We Wish You A Merry Christmas...........

Oh, what a wonderful day! When we woke up around 7:30am for Corbin's "Ba-Ba" (bottle), we found Tucker laying on the floor asleep beside the chair where his gifts were laying. Nolan was sitting on the couch watching television. He got up at 4am and somehow managed to bring Tucker along. They didn't mess with any of the presents. They simply looked at them and then Tucker passed out and Nolan watched t.v. until we woke up. What children would actually wait for their parents to wake up. I know I didn't as a child! We began our day by discussing with the boys the TRUE meaning of Christmas in which Nolan quickly said, "Jesus was born!" and then Tucker replied, "Yeah, Happy Birthday Jesus!" We are so thankful they have such wonderful Sunday school teachers to help us guide them in the right direction. The boys enjoyed all of their gifts from Santa. Tucker got a Smart Cycle video game system. Corbin was content with his Reese Peanut Butter Cups. Nolan enjoyed lots and lots of clothes, his very own colonge, and some new movies. We went over to Ted and Gloria's for a wonderful Christmas dinner and a little more Guitar Hero. We ventured over to my family's Christmas gathering with Mama, Brad, Daniel, Andrea, Granny, B.F., and Darryl. We had a great time watching and playing with the boys and their new stuff. This was a wonderful Christmas for our family. We are so greatful to have all of our friends and family in our lives. We are thankful for all that God as provided for us.


...........And a Happy New Year!! From our home to yours!

Twas the Night Before Christmas....

...and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. YEAH, RIGHT! Not in this house! Christmas Eve~We started our afternoon by letting the boys open their presents from Richie and I. We gave them Bible's. Nolan had one but it was becoming pretty ragged so we got him a new one. Tucker had been asking for one to take to "his" church. He'd been taking his bedtime Bible with him to Sunday School. He was very proud of his new one. Santa would later bring them covers for their new bibles. We ventured over to Nanny and Paw-Paw's house for some chili and lots of treats. The boys were anxious to get to their presents. Nanny bought them Guitar Hero: World Tour. It has two guitars, a drum set, and a microphone. I think Richie, Tracy, Ken, Bebe, and myself had more fun with it than the boys! Probably because we kind of took over! Grandma, Aunt Barbara, and Jerry came and really got a kick out of the kids. I'm sure they wanted to take them home at the end of the evening. :) In all we had a great time with the family. Once we got back home and put the kids in bed, Richie and I settled in to watch A Christmas Story. This is Richie's favorite Christmas movie. I guess he is still hoping to get his Red Ryder BB Gun! Santa made his visit earlier enough that mom and dad actually got a decent night of sleep. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

Corbin posing with one of his presents.

Tucker always likes to stop and smile for a picture.

Nolan playing the drums for "the band."

Tucker striking his rock star pose at the end of the song.

Grandmama and Aunt Barbara with all the kids.

Our New Birth

Richie and I were baptized Sunday, December 21. We are so excited about this new journey we are on in our lives. We were so happy that our families were there to witness our special moment. Richie and I have grown so much as Christians and have been surrounded by so many great people at First Baptist Church. We have had some strong influences in our lives that will help us to continue to grow. We are so thankful for the people God has intentionally put in our lives and we look forward to our spiritual growth. We wish you all could have been there to witness this occasion but since you all could not be there, we have pictures to share. God Bless!

Richie and I waiting to be baptized.

Jason, our preacher, leading us in prayer.

Listening to our testamonies.

Richie taking his dip!

Me taking my dip!

Nolan's D.A.R.E. Graduation

The fifth graders at Nolan's school took part in a 9 week program called D.A.R.E. It stands for Drug Abuse and Resistance Education. The program was led by Deputy Benton from the Newton County Sheriff's office. She spent 9 weeks with these kids a couple of days per week teaching them about drugs and the effects of using drugs. They also learned about peer pressure and how to say no. They completed various activities related to self esteem and other things. They had to write an essay in order to graduate from the program. Nolan really learned a lot during this time and enjoyed every minute of it. We attended his graduation and listened to some great essay's written by some of Nolan's peers. Each student was presented with a certificate. Deputy Benton put together a slide show of pictures of the students during the program and the students enjoyed watching it. We are very proud of Nolan and we pledge to help him stay drug-free and trouble-free.

Our speed walker going across the stage.

Darren the mascot.

Nolan with his best buddy Trey.

Our trip to Bama-Bama!

Richie and his daddy have taken a trip to Alabama for the past 16 years. They visit their friends, well I guess I should say family, the Salters every year during the Thanksgiving season to go deer hunting. Richie started taking Nolan on the trip last year. This year we made it a family affair. Gloria, Ted, Nolan, Brayden, and Tucker left Friday morning and Richie, Corbin, and I left Friday evening. The guys went out hunting Saturday morning and Nolan shot a doe and Richie shot a spike. Saturday evening, Nolan shot another doe. Sunday morning Nolan decided to sleep in so Brayden went with Richie. Brayden shot his first Alabama deer with Richie. Sunday evening Brayden came back in and told Nanny and I he shot two more. In all the boys shot 5 and Richie shot 1. We should be set on deer meat for a good, long while. Tucker didn't care much for hunting. He'd rather stay inside with Nanny and I so he could eat, watch television, and play his DS. We had a great dinner at Butch and Stephanie's house Saturday night. We were able to visit with Johnny, Shannon, Hunter, Ansley, Drew, and Anden. It has been a while since we have seen them. We enjoyed making S'mores on the back deck of Butch's house around the fire pit. The kids had a great time playing. We were able to visit with Joey, Lark, Conner, and Bailey also. They came by the cabin for a visit. I can't believe how much the kids have grown. Bailey is the cutest, sassiest little girl I have been around. We wrapped up our trip grilling hamburgers with the Salters on Monday night. We enjoyed getting to visit with the extended family and look forward to next year. Gloria took a view more pictures than I did. When I get a chance to upload hers, I will post again.

The boys playing at Butch's and Stephanie's.

Butch and Ted grilling pork chops and telling lies!

Corbin enjoying his 1st S'mores!

Tucker and Corbin taking a bath and loving their new Mohawks. Tucker says he wants to wear his hair like this "EVERYDAY!"

The Birthday Boy!

Nolan celebrated his 11th birthday on November 12. I can't believe he is already 11! It seems like just yesterday he was starting Pre-K and now he is about to enter middle school. Where does the time go? We haven't had the opportunity for him to celebrate with friends yet. The weekend of his birthday he was playing in a football tournament and the next weekend we were in Alabama. We did manage to get Richie's family and my family together for dinner and cake and ice cream. Since Tucker got a Nintendo DS for his birthday, that is all Nolan has talked about. Nanny made that wish come true! We got him a little something special as well. You can see that in the picture below. Grandmama and Brad gave Nolan money so he was able to buy the new Indiana Jones game for his DS. He got some other goodies from aunt Tracy and the family and aunt Teresa. In all, I think he enjoyed celebrating his birthday with his wonderful family!

The birthday boy blowing out the candles.

The birthday cake.

Corbin enjoyed sticking his finger in the cake over and over and over again.

Nolan with the new Indiana Jones movie he got for his birthday.

Nolan's favorite present his new Georgia Tech jersey!

Our Allstars!

BUSY is the key word in our lives right now. I am about 5 weeks into my first course of my Master's program, Nolan has wrapped up his football season, and we are gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Nolan and Brayden both made the allstar teams for their divisions in football. We played in a tournament in Jones County last weekend. Nolan's team took 2nd place in their bracket of the tournament. They played against some BIG guys. In all, he had a great time playing and we are thankful he has found a sport he really enjoys. Who knows, maybe we will be watching him play for Georgia Tech one of these days!

Brayden getting a pat on the back from one of his coaches.

Nolan and his teammates getting a congratulatory speech from their coach.

Nolan on the sidelines waiting for the kickoff.

Nolan going in for the block on the opponent.

One of the BIG teams we played. Just an idea of how big they were, the guy in the white shirt is their coach. Richie says the picture doesn't do justice. They actually had some kids over 200lbs.

Goooooooooo Jackets! Sting 'em!

We have been to a few more Tech games since our last post. We took Nolan to a game with us, Ken and Tracy took Brayden, and Chad Mobley took his son Cameron. We went up a little early to eat at the Varsity, which the boys loved! We went to the Georgia Tech bookstore. Nolan and Brayden enjoyed riding the escalators the whole time. We also took the boys to the Jacket walk to watch the players enter the stadium and to see if we could get a pic with BUZZ! Nolan and Brayden got a kick out of posing as statues with the statues. Brayden was really good at it too. I think he might of actually fooled some people if he didn't look so real. In all we had a great time at the game. On Saturday, November 1st, Richie and I went to Tech's last Saturday home game. We tailgated with the usual crew and journeyed down for the Jacket walk. Richie actually managed to snag a pic of Coach Johnson, Josh Nesbitt, and Michael Johnson. The game was incredible as was the atmosphere. If you watched the game then you know it came down to the last 45 seconds. I think we were all holding our breath and when FSU fumbled in the end zone and we recovered the ball, we were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. What a game, what an amazing atmosphere, and what a rush of emotions! All I can say is, Watch out Dawgs, Here we come!!

Nolan sitting in the stands waiting on the game to begin.

The band

Cameron greeting the players.


Nolan, Brayden, Buzz, and Cameron.

Cameron, Nolan, Brayden posing with a statue on the campus.

Richie and Andy

Coach Johnson during the Jacket walk.

Michael Johnson


Josh Nesbitt

Some of the crew - Andy, Richard, Chad, and Richie. Ken was sick and missed the game.

The fans getting ready to welcome the players.

The fans rushing down to the field after the win over Florida State.

Trick-or-Treat!

We had a wonderful Halloween this year. We went to our friends, the Cawthon's, for hot dogs, chilli, and yummy sweets. Along with LaTrelle's family, Lance's mom, April and Britt Mask, Jennifer and Jeremy Lilly and Jennifer's family, and the Harper's, we had a nice group. We took the kids trick-or-treating through through the neighborhood and had a great time. The boys have really enjoyed all of their candy. Nanny took the boys a few weeks ago to pick out their costumes. Nolan decided he wanted to be Indiana Jones, Tucker decided he wanted to be Spiderman AGAIN even though he has 3 spiderman costumes already, Brayden was the scary character from scream, and Corbin was a pirate. I wasn't exactly sure how Corbin would feel about dressing up but he did really well and seemed to enjoy it. Check out the pictures below of our trick-or-treaters.

Our Little Pirate

The boys spent the night with Grandmama Halloween night so when we got to her house they rang her doorbell. They get a kick out of trick-or-treating at Nanny's and Grandmama's house.

Nolan as Indiana Jones with Officer Will Cawthon.


LaTrelle Cawthon with Pirate Corbin.

Tucker as FLASH!