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Drew, Nana, Pop, Craig, Leslie, and Katie came to visit over the 4th of July. We had a chance to celebrate Drew's birthday, the guys got to play a little (ok, a LOT) of golf, and we got to see some fireworks. It was a lot to cram into one weekend, but we did it in true "Moore fashion!"
Here's the birthday boy...also note the "hot tub junkies" in the back of the picture. They couldn't wait to get in:
You can't have a birthday on July 3rd and have regular candles on your (yummy) ice cream cake!
And, you can't get Nana with her grandkids all in one place and NOT take a picture!
Finally...the HOT TUB!!! They had a blast!
Once it got dark, the sparklers came out. Harrison was ready to go, but Katie wasn't too sure about them. Eventually, she got the hang of it and enjoyed running through the yard with hers.
Leslie had the most fun, though...
Once he saw the hot tub was vacant, Drew had his turn (after all, it was HIS birthday)! He seemed to enjoy it more than anyone else over the weekend - I wasn't sure we were going to get him out of it for a little while.
It got pretty cold by the time the fireworks were scheduled to start...Nana, Katie, and Harrison camped out in the trunk of the car for a little while, Leslie couldn't control her fireworks enthusiasm,
and Drew just kept swinging his golf club (I think the only time he stops is when he sleeps).
I really like this picture of Drew and Harrison together!
The fireworks were hard to capture on my little camera but here's a couple just to show you the view from our backyard. It was a great night and a great weekend!
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We actually had a wonderful start to our day - Chris and Harrison surprised me with a card, a yellow rose, and a ginormous Hershey's Kiss (which Harrison reminded me "could" be for both of us). Then Chris and I surprised Harrison with a card, a stuffed dog holding a heart, and a "Message Bean" - you water it and when it grows, the bean has the words "I love you" on it. Finally, I surprised Chris with a card. It seems like Dad always get the short end of the Valentine's Day deal...at least in our house he does!We then packed up and drove to Bloomington for the wedding of a dear friend of ours from Phoenix. Now, before you get confused, this is a friend we met while living in Phoenix that now lives in this area, too. It was a lovely wedding and a great reminder of how precious the gift of a spouse can be. The afternoon was quiet - until around 4:00 when Harrison had a basketball game. He had a great time, as usual and we all came home to have a home-cooked meal of steaks on the grill. We are now settling in to more quiet, which is just how we like it. I can't think of a better way to spend this day - surrounded by "my boys". I hope your Valentine's Day was just as special!
We had lunch on Christmas Day with Amy, Delmar and Emily. It was so nice to spend time with them. This winter, the weather has been yucky and we've all been hibernating. So, while the food was great (thanks, Amy!), the company was even better.
We exchanged presents all around and the kids really seemed to like their gifts. Harrison got a Photokins, which is a digital picture frame in the belly of a stuffed monkey - too cute! And, Amy was thoughtful enough to go ahead and add some pictures. Harrison LOVES it! I think Emily liked her room sign, too!
Looking back on all our Christmas activities, it seems we celebrated for weeks. And, in reality, we did! But, we got to see most of our family and many of our friends which is how it should be. Through it all, though, we never forgot the most important reason for Christmas - the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Harrison wanted to make a birthday cake for Him, so we did. It was simple, and not really very pretty (I've never claimed to be good at that), but it tasted good and shared the most important message of all:
After our trip to KY, we tried to start a family tradition for us. This is one of two years we have spent Christmas Eve and Day in IL - we have usually spent them in KY. So, we attended the Christmas Eve service at the First Christian Church and enjoyed it very much.
We made it back home that night just in time for Santa...after spending some time tracking him on Norad, we got Harrison to bed around 10:00 or so. He was up at 4:00 asking if it was time for presents yet! I was able to get him into bed with us and keep him there until 6:15. But that was as long as he could wait. He was very excited about opening presents, but he also wanted to be sure we each had our gifts. So, he was in charge of passing out presents and nothing could be opened until he was done! I had to get a picture of him with his line of gifts before he dove into them.
One of his most-loved gifts was a Mario Kart tee-shirt, along with Wii sleep pants (thanks, Nana). We can't keep this outfit off him - it's a favorite "home outfit".
But the biggest deal of all was the Wii!!! Yes, Santa came through and Harrison got a Wii for Christmas. Life is now complete (yes, this is said with some sarcasm on my part).
I was very happy with my Willow Tree figurine - always a favorite.
Chris was happy with his gifts as well, but you can tell we really would both rather be sleeping.
All in all, it was a great Christmas and we were happy to be together. But guess what??? There was still one more Christmas to go...
Harrison performed in the Heartland Community Church Christmas play this year - his first play performance EVER! The play was titled "Toy Time" and the story was about Barbie learning the true meaning of Christmas. At night, after the grumpy store-keeper leaves the shop (played to perfection by Delmar!), the toys come to life and begin talking about Christmas. Harrison's character was a cowboy doll. He started off with one line, but by production time he was up to 3 lines. And, I may be a little biased, but he did a fantastic job!
Emily was also in the play, as an Abby Cadabby doll. She also did a wonderful job singing and dancing with the others. The play was written, directed, and produced by the childrens' pastors and their hard word was apparent in the great job all the kids did. Again, in the interest of confidentiality, I'm not posting pictures of the play; however, we did get some pictures after the play...here are Harrison and Emily in costume:
We also got a shot of Delmar with the kids...and staying in character, he looks very grumpy here:
Harrison missed the cast party the Wednesday following the play as we were on our way to KY for Christmas. In a surprising turn of events, we later learned that the cast voted on several awards (Best Actor/Actress, Most Improved, etc.) and Harrison was voted the Best Actor! Not a bad gig to win an award in your first performance. Now he's saying he wants to be an actor when he grows up...a STAR is BORN!
In keeping with tradition, Thanksgiving was spent in KY. We had Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday at my mom's house and then again on Saturday at Chris's parents house. At my mom's, Janey (my big sis), Chris and I worked on the stuffing...and there was of course a need for some supervision as well. Here's me supervising Janey:
Janey's turn supervising Chris:
I'm happy to say it all turned out great!
All of Harrison's cousins were there and they had a great time playing kick ball outside (in the interest of confidentiality, I'm not including any photos of them). We did get a photo op with my mom, brother, and sisters...don't be mistaken - the camera angle only makes us look like giants. We are actually average-sized people!
At Chris's parents, we also got an opportunity to get photos of the entire clan...back row: me, Chris, Dale (Chris's dad), Barb (Chris's mom), Roma (Barb's mom), Joan (Barb's sister), Nikki & Johnny (Chris's cousin and his wife...AND their baby was born just a couple of weeks later - congrats to them!). Front row: Craig, Leslie & Katie (Chris's sister, brother-in-law, and their daughter), Drew, Harrison, and Suzie (Chris's cousin). I'm not sure why we've never done this before, but it's the first time I can remember us getting a picture of all of us together.
Also during the weekend, I got a chance to see some old friends. Here we are at O'Charley's where we met up for a cocktail and conversation. Left to right is: Denise, me, Toni, Debbie, and Janie. It was great to see them again!
We had a busy, but very fun weekend - and it was a great reminder of the many blessings God gives us. Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, too!
You can't have a birthday on July 3rd and have regular candles on your (yummy) ice cream cake!
And, you can't get Nana with her grandkids all in one place and NOT take a picture!
Finally...the HOT TUB!!! They had a blast!
Once it got dark, the sparklers came out. Harrison was ready to go, but Katie wasn't too sure about them. Eventually, she got the hang of it and enjoyed running through the yard with hers.
It got pretty cold by the time the fireworks were scheduled to start...Nana, Katie, and Harrison camped out in the trunk of the car for a little while, Leslie couldn't control her fireworks enthusiasm,
The fireworks were hard to capture on my little camera but here's a couple just to show you the view from our backyard. It was a great night and a great weekend!
