Freeman Christmas

We gathered with the Freemans on December 31 this year to celebrate Christmas & New Year's Eve all in one! It was a day full of family & fun!

Create a free photo slideshow The kids had a lot of fun that morning riding 4-wheelers & dirt bikes & lawn mowers (yes, a lawn mower with no working blade... they love it!). I intended to take pictures of all that, but was too busy making sure everyone was driving safely :)... and they did. We ate, watched movies, opened presents, shot fireworks... it was a great day and a great end to 2011!

Grizzlies Game

It's been a busy day! This morning we headed to Bells to ride 4-wheelers at Cacki & Papa's house, and to visit with Papa for his birthday today. Papa & Cacki even rode 4-wheelers with us! That was so cool, and so much fun! Cacki fixed us a yummy lunch for Papa's birthday before we headed back home to rest up for the afternoon, because tonight, we had tickets to a NBA Grizzlies game!

Hudson had an awesome time, mostly due to the fact that our friends, Mr. Kevin, Mrs. Ashley, Coleman & Camryn went with us :) The highlight of the game for Hudson was when the Grizzlies scored 100 points. He was paying attention :)

I'm not sure there was a "highlight" of the game for Cade. ha! He was asking to go home from the moment we got there. (go figure :/) He did immediately look for & locate the cheerleaders, though, as soon as we sat down. ha!

It was my first Grizzlies game (Howie & the boys had been to one before). I enjoyed the night out with family & friends :)

Happy Birthday, Maddox!

Happy 7th Birthday, cousin Maddox!

Thanks for inviting us to celebrate with you! We had a great time!

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Too funny!

These two will most likely be embarrassed by this post one day, but it is too funny not to note :)

Cade & Callie both love to take a bath. They laid down on their tummies in the tub this evening, looking at bathtub books. They laughed and laughed at themselves, thinking they looked too cute and were just a funny pair! Love, love, love these two silly kiddos :)

Christmas morning 2011

Christmas morning was super-exciting around here this year!!! The kids were surprised & happy... Santa himself must have been jumping with joy, too :) We had a great morning together checking out all the goodies that Santa left under the tree & in our stockings, going to church, opening our gifts to/from each other, and visiting & sharing with our family that dropped by. A very merry Christmas indeed!

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Guess we stopped using the camera at this point :), but we were certainly happy to have Aunt Thelma, Janet, MawMaw & PawPaw, Gran & G, Cacki & Papa, and John come by and spend part of the day celebrating Christmas with us & the kids. 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

The Via's on Christmas Eve

Here are the precious Via children getting ready for Santa, too!

Jesse (3), Andi Cate (6), Sail (3 mo.), Brooks (4)

It's Baby Sail's 1st Christmas!

 Nighty-night! Santa will be here soon!

How they've changed

What a difference one year can make... especially from age 1 - 2.

Love, love ALL my babies... 

2010

2011

This is what Christmas is all about... These 3 babies plus one extraordinary baby sent for us so many years ago.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve at home is one of my favorite times of the year! I love the excitement, anticipation, and preparation. We put on our Christmas pajamas, open a few presents, read Christmas stories, and set out milk & cookies for Santa. It is so much fun! I love this time with my family!

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Christmas in Bells

We spent most of Christmas Eve in Bells at Cacki & Papa's house. All of the family was together - kids playing, sharing gifts, eating - for a fantastic day!

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Live Nativity

Our Sunday School class at church sponsors the Live Nativity each year. It's an opportunity for every family of the church to be involved in sharing the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, with our community! And there's a part for all ages, too! The boys love participating, and were looking forward to being angels particularly this year :) 

 Jonathan, Hudson, Cade, & Alexander peeping at the sheep below :)

 Something is so funny! Shhhh, angels :)

 Callie liked watching the Nativity, listening to the music, and seeing the sheep especially.

Our families are always good to come out to watch & support us, too. This year we had Gran & G, "Uncle" John & Linda, Cacki & Papa, and Aunt Candi, too! 

Thanks for coming out everyone! We love you!

Callie's 1st Haircut

The boys & Howie had hair appointments today. When we got there, I gently mentioned (again :) that, at some point, we needed to get Callie's hair trimmed so that the front could "catch up" to the back. Her hair has grown so much in the last few months! Anyway, Callie heard that and got excited! "I det my hairtut, too!" she said. So, Daddy gave in and Callie had her turn getting a haircut :) She loved it! When she was all done, she hopped down, turned her back to her brothers (so they could see her hair), and said, "Tade! Woot at my hairtut!" Absolutely precious & priceless...

Two by the fire

With Hudson gone for the night (to Cacki & Papa's), Cade & Callie opted for a movie by the fire :)

Starry Nights

We're headed out to see Santa, and have our annual trip through Starry Nights with Gran & G!

(The boys were not thrilled at the photo op :)

Preschool Christmas Program

The preschool at TCA held its annual Christmas program tonight at FBC in Covington. All of the children did a great job. Here are the two superstars we came to see...

Wesley - age 3, and Cade - age 5

Our little Christmas cutie, Callie, was there to cheer them on, too :)

Once again, in low light, our camera took pretty sorry pictures :( Oh, well... we enjoyed the program anyway, and were so proud of Wesley and our Cade-o!

Christmas Parade

Ready for the 2011 Brighton Christmas Parade!

She looks warm, doesn't she?!

Basketball Begins

Brighton Basketball 2011-12 has begun! The boys had their first games this week. This is Cade's 1st year of basketball. He's having a good time so far :)

 This is Hudson's 2nd year of basketball. Unfortunately, the boys are on two different teams (because of age groupings), so we get to spend double-time at the courts! Hudson is getting more & more confident :)

Lunch Date

My lunch date after great check-ups with the allergist this morning :)

2nd Snow

Yes, it's back again! This time canceling school altogether! Not a lot of accumulation, but it did leave us a pretty snow-covered lawn. It stayed cold long enough this time for me to get a few pictures, and the boys just had to get out to play in it for a little while :)

 Now what do we do?!

 Make snow angels... (Cade)

 Taste the snow... (Hudson)

 Try sledding...

 Sledding didn't work too well on the ground, so let's go down the slide on it!

Priceless!

Children's Christmas program

The Children's Christmas program was this Sunday night at church. The preschoolers & elementary students did a fabulous job! They performed "The Next Noel", which is the sequel to the program they presented last year. Their time & effort surely paid off! It was very enjoyable!

Hudson & Cade were both part of the Children's choir, and Hudson played a wise man in the Nativity scene. NOTE: He was super-excited to be a wise man this year! Apparently, he has been a shepherd the last few years, so "moving up" to a wise man was a VERY BIG DEAL. ha!

Gotta love Cade's personality as it comes out in the programs :)

SIDE NOTE: Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest :( Howie took them during the program while I was helping the kids. For some reason, the camera doesn't take good pictures in low light and we haven't been able to remedy that. Also, I don't think Howie focused in enough on the kids, so the camera was focusing in on the people sitting in front of him instead :/