Please read the fine print...

                                            she said, "the plate that is blue is for the reindeer"
Tessa did this because Amelia mentioned the reindeer might be tired and hungry and would like cookies too.
                                         

 the shortest one in our family found the crumbs first



sooo, i can get into one of these cuties without my moms help...sweet. who cares if a sticker hangs on my chin for an hour.

this IS the most wonderful time of the year! i never understood the word addiction until my mom fed me my first sugar cookie!

now i'm on the run before someone takes a cookie out of my hand!

Merry Christmas!

because this is the only christmas greeting I can pull together....it has nothing to do with gaining 30 pounds before even  graduating to the 3rd trimester. Really. I'm quite sure.

Finally her Birthday came!

Eliza turned 9 years old & every year she says it will snow on her birthday but we haven't had snow since before thanksgiving and sure enough she woke up to snow! It was snowing the morning she was born so I guess we have to stick with tradition.

 Thomas excitedly waves bye, bye to the girls every morning for about 5 minutes...he doesn't care that they are long gone.

 

these girls love to celebrate, especially when it's for one of their own

 I asked her over and over...are you sure you don't want a cake? "nope, just my favorite cookies...frosted molasses cookies"

Eliza was so meant to be the oldest in our family & even has a bond with my sister Deb (the eldest :) they have a love for Pigs, piggies, piglets etc. they don't like change very well, they both really appreciate their alone time, and they also appreciate the old classics in life (Liza likes listening to the Kit Kittredge soundtrack & thinks it would be cool to have a really old typewriter that works)

She sweetens our lives and we love her to pieces!!!

               May all your wishes come true.

Family Food Holiday or Thanksgiving

 
 Look who was in charge of the Turkey...
the husband & wife team took their job very seriously, new rubber mitts, new $20 thermometer that cooked Mr T just right. I don't like turkey meat but this one was gooood.

 

                                           Mom & Dave

 

My two oldest siblings doing their signature pose (that's what happens when mojitos are served)

 Jody, Bryn, Deb & James pretending to work in the kitchen

 Amelia looks lost in the shuffle but I assure you...she was not forgotten, I'm pretty sure I fed her

 

My niece Chanel came & I can't call her little anymore b/c she is now 25...so crazy!

 Talk about some serious eating going on here

then it was time for a new family tradition...Pin the feather on the Turkey! Write what you're grateful for on the feather, read it, pin it, and hope for the grand prize which was a See's Chocolate Santa. Yes, even the adults took this one serious.

 Chanel with a few of  her girly little cousins (liza is not sure how to smile w/o those front teeth)

 Really, no child was allowed to pout at Grandma's house and how could you with a candy table staring at you all weekend!

what to do when you're done eating leftovers?

Make Saturday donuts of course! They were the yummiest cake donuts & James agreed b/c he kept asking me if I wanted a donut maker for Christmas...thanks a lot Jody, just what I need right now are endless donuts. well, maybe I do.

ws

Before we knew it we were back on the Extraterrestrial Highway (literally)

they even have an Alien museum b/c it's that scary if you were to break down...nothin' for miles & miles.

Thomas thought it was pretty cool & said 'spoooky'
(not really b/c all he can say is oof, oof and wow)

There was a beginning...

We moved to Chesterfield, Missouri in March of 2007 when Amelia was still just a baby but here they are on the front porch of the home we rented for 1 year and would soon be moving down the road a mile or so to the new 'old' home that we bought...

here are some before and after shots of what was done to the house, each room had wallpaper & some had two layers...very fun.

         No wallpaper in this paneled room but it did need Sheetrock

Here is the kitchen before with it's lovely 2 layers of laminate

Now if I knew we'd be moving after just a couple years then maybe I would have connected the wood flooring from the kitchen to the living room but we loved having soft carpet in our family room

We had visitors flock to St Louis in the early summer, no it wasn't for the cozy humidity it was for all these little ones! Liza was crying in this picture b/c she was saying goodbye to Mia

and we had visitors in the summertime, just in time to catch some fireflies in a jar

friends came over to play late into the evening while waiting for their mom to have their baby brother born

Here is our first of 2 years on swim team, ribbons still hang on their walls

dad's giving eliza a pep talk or a threat that she better win or else :) let's just say that she swam b/c her friends did

here they are in all their littleness just growing up little by little

This picture can still make me cry because after a scary miscarriage, James called Jody from the hospital & asked if she could come help out while I recovered...she didn't even pause before saying she would be on the next available flight.

we had deer nibble our apples

and little girls gave each other makeovers in the basement where mom didn't care if you spilled a bottle of nail polish

and we enjoyed many rainy cozy days...inside

we took advantage of the Ballwin pool on the many hot days b/c who can resist the lazy river?

then Christmas came around and we got to have fun company again

 

Aunt Jody and Uncle Garrett spent the day at Amelia's doctor while she received her medicine. Let's just say that after that experience Amelia can still get anything she wants if she asks her aunt jody

for the two years that she had ITP she would sleep for hours and hours during the day and this one picture brings back all the memories

here is our unfinished basement that we had plans of finishing since we moved in and now we see what a blessing that we didn't sink more money into it

Overall the house was filled with happy memories

and I love this one b/c they didn't even flinch when the bright camera flash went off & they both had their sugar babies under their heads

more playtime, the babydoll has a chain taped from her nose to her ear...I even felt sorry for her

The first of warm spring days had to be spent with friends, a hose, and a baby pool

Took advantage of all that St Louis had to offer like the zoo & never ran out of things for company to see with all their museums & beautiful places

 

Spent a lot of time in our yard
& enjoyed everything that popped up

Easter morning was so pretty we could have walked to church...but we didn't.

then came news that a baby boy would be on his way

so my Mom came to visit before the baby was born so she could have some fun with me, yes, she is a bit of a party girl

Look who was lucky enough to say he was born in the 'Show Me' state

all I can say is that our next baby will have issues if he doesn't get his own photoshoot with Alma

Grandma & Grandpa Bowen saw more sites in and around St Louis than all of us put together...they are amazing!

 Then another Christmas rolls around & I get my sister Deb b/c she had an empty nest since Grant decided to go live in Peru for a few years :) Yay for me

I like this shot below of her tongue hanging out b/c she's not used to lifting little ones...all the time!

Eliza had such a great primary teacher and on top of that she took her baptism pictures and during the process she caught Liza yawning

 

our last visitor who came for our last Spring

Then just a month later we hear news that changes our entire future

but we still feel the love even if the girls turn their heads away from the camera except for the one with her tongue out...she's always been really good at expressing how she feels.

our last big playdate at the park

we gathered one last time to eat treats and avoided any talking that delt with the reality of moving

Amelia asked her friends to bury her so she wouldn't have to face the future without them

Our dining room was usually covered with papers and crayons all over the floor but this time there only sits a sign in sheet for someone to come and appreciate the home and neighborhood like we did

So this is the end of that chapter in our lives because our home closed last week. Such a quick review of 3 1/2 years that I could never sum up why that was our favorite spot...it's all the little things that just continually added up  but I never took pictures at book club or DeBunko (we couldn't call it Bunko b/c all we did was jump around to each others home for a yummy meal & laugh) or stopping by friends to be invited in for pancakes or to see if something yummy was baked up and so it's always the folks you know and love...whom I will never forget.