Christmas

Keith & I before his company Christmas party

Nanny & Big Ba with the kids before Christmas eve service

Our little dancer Delylah

Zach at Church singing

Happy 5th Birthday Lennah

Wow it has been a busy time around here. November was pretty simple and just a good old typical Thanksgiving but once December came we were in full swing Christmas mode. It was also Lennah's birthday on the 1st of December. Wow I still cannot believe that she is now 5. I hate that my little girl has grown up so fast. It seems like time is flying by. We only had a small cake with my parents since we are doing the joint birthday party in another week for both girls.

The kids had several Christmas parties; which kept us busy in December. The best parties are the ones that mommy and daddy get to attend and I was fortunate enough to be at Delylah's balled Christmas party. The little girls did a little performance for us; which of course was adorable. Logan and Heather got to attend Logan's karate class Christmas sleepover party; which was a first sleepover for both of them. That party also took place on my birthday so my mom watched the 3 youngest so Keith and I could finally have a night out that was so ever deserved. Zach also had a singing performance with all the kids in children's church. This was so out of his comfort zone but he got up the nerve to go up on stage to do it. We were super proud of him for going out there to do it.

Christmas has already come and gone and it really was a memorable holiday. I just wish it would have been a white christmas like last year. The kids had an awesome Christmas. Everyone got everything on their list; which we really did want to give the older kids a great Christmas and the little ones of course got everything they asked for as well. Logan got his ever so coveted new laptop, Heather and Ipod, Zach a 3ds, Delylah got her Kanani American girl doll, and Lennah got her bitty baby. It was wonderful to see the look on all their faces. Mommy was also super happy with her new kindle fire. So all the way around we had an awesome Christmas.

We do need some prayers for some friends and family right now. We have a family member whose baby was born with some problems and is having surgery this week. I am keeping them in prayers for their little girl and we also have a friend who has cancer. So far her outlook is very good but I am sure they are having a difficult time with this right now. I am just asking for prayers to go out to these people right now.

October

Time flies when you are having fun and boy did we have a fun and busy October. I think we had something going on every weekend but the kids certainly had a blast. To start we went ahead and made a trip up to Ellijay and took the kids to an Apple Orchard. I think this may have been one of our best family outings yet. The kids loved getting to pick apples and I think they all had a blast shooting apples. I think the wait took longer than it did for each each of the kids to shoot their whole bucket of apples but they seemed to have a really fun time.They also had some really cool animals and we all loved chasing around the turkeys they had on the farm. I think this may become one of our new fall traditions with the kids.

We also took another day to head on down to the pumpkin patch. We always hit up the same pumpkin patch yearly but this year it was a first with all the kids. The kids all picked their pumpkins and all wanted face paintings and whole nine.

Another big day we had was Heather's birthday. It is hard to believe that I can actually say I have a 14 year old. Wow that makes me feel old. She was really great about actually sharing time on her birthday with our friends from adoption option. We had a blast at Donna's house and it made us happy that Heather said it was the best birthday she had ever had. I was actually worried about her not wanting to visit with friends on her birthday but she was actually super excited about it. Of course that was not the end of her birthday celebration because the next say we had my parents over to give her a family birthday cake. She loved all her gifts. Heather mentioned that she never had a robe before and that was one of the gifts we had gotten her and she absolutely thought it was the best gift ever.

WOW! the fun in October was still not over and the following weekend we had a fall festival in our neighborhood. It was actually really nice to have the kids meet more of the kids that live in the neighborhood. Logan met a girl in the neighborhood that he has now become smitten with. For the last 2 weeks all we have heard about has been Sarah.

We also had a party at Logan's karate school which was another fun night out for the kids. They got to play some cool games and just have fun with other kids. It really is nice seeing the kids finally start socializing more with kids their own age and finally taking the initiative to seek out friends.

This past weekend we also hit up the local trick or treat village at paulding meadows park. They had some really cool games this year and of course the kids got a ridiculous amount of candy.

Oh and before I forget Logan also moved up to a yellow belt this month. I think it was a huge boost for his confidence which he really needed. I don't think we have ever seen him gain so much confidence. Overall it was a great month. Now I am just getting ready for the christmas season. Yeah my favorite time of the year.

Disney Day 6

Well it was our last day in Disney and of course we could not have left without visiting Magic Kingdom again. We started off the day at Chef Mickey's for breakfast. It's always a fun breakfast with Mickey Mouse so the kids of course had a good time. Plus it is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Magic Kingdom. After breakfast we hit our destination and I was determined that we were going to get into see Rapunzel. Anyway I was hoping since it was still early the line would not be that long but unfortunately it still was. We decided to brave it out and it did take us an hour to get into see Tangled. It was definitely worth it since the little ones had not gotten to meet her before either. Since the girls have been to disney several times it was nice seeing them experience something for the first time as well.

After checking out Rapunzel we hit up some the rides we did not have time for on our first day. The kids loved almost all the rides in magic kingdom and since they are revamping some parts of magic kingdom it was nice that we got to ride a few before they are gone forever. We also took time to meet Tiana which was super cool; althought the last time we were there we did get to see Tiana and Naveen so that was a little disappointing. Anyway it was a great last day and of course I cannot wait to go back again.

Disney Day 5

For Day 5 at Disney we started off our morning at breakfast with Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins. I think the kids weren't quite sure who Mary Poppins was so I think I may have to rent the movie so they know exactly who she is next time. We decided that this would also be a wind down day so we went to Epcot after breakfast for a little while. We hung out there for a little while and rode a few rides and we headed back to the room. It was time for the babies to get a real nap in since they basically just caught little cat naps in the stroller here and there. After they woke up and we had a little pool time we headed back over to Epcot.

While we were there we had dinner at the Garden Grill. It was our first time eating there and we loved it. That has to be one of the best places to get salad in Disneyworld so I highly recommend it. Anyway we also decided to check out all the countries we didn't have a chance to on our first day there and stick it out for the fireworks. Since the little ones cannot hang well it was the only night we chose to stay late for fireworks.

Disney Day 4

For our 4th day at Disney we hit up Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was a great day overall. In the morning we took the kids over to Ohana at the polynesian resort to have breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. The kids totally loved this breakfast. I think this is one of the best breakfasts at Disney.

From there we headed over to animal kingdom. I really think the kids had such a good time at this park. They seemed to be really into the safari and loved the rapids ride. Delylah loved the fact that she got totaly soaked on this ride. She just giggled the whole entire time while she got splashed. Zach thought the safari was one of the coolest things ever because a giraffe basically came over to the truck and was amazingly close. I definitely think this was one of the best safari rides we had in Disney because so many animals were out.

Luckily Animal Kingdom closes early because I think the kids were ready for an early night off. They just couldn't wait to get back to the resort and hit the pools.

Disney Day 3

The fun never ends at Disney. For our third day we went ahead and went to Hollywood Studios. We started off the day with having breakfast with Handy Manny, Agent Oso, and June and Leo from the little Einsteins. They kids had a blast and they were all dancing around and singing to this guy who hosts the playhouse Disney breakfast. I totally recommend this breakfast because they kids just love the energy; even the big kids.

In the past when we went to Disney, at least since the girls were little, we hadn't visited Hollywood Studios for longs periods of time. Now that the girls are a bit bigger we figured there would be more for them to do there and decided to spend a bit more time there. Anyway we went ahead and let them ride tower of terror. The boys refused to ride and we took all the girls. Well I think all of them, including Heather, will not be riding that ride again anytime soon. We got off and they all crying, it was not good. The boys are terrified of heights so they skipped out with Uncle Billy while we waited anyway.

The big attraction to hit at Hollywood studios was Buzz Lightyear and Woody coupled along with the toy story ride. The kids had a great time and totally loved this ride. r

Overall it was a fun day and luckily everyone had a great time but next time no more tower of terror for the kids.