Way Behind.....

I am so far behind on my blogging I wonder if I will ever catch up! I PROMISE (to those of you who really follow our blog) that I will work on it ASAP. WOW, November and December have been busy. We seem to be busier this year than any other and I'm so ready for things to slow down. I want to be able to sit down with Lan and the kids, watch Christmas movies and know that everything is finished.

Hot Pineapple and Cheese Caserole

By request I am posting this wonderful recipe! This casserole is on my menu every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is my mother and brother-in-laws favorite!

Hot Pineapple and Cheese

3 (20 oz.) cans of pineapple tidbits, drain and reserve juice

1 1/2 cups of sugar

9 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour

4 cups of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers

1/4 cup of sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 9 Tablespoons of pineapple juice, sugar and flour. Add cheese and pineapple chunks. Mix well. Pour into a lightly buttered 9x13 baking dish. In a small bowl melt butter and add crushed crackers and sugar. Place on top of pineapple mixture. Bake uncovered 45 minutes.

Blessings...

Tonight at church we celebrated with a Blessings Banquet. We all brought a covered dish or dessert (gotta love the south) and shared some really great food! After we ate the children went upstairs for lots of fun in the gym and we gathered around to hear testimony about some blessing of members of our church this past year. Amazing! We are all so very different, each with a different story but such a great love of our church and our church family. I am so thankful for my FBC family!!!

Our favorite tree...

Lan and I have lived in our house for a little over 9 years now and every year in the Fall we get so much joy out of this one tree in our yard. For a few weeks it gives us this amazing display of color! We live in the house his dad grew up in and his grandparents had a great love of nature and we still get to enjoy the treasures they left behind...

Pinewood Derby!

The RA's at church held their annual Pinewood Derby race this past Wednesday night. Lan helped Myles build his car and painted it like Ironman. He always looks so forward to this race! Every year they do a different theme and he and Lan works really hard to make it look just the way Myles wants it to. I think the dad's get into it just as much as the boys! Myles didn't place this year but made us so proud because he really is a great sport about loosing. He cheered for everyone. I told him sometimes it's better to be a good looser than a winner. I am so proud to be this little boys mother!

High School Musical 3

Katie Grace and I had a movie date and went to see High School Musical 3! We loved it! I'm so glad that there are still good movies being made for our children in a time when so JUNK is out there. I loved musicals growing up and I'm so happy to have a little one that watch them with me! At least my little man and I do share a love of Harry Potter!

Trick-or-Treat!

We had SO much fun Halloween night!!! The weather was cool and the children were both so happy and excited! In years past we have gone to Eagle Point in Meridian trick-or-treating but this year we decided to change things up and go to a neighborhood very close to our street. Great decision! We ended up running into Matt and Meredith with Molly Katherine and Wes which turned out to be so fun for all of us! I can't tell you how many houses we went to but it was GREAT and they all loaded up on plenty of sugar!

Happy Halloween!!!

We started off the night loading up on candy at G and Duddie's! We always make it our first stop and the kids load up on their favorites since they are the only trick-or-treaters that they see!

Before you look at these pics and begin to wonder if we've lost our minds, let me explain! Lan's grandfather Leland was born on Halloween and LOVED to celebrate the holiday! Every year since he passed away we take a pumpkin out to the cemetery for him. This year the kids found these things (I forget what there called but grew up loving to blow on them). The cemetery was covered in them and they ran around grabbing as many as they could find! I know it sounds crazy but Leland would have loved it!!!

Halloween with the Maloney's!

The Moloney's hosted a great party the Tuesday before Halloween! The kids had a wonderful time and so did the adults!

(Myles and Katie Grace)

(Seth and Myles)

(Katie Grace and Baker)

The Oldest Child...

Meet our third child. I know he looks a bit long in the tooth to be a kid but believe me when I say he REALLY fits in. I have to joke with him! This is Brad, Jonda's husband and our brother-in-law. He is so great with our babies! They love him to death and he loves them! He has been a really great help when I need him and they love getting to spend time with he and Jonda. As you can see from these great pictures he really knows how to have fun!

The Day After...

Sunday after church we brought the kids out to play on the slide and jumpy before the company came out to pick them up. FUN!!! Jonda and Brad came and brought their dogs, G and Duddie even joined in on the fun! I made a pot of chili with Mexican cornbread and mummy dogs for us to eat after everyone came inside. These are some of the GREAT pictures I got. G got to the top of the slide and panicked! When we finally talked her down she realized how much fun it was and went down a few more times. I wish I had room to post all of the pictures!

Cousins!

Lan and Jonda's cousin Kerry and her family were able to come and join us at the hayride. We had a fun being able to visit and have some fun with them. They have a boy (Will) and a girl (Shannon) that are very close in age with Myles and Katie Grace. Mine both love when their "cousins" come to visit! I think it's wonderful that family is already so important to them.

(Will, Myles, Shannon and Katie Grace)

( Jonda, Lan, Me, Jerry, Kerry, Will, Myles, Katie Grace and Shannon)

FBC Hayride

Lan's mom and dad (G and Duddie) hosted the hayride for the children of our church on the 25th. Abby Dennis is our Children's Director and does a fantastic job getting everything set up and organized. We had GREAT food, fun and fellowship! Here are just a few of the pictures I was able to get.

(Katie Grace)

(Myles)

(Brad and Jonda)

(Kristen vs. Ms. Abby)

(Edie, Isabell and Trey)

(Greg, Kathryn, Annie and Hays)

(Neil, Amanda and Parker)

(Walt, Regan and McLain)