Labor Day ~ 2016

On Labor Day, we were invited over to our friends', the Fernandez Family, home.  We were fed well. Our associate Pastor prepared racks of ribs, that had been slow roasting since 5 a.m.. The meat was literally just falling off.  It was scrumptious. Everyone brought a dessert or a small something to share.  The kids swam and swam and swam.  The dads and moms chatted away.  It truly looked like a middle school dance: the guys were on the right side of the pool and the moms were on the left side of the pool.  LOL! 

Eventually, a game of "watermelon ball" began!  

Then, the kids did a little dancing off of the diving board!

And... eventually, an arm wrestling fight ALMOST broke out!!! #scaredies

It's always nice to get together with your family in Christ. We are always thankful for friends opening up their homes. I keep saying I need to do this more often myself. Eeeek! Just the thoughts of hosting an event like that overwhelms me. Haha. BUT, I promise the desire is there.

New Year's Day 2016!

For Christmas, I purchased Darren a Ruger Icp and a Glock 21. Well, let me rephrase that...I was supposed to purchase him a Glock, but he decided to get it for himself before Christmas.  So...I purchased Darren a Ruger instead.  Our friend Aaron and I planned a grown-up playdate, at his house, with 10 guys from church. Aaron supplied the "shooting range" and I supplied the food.  I made (2) pots of Italian Chili and (1) pot a unique chili with Ditali pasta, cornbread, and most any chili topping you can think of. I had quite the task.  Originally, I thought I was cooking for 5-10 men.  It turned out being that 10+ men, their wives, and children. Ahhhh!!! I have no evidence of the final outcome.  Just a quick photo of some of my store bought items.

I cannot wait to share how I presented this gift/event to Darren, but until then, PLEASE KNOW, my man was so excited.  He loaded up his "gun bag", the night before, weapons, amo, and a few targets. His bag weighed about 80 pounds

I didn't want to be the annoying photographer, so I left my camera bag in the car. BUT...here is ONE video clip and ONE photo of their fun. While the men practiced shooting, the women stayed warm inside and chatted.  The girls played with their American Girl Dolls.

The bear that they were trying to "KILL" was a bear that was given to me, by my father.  Sadly, after 15+ years of having it, my one year old puppy decided to use it's nose as a chew toy.  Ugh. We were going to throw it out, but instead, Darren brought it to Aaron's to use as Target practice.  A special thanks to Thomas Chaffin for recording this intense moment of "Kill The Bear". I have to say, I feel pretty darn safe having all of these men in our church.  

After some shooting fun and a hot meal, accompanied with some delicious dessert brought by Allison and possibly Lisa, the guys completed their push up contest that they had been planning on for several months.  Everyone gathered around and watched 4 or 5 of the guys compete against each other.

It was very fun/funny to watch, but as you can see from the guy's face, this was no joke to them.  PRIDE was at stake here. LOL! It was taken very seriously and it was a pretty fierce few minutes.  The room was getting hot. Hehe.

I am proud to announce my man did the most push-ups.  I believe he did 73 or 78.  

Then the little boys wanted to give it a try.  This was so cute. First up, little Hank.

Then, Watson!

The bigger-little boys and girls went too.  Gabe, Ty, Lilah, Kate, Vivian, and Ansley!

We are always so thankful to get to spend the day with Church family.  You never leave a church function thinking, "I should have never went!"  Darren and I really admire both Aaron and Lisa's willingness to show hospitality.  We are continuing to be a witness to it.  I am hoping that it will rub off on us more and more.  I have a feeling, although this was the FIRST time shooting at Aaron's it will NOT be the last.  Happy New Year!

Halloween Night (201

We had a fantastic Halloween NIGHT!!! We kept up with our traditions to go trick-or-treating with the Williams' family.  Sadly, we did NOT go with the Crisafi girls this year (also a yearly tradition). We did add the Harris family to our evening though and it was exciting because it was their FIRST time going trick-or-treating.  Unfortunately, my three kids RUN FULL SPEED and I mean FULL SPEED, when going from house to house, so it didn't allow us to stick together until we met back up at our home.  We wound up going mostly with the Shannon and Campbell family because their kids were running from house to house too.  

We always have to leave our candy at the door, so we have the honor system in place, hoping that most kids will just take one or two pieces.  Darren prints a note every year to help stress our desires.  

Lilah and Jax wanted to be comfortable while going from house to house, so they just pulled some costumes out of their costume boxes.  They decided since they are twins they would go as Spideyman and Spideygirl. You will see, in future posts, that they did have other creative costumes for other Halloween events we attended. Spiderman and Spidergirl are NOT original, but they are a total classic.  

We even had our grown-up friends dress up.  Zach went as a nascar driver, Jody a referee, Brett a basketball player, and my hubby went as a "scratch and sniff" poopie!

Simon was a beanie baby!

Pre-trick-or-treating pics.

Cohen, as iron man, running with a football.  LOL!

"Trick or Treat!"

There they are... trailing behind us.....haha. Good thing this isn't a race. Shhh! Don't tell my kids it isn't.  It gets done quicker.  Hehe.

We are always happy to have Gabe with us!!! This is the third year that he has joined us.  I think this MAY BE their last year because they are getting too old, sniff, sniff.

We spotted the Fernandez family in our neighborhood. Kate was an octopus and Vivian was Mary Popins.

Even though you can't see Hank's face, you can tell he's smiling.  He was a Hammerhead shark.

Izzy!!!

Chastity!!

Sadie was also a beanie baby! A large beanie baby.  LOL!

We finished the entire neighborhood and still caught back up to the Harris' who barely made it around the culd-e-sac.  Haha.  

Taking a break from their sprints, to snack on what they collected.

Their "rest" didn't last long.  Up they go... back for more.

Courtland!!

Cooper!!!

I loved this pumpkin that our neighbor, Michelle, carved!!! Way to support our Highlanders.

Just a few more pre-trick-or-treating pics. I just realized I didn't really take any of Ty prior to leaving.  Booooooo! He was with Gabe and preoccupied, but he and Gabe went as Batman and Robin. You can tell that the Superhero costumes are definitely an all time favorite.  

After we went trick-or-treating, we ordered pizza and enjoyed our evening with the Williams' family!  To see MORE of our evening, double click on the Picasa web album below.