The Christmas Tree Caper

Here are some pictures from our annual Christmas tree search.  We found one pretty easily this year...down the hill from GrandNan and PawPaw's house.  We always have fun tramping through the woods looking for the best cedar.  Carlie came along for the ride this time and we  got an awesome picture of the cute cousins!

The finished product:

Sorry they are in the wrong order...still can't figure out how to do that~

Zonk!

Fall Fun

Grandnan and Pawpaw had some old trees cut down in their yard. Donnie and Everett went to help with the clean-up. Everett and Griffin had a good time climbing all over (and through) the big trunks and playing in the leaves. Aren't they cute cousins?

Halloween Fun

We started Halloween early this year. Everett actually let me put a costume on him which is very different from last year. We went to the Candy Hunt at Lakeside Park and First Baptist's Fall Festival with Aunt Shelby, Griffin and Carlie. We had a BLAST! And seriously...I know he's my kid, but have you ever seen a cuter scarecrow in your whole dang life!! I know I haven't. Seriously.

Camping at Lake Guntersville

We had a great time camping last week. The campground at Lake Guntersville State Park was beautiful and, as you can see from the pictures, there were deer EVERYWHERE. It was cool to see them so close, though a little disturbing that they were so comfortable around people.

The weather was not great, but we saw Cathedral Caverns which was really cool. Everett had fun picking up leaves and watching the deer. He loves camping and is already asking to go again.

Montgomery Zoo

Last Friday, Donnie had some unexpected time off from work, so we took Everett to the zoo in Montgomery. We had been before when Everett was a baby...it was nice to see the growth of the little zoo. They have a beautiful open area where the girafffes, elephants, zebras, antelope, big birds, etc are kept. Some of the enclosures are just separated by water, so you can look out and see all of the animals. It's really cool. Plus they have elephants which haven't been in B'ham for a while. Ev was very excited...ok, so I was very excited. The river otter exhibit is really pretty and has a waterfall...gotta love the otters! Anyway, it's a cool little zoo and a great day trip.

I Love this Kid

This morning, I was going through the blogs I like to read and got to Leah's friend Candace's blog. I almost cried reading "*Sigh, My Baby is in Ballet". Motherhood is joyful and heartbreaking at the same time. Everett was "reading" to me last night. I love when kids do that. I love the imagination that it takes. Just that he knows that many words is astonishing to me. He'd pause while he was thinking of something else to say about that rattlesnake and I could see the gears turning behind those bright blue eyes. I don't know what the iguana was doing with fourteen dollars, but it made complete sense to him. And while I look forward to the new amazing things he does everyday...just to have one more glimpse of that first sweet yawn, that first perfect smile, that first wobbly step...Thanks, Candace, for the perspective. I'll try to cherish more of those long days!