A visit with old friends

It's been 17 years (I think) since I've seen my friend Susanna.  We were the best of friends when my family lived in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.  I would go play at her house after church on Sunday's and we would have sleepovers.  We usually stayed at Susie's house, because she got homesick.  I, on the other hand, loved to get out of the house.  Much like my Laney bugs.  She loves her family, but would give anything to have a sleepover without us there.  Susanna taught me how to climb trees.  Their family introduced me to Dr. Pepper and I have a continued love affair with the soda.  I'm pretty sure we used to sing in church together, you know, like up front with a microphone.  Maybe I made that up, I was like 10.  I have lots of fond memories with her and her family.  Her parents were always so sweet to me and made me feel like part of the family when I was over.  My family ended up moving, and we tried to stay in touch.  Thanks to Facebook, we have reconnected!  Susanna is married and has an adorable little boy.  Her family and her parents came through here, on their way to the Grand Canyon.  We met at a Cracker Barrel. It was like 17 years had only been a few weeks.  Except we are married and have five kids between the two of us!  It was a really wonderful time and I am so blessed to have met up with them again.  Thank you guys for stopping to see us.  It meant so much to me.

     

Addy is only a few months older than Hayden.  Don't you think they would be a cute couple?  We decided they should get married some day.  Isn't he the most beautiful little boy?  Those blue eyes.Me, Susanna, and the kiddos.  We probably should of had the husbands in this picture, too.  They kids were antsy and I didn't even think about it.  Sometimes I forget stuff with my children around.

Go vote for the Voiles

My sister-in-law is good friends with a family that has six girls.  They have a single, twins and triplets.  They are the Voile family.    They entered a contest on TLC for Ragu.  They are one of the top three finalists.  Click here for the link to got vote for them to win!  

The Big One

Here is THE family photo.  The whole reason I did this photo shoot was for this picture.  The last time we had a family photo was when we went to Hawaii in 2002.  It's not perfect, but I love it.  From left to right, The Staples, the Tanners, The Williams, and The Mcnally's.  One mom, one stepdad, three kids, their spouses and children.  Amazing.

Calin, Steven and Aidan

This is my husband's little sister Calin, her husband Steven, and our nephew Aidan.  Two year olds don't really care to have their picture taken.  Aidan, I get it dude. I don't like to have my picture taken either.  I did use the candy bribe trick, and he loved that.  Love and miss you guys!

THE Grandkids

Ok folks, so here are the grandkids pictures.   When you have eight kids that include two 2 year olds (one who chews her hair), two babies under the age of 2, a three year old who needs to be  picking flowers instead of having her picture taken, a four year old who was having some sort of an allergic reaction in his eyes, a five year old and an eight year old, it's extremely hard to get a perfect picture.  But what I love most about these pictures, is the fact that we will look back and remember how crazy and wonderful it was when they were all so young.  In case you were wondering, I picked out all of their clothes.  I think I was a stylist in another life.  If I believed in that sort of thing.  Let me know which one is your favorite.  I love the ones in color, but the best poses are the ones in black and white.

My Morgan

Well she's really not mine.  She's my beautiful niece.  She is the first of eight grandchildren on my husband's side. (She's eight, and four of those kids are mine.  Weird.)  The first time I  met Morgan, she was only a few weeks old.  Josh and I were dating and he took me to California to meet his family.  She was the cutest baby ever.  Full head of black hair and she was so tiny.  We spoiled her for three whole years until my Laney was born.  Then the floodgates of babies opened and now their are eight grandkids.  Isn't she beautiful?!

We are back!

We are back from vacation to California.  And I have to say, I am exhausted!  Two days in the car with my kids almost drove me nuts.  I just vegged today to try and get my senses back.   They were awesome on the way there, but very tired on the way back.  It was totally worth it to see family that we love.  We had a blast.  I took tons of pictures, but will take my time posting them through out the week.

Here's some pictures that are super funny to me.  Hopefully they make you laugh, too.

I guess this is what boys do.  I have no idea.  My nephew is definitely teaching me what boys are all about.

Here's my nephew Aidan, bolting from the scene.  This picture makes me laugh really hard.

Ok, well these next two pictures are of myself.  I was trying to get my darn remote to my camera to work.  These were the only two times it worked and I obviously was not ready!  I ended up just using the timer on the camera.  It's funny to see everyone in the back.  Maybe they were thinking, "How long is Michele gonna make us stand in the middle of nowhere?" "Does she have any clue as to what she is doing?" 

Guys, I really don't!