaitlyn loves BINGO and both grandparents have the game. It’s her favorite to play.
This three wheeler was a hand-me-down we inherited it from Amber. We brought it to Granny and Pop and it has been going strong ever since.
Of all the toys at Granny and Pop’s, Kaitlyn asked for the G.I. Joe. I love it.
In just the right light, Ben’s hair still looks red. Today was one of those days.
We had a very relaxing day at Gram’s house and the little ones spent the day at the zoo.
Granny and Pop took these two to the Zoo today.
Our kids no longer remember Krispy Kreme donuts (they only have Dunkin Donuts in MA) so we decided to give them a little education. Thankfully the hot light was on so they got the perfect donuts fresh off the line.
Then we had a long drive to Collierville for a night at Wade’s parents’ house. It was a little surreal to stay there without his parents. They were already in Arkansas for the wedding but we needed one more stop before we drove the rest of the way.
We started the day with the Macy’s parade and ended with a second round of dessert! It was a wonderful day spent with family and the yummy food just made it better.
And just to make this trip even more unbelievable, we had one more crazy incident happen. After Thanksgiving lunch, naps, and family time, a few people were hungry. Judy and I were in the kitchen and going to warm up some leftovers in the oven. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw fire in the oven. I got the words “fire, fire” out. Jerry started looking for the breaker. Judy started looking for a fire extinguisher. The fire went out. It was determined to be a short. How lucky that it happened tonight and not five hours earlier!
We spent the entire day doing everyone’s favorite activities. Teague drove the lawn mower. Kaitlyn played games with Granny. Ben got all the attention. Alex got video game time. We also took the big boys out to the farm for some target practice. It was a great day with family.
These two would eat peppers all day long. (Thankfully they haven’t realized most of the rest of the family doesn’t like them. I’m actually hoping their love of them will rub off on the rest of us.)
Today we mostly stayed at home and had fun with family. There were games, puzzles, crafts, and even a gingerbread house.
We traveled to Memphis last night to be with Wade’s family for the holiday. We spent the day enjoying each other and eating lots of yummy food.
Wade and I have attended the SEC tournament for…forever? I can’t even remember how many years we have been attending (with the exception of the year Alex was born). This year we were having some logistical issues attending when it came to childcare. Then my wonderful sister called and offered to watch all three of my children so that we could attend. We gave her an entire 24 hours to rethink her offer before we accepted. After much discussion with many people, we came up with a plan. My sister would stay at my Mom’s house with all the kids. Alex would actually get a special weekend alone with Granny and Pop in Memphis. Mom and Dad would go to Nashville for the tournament. Win for everybody!! Melissa and Judy were great about taking pictures of the kids for me and obviously the kids had a great time without us.
We finished up our Christmas Holidays in Memphis. We had a Christmas breakfast (Wade again got biscuits and gravy) and then had a few more presents. I think the pitch forks were the biggest hit:
We had an early supper at Jean and Jim’s with the Burch family. Wade and Marie always like to clown around:
And no Burch Christmas would be complete without a bag from Tommy Angel (Jean and Jim’s no-longer-living cat) and some random gifts inside:
And of course we had to have a group photo:
Wade and I then loaded up the car and drove to Paducah to spend the night. Tomorrow we are bound for Milwaukee!
After the Burch Family Christmas in the morning we had the extended Burch family over for dinner and more gifts. The extended family brings Marie and Tina and we always have lots of fun. The games of choice tonight were Santa and his reindeer (due to the cute antlers) and hide-n-seek.
Tommy Angel (Jim and Jean’s no-longer-living cat) always gives a grab bag of goodies to everyone. There are male and female themed bags. The male bags always seem to include some kind of interesting item to wear. Jerry is also wearing last year’s gift.
It appears from the pictures below that Wade was a little bit of a camera hog and the reindeer nose was very popular:
Always the entire group photo:
Madison and I drove from Paducah to Memphis yesterday to celebrate Christmas with the Burches. Wade had flown in the night before and spent some quality time with his parents. We had a big breakfast and then got down to the business of opening presents. I got a new color laser printer, a new red iPod Shuffle, and Turtles made by Jerry (yum!).
And we always need a good group photo:
Wade stayed up most of the night preparing his mom’s Christmas present (a new computer). After a big family breakfast we got to opening presents. The best present was given by Judy to Brian. Evidently Brian had gotten two large unlabeled cans as a white elephant gift at Wesley in Murray. Emily thought it would be funny to have Judy wrap them up and give them to him again at this Christmas. Brian took it in good grace.
We all had a quick lunch and headed to Kentucky. Emily and Brian drove to Murray. Judy and Jerry drove to Reidland. Wade and I drove to Paducah. We stopped by mom’s house and then Wade dropped me off at Amy’s house for Christmas with the Fab Four. We weren’t together long, but it was fun to catch up. Johnna even brought her step-daughter, Taylor.
Johnna dropped me at mom’s house. Then Wade and I packed up and headed to Dad’s house. Laura cooked a fantastic meal and then we all enjoyed Dad’s new outdoor hot tub.
Wade and I started the morning off by driving to Memphis. We arrived early enough for lunch and time with the family. I had a quick nap while Wade was fixing his parents’ computer. Then the family started to arrive – Aunt Jean, Uncle Jim, Jamie, Anthony, Tina, and Marie. There was lots of eating and laughing and presents. We also played a couple rounds of Hide-n-Seek, a favorite of Marie and Tina. If you look at the third picure, you’ll see my favorite. We caught Tina on camera having trouble unwrapping her present.
Wade took off from work after lunch on Tuesday and we started our trip to Memphis. For this one we left the dogs at home with an intern from Wade’s work. It is very convenient to have people without homes or families who don’t mind staying at our house. We got to the Burch house around 9 pm and visited for a while.
The visitation was at 10 am today, followed by the funeral at 11. There was quite a bit of family – the favorites being Wade’s little cousins Marie and Tina.
Directly from the funeral we started the long drive to Anderson. We did make a stop in Madison, AL to have dinner with our friend from college, Daniel. We were dropping him off in his work parking lot when I heard someone calling my name. I turn around and one of my sorority sisters from college is walking towards me. I knew Tracey had moved to the area, but I didn’t realize she worked for the same company as Daniel. Do you hear the tune, “It’s a small world, after all” playing in your head?
Wade completed his internship on Friday and finally moved back to Atlanta! We spent that evening finishing up our Christmas shopping and wrapping and then went out to the movies. Aeon Flux was the movie of choice – and it was exactly what we expected – fun but not really thought provoking. We got in the car early Saturday morning and drove to Memphis – the nice short 6 hour trip. We spent the weekend with Wade’s family and even met his sister’s new boyfriend, Brian.
Late Sunday afternoon was the Burch Christmas. The family gathers for a big meal and the opening of presents. Wade’s Aunt Viola is 94 – doesn’t she look great? I think my favorite part of the evening was playing hide-n-seek with Wade’s little cousins, Marie and Tina.
Wade and I decided not to begin our Thanksgiving drive until Thursday morning. We headed south on I-85, turned west on I-20 and promptly hit stand still traffic. We quickly found an alternate route and arrived in Memphis right on time.
Wade’s little cousins Marie and Tina were lots of fun and love to play hide-n-seek. We spent a lot of time in the backyard running around and up in Wade’s old tree house (that is until we broke the ladder). Wade’s Granny and Papa loved Madison – especially Papa. By Saturday morning when we left, Madison would just sit by Papa’s chair. Of course, he had been feeding her table scraps all weekend so that might explain a lot!
Thursday night we (Wade, Granny, Papa, Judy, Jerry, and I) gathered around the table to play Uno. I always enjoy the game, but this time was hilarious! Papa had a little trouble telling the difference between blue and green so Papa was allowed to play either and everyone else had to follow suit. Granny didn’t like this at all – she is a real card player and wants everyone to follow the same rules. In the end, Granny won three games and everyone but Wade won one. Poor Wade.