Birthday Party

We had a big birthday party for our combined birthdays on Thursday night. We ordered some pizza and everyone got some gifts.
We've been pretty well spoiled by having so much stuff come at once!! Big thanks to Dave, Nick, and Tom who sacrificed all their luggage space for us.
The kids were happy to get some Jacob Shaw original-design shirts. I recommend them as great Christmas gifts but he is very busy so maybe its too late to order.
Clue was also a pretty big hit.
And we ended it all with ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins! It was a great time. Thanks to everyone who gave to make it all so great. We appreciate it all so much!!

Ice Cream Man

Dave Cash can eat some ice cream. I mean the man can eat some ice cream! Check this out, he actually bought TWO scoops at Baskin Robbins. That is committed. He has dutifully been trying as much as he can and for his spirit to plow on, we applaud him.
Angie having a little mint chocolate chip while Hudson holds court in the background. The BR31 here has a new Peppermint Patty flavor which was pretty awesome. Now, it may not actually be new ... I don't think I have eaten Baskin Robbins since Randy was here last year.
Nick says Tom has eaten more carbs this week than any other week in years!! He is doing great as well. Sorry no pix of Nick. We ate this about 9:30pm and he was nearly asleep at the counter!

Happy Birthday Bob (aka American Chopper)

Little Birthday Girl

Bethany's 9th birthday was a day full of excitement from her chocolate bread breakfast ...

To the end with its loads of presents!
She got some great Barbie stuff.
How about that smile?? She is a better gift-receiver than her daddy.
We enjoyed getting to spend the special day with some extended Aunts and Uncles.
Courtney giving it her best "Hozsyourmomanem?" Thats how they roll in Mississippi!
B was a bit excited about getting an iPod. Lots of space for Hannah Montana on there. She said she just needs to "get some videos on it for road trips."
One friend came over and the donkey received his tail back.
Well, maybe more than one.
Maybe more than 10, really.
All in all a great day with a two language HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Birthday Girl

A glimpse of our birthday girl reading her cards. She is a model of self-control, saving her cards that came in the mail for the big day. You can see our Christmas decorations taking shape in the background.

We got her this necklace and a few other goodies.
And a look at how everyone measures up to Mom this year:

Cool Guys

We'll get some Angie birthday pictures up tomorrow.  Just wanted some families to be able to see how their guys fared their first day.  We started off with some tasty breakfast.  Although we quickly found out these adventurers went down and had some food with NO HELP at all around 4am.  Quick studies these fellows are!

After breakfast we went for worship and then back out for more food.  This time for some "fried rice noodles" as Ann calls then.  The fish eaters joined us in thinking Craig's mom is a bit off regarding the fish curry. We had them throw in some extra chilis today, so it was extra good.  Pictured is Tom dropping in some squid.  We never got a good shot of the tentacles going in since he was gobbling them up too fast!

After eating we went to a local Christmas party we had heard about.  It featured some traditional dancing and lots of singing.  And afterward they had some snacks, too!

Lest we forget, at one point there broke out a sort of line dance that quickly sucked Nick as (since he was sitting on the aisle).  He is quite the dancer ... sorry the pictures weren't any better.

Traveling Dudes

We did get our guys in last night around 3:15am. Angie and Ann met at the hotel and got them settled for a few hours. Now we're preparing ourselves to meet them for a ... YAWN ... 8 am breakfast. Time to get some spice on for ole Dave.

Also, for those wondering there is some problem with the thing that shows our Twitter updates (aka Tweets) and so some other person's were showing up in our blog box. That is bad since maybe you've noticed some people put things on the internet we don't agree with. Therefore, the box is gone until they can get it fixed. Just tried again and its still weirded out. You can follow us on Twitter or just check there if you like that sort of thing www.twitter.com/craigandangie

Mountain Dew

When we were in Singapore a couple of weeks ago, we found Mountain Dew! First we found some in a machine and later in a store. Not sure how we looked to the employees when buying ALL their Mountain Dew but we know how we looked to the kids!!

Seriously?

Given the option, would you get your hair done at a place called Ooops! Me neither. Also, don't ask me why hair SALONS are called SALOONS here, they just are.

Mall Snow

Hanging of the Green

We were finally able to locate a suitable specimen of a Christmas tree and started our decorating throwdown (like many of you) over the weekend. The tree in question is 8 feet tall and set us back a cool $78 on sale, everyone was pretty happy all around. Except, of course, Hudson the smile-monster.

Like most set-ups it started well and like most it ended in the fact that some strands of lights didn't work and we didn't have enough overall either. "Running to Wal-Mart" is not exactly the same here but the next day we got it all taken care of and the job was finished.
Angie is none the worse for wear. Isn't she just the cutest thing???
Each kid has some special ornaments of their own they get to hang.
Finally they are getting big enough that we have ornaments above the bottom few branches but now also big enough to say, "Hey, why did you move mine?"
We have a few snowflakes that get thrown into the tree. Not sure exactly how it got started but its really important. The snowflake ornaments are carefully divided, then applied as you see Caleb doing. Hudson is playing defense.
The crowning glory. And our big new star. I never needed a ladder before to do the star.
All done and ready to blaze! Its the first Christmas tree EVER in our neighborhood ... here's hoping its the first of many!!

Happy 60th Birthday to My COOL Dad

Still looking spry and never missing a Cat game, Dad is 60 today. Still somehow I am young--like I'm in my mid 20s. Not sure how that happened.

We told the kids to call him Gramps because it was the oldest-sounding thing I could think of, plus there are just to many Papaws out there. Gramps has character, style! It hasn't caught on much though.

Dad, little sister Stacey, and my Grandma.
With us and Sharon last Christmas.
At work with H-man.
What an attractive group!! Next year maybe we can celebrate it in person!! We might even buy. Maybe...

You can take the boy out of KY...

This unsavory photo is attempting to show my redneck sunburn after spending a few morning hours at the sacrifice. This was after doing my best to stay in the shade. Late November sun ... you gotta be careful.