'Twas the night before Thanksgiving...

These poor girls were so excited to be going to Grandma's that they couldn't sleep. They finally crawled into bed together and this is how I found them a couple of hours later. Aren't they so sweet! If you can't tell, they are holding hands and sound asleep.


Anyway, this is gonna be a huge post, so get ready. I had to weed through TONS of pictures to come up with these, so I hope you enjoy them!


This is my nephew Jeffrey. I almost didn't recognize him. It's been a long while since I last saw him, and my how he has grown. He is huge! Well, actually, he's just tall. He has lost a lot of weight. He has been working out with the football team. I am so incredibly proud of this boy! He has gone through so much, and he is so sweet and strong despite or maybe because of it. I still can't believe how big you are Jeff. I still see you as that sweet, little boy that stay with me and Uncle Neil. I love you sweety! This boy is so ornery. He came home with us to Grandma's, so we got to spend more time together. He's always been a cuddler, and even at 13, thought he could still sit on my lap. He did until I had to push him off because my legs were going to sleep. You are definatly not a baby anymore kiddo!


This is me and my sister in law Sabrina. I love this girl so much! She is one of my very best friends. She is so much fun to be with, and when we are together, I end up with a stomach ache from laughing so hard. I was trying to get her to pose, and she did very well! But, I won't post those pictures, so I don't embarrass her, even though they are so funny!


This is my handsome daddy, Duane. He's not much of picture taker, but I had to get one in here. He is one of the most compassionate, patient, loving men I know. I am very blessed to have him for my dad!


Here is my brother Ike and his son Kade. Isn't he a cutie? He's finally come around to his Aunt Kissy. (Me) He loves to be chased. One of his favorite games. He wears me out, but it's so hard to stop because he gets so tickled. It's so cute!

Here is my pretty momma. She is another person who can make me laugh so hard. She is a lot of fun to be with. She is going through a lot right now. (So, please remember her in your prayers.) She has taken over the care of my grandmother. She is a very courageous person for doing this. Even though she gets exhausted, I know that she will be very blessed for taking her in. You are doing a great job, MOM! We are very proud of you!

Here is Isaac and Sabrina. This is a great picture! I'll have to print it off for you guys.


Here is Emma and her Grandma. I'm embarrassed to admit, but I didn't get many pictures of Emma this weekend. She was soooo busy playing with her cousins. She adores them! She was constantly with them, so she wasn't in front of the camera like she usually is. But she did stop long enough to get some lovins' from Grandma.


Here are all the girls of the family, except for GG. (Starting from the left: Destany, Sabrina, Me, Emma, Laura, Grandma, Lily, Katelyn, and Mandy on top)
It was the best picture, but of course Laura has her tongue hanging out. Silly girl!


Lily decided to take a LONG nap before, during, and after dinner. She was so hungry, I felt so bad she didn't get to eat sooner. But, she was sooooo sleepy. We had gone to bed late the night before, and then we got up at 6:00 am to leave. Poor girl slept for maybe 2 hours. I'm sure her stomach is the only reason she woke up.


This is my brother Jeremy and his wife Mandy. They were the ones who hosted Thanksgiving this year. They just bought their first house together. They sure worked hard to get it ready for everyone. It's beautiful! You guys sure have done a good job. These are the people I had mentioned that have recently gotten custody of Jeff and Laura. Jeremy is such a good dad to them. He is making sure they are doing good in school, and they are just thriving! I don't know Mandy well, yet, but I sure am thankful for her. She takes good care of them, and I really love her for that. Mandy, you will never now how much it means to me and my family to not have to worry about Jeff and Laura anymore.


These are my sweet grandparents, Arvia and Jalene, aka Emma Granny. This is the woman who Emma is named after. They are just the nicest, sweetest, most caring people I know. We usually have Thanksgiving at their house, but they recently moved. They now are the proud renters of a one bedroom apartment. They really enjoy it, and it's a lot closer to family. It was just too hard to squeeze everyone into their place.

This is what she looks like awake. It sure was nice to see. I saved her lunch, and she wolfed it down, and ran off to play.


Here's Ike and Neil bumming around. They were posing, but I couldn't get my camera going fast enough. It's probably best, they were being a little crud. Shocker, I know.


We finally made it back to Grandma's and Grandpa's house, and out came the Wii. This is my sweet niece Laura, playing with Lily. I think Laura did Lily's hair. It's hard to see, but it's cute. I think they were practicing cheerleading here.


Lily and Uncle Ikey played boxing together. At least I think that's what game it was since they have both controllers. Anyway, I think Ike won this game, but....


She got him back the next day, when she beat him at bowling. It was awesome! I think I broke everyone's eardrums screaming so loud. I just couldn't believe it. And Uncle Ikey does not like to be beat. But I think since it was Lily, it was sorta ok.


Here is my Emma playing with her Grandma. I think they were bowling here. Not sure. It looks like Mom is showing Emma how to scoot her ball over after rolling it. "Shift your hip this way, Honey! That's right!"


Here is my niece Destiny, hiding away, reading Breaking Dawn, the last book in the series in Twilight! I love this series. One of the best I've read. I was so excited to hear she was reading them. She and her mama went to see the movie when it came out. I am sooooo jelous. I kept asking her, "Where are you in the book?" "Ohh, good part!" "What's happening now?" I'm sure I drove her nuts. But it was fun talking about it with her!


Oh, and she even has the shirt! I made her pose.


Mom, this is for you. This is Sparkles, aka, Sparky. The very spoiled pup of my momma. I took the picture and Mom commented on how pretty her eyes were. So funny!


This is GG. This is my mom's mom. She is sitting in her new chair that she is so proud of. It's so cute how possessive she gets with it. She would take a nap and wake up with Ike's dog, Foxie asleep at her feet. Oooh, GG would pitch a fit, and make her get down. It was so funny. We would all sit around waiting for her to wake up to see what she would do with her. She is watching someone play the Wii in this picture. I'm sure she didn't know what to think about it all.


Another picture that wasn't so great, but I had to post it to show how long my dad's hair has gotten. I can't believe how fast it's grown. As far as I know, he has no plans to cut it, so I'm so curious to see how long it will get. I love it! It's so him, believe it or not!


And last, but not least, (Mom you knew they were coming), here are the Wii pictures. Actually, it's just pictures of my mom hogging the Wii. She wouldn't let anyone play it! ;o) She is playing the bowling game in the next few pictures. She loves to bowl. Her and my dad use to be on a league. Actually, she was bowling on the day I was due to be born. (I came 4 days late.) Anyway, here they are...

...wait for the release...wait...
Ooooooh, bad release, SCOOT! Will it scoot if I push my hips over here and hold my breath????


Okay, let's get serious here. What's my stradegy?


WooHoo! That's it! I did it! I'm the bomb! Oh yeah!!


It was so funny watching her. She was soooo serious! We kept thinking she was gonna hit the tv. She would go from one side of the room to the other, and miss the tv by maybe an inch. It was like she was at a real bowling alley. And if anyone got in her way, well, let's just say, you better not!

It was a great weekend! It was so much fun seeing everyone, and I can't wait until Christmas! I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as we did!