Family photo 2010

You never know what you are going to get when you try to take a family photo at the holidays. This year there were 13 of us, with five under five. Surprisingly enough, there were two takes and one of them was actually quite decent (at least of the kids!).

Visiting Gigi

While Pete and Sheena were in town, we decided to take a caravan up to Virginia to see my grandmother, Nana. I haven't, sadly, been up there since Thomas was two months old. Andrew and family weren't able to come because of work, but they went a few months ago. Katherine and Lauren had not yet met their Gigi (as a grandmother she is "Nana," but as a great-grandmother, she is "Gigi"). Now everyone has!





Lauren was most interested in Gigi and gave her some of her biggest smiles.



We went out to eat once while we were there. Luckily it was a very kid-friendly restaurant and they seated us in a section all to ourselves. Included in this group beyond those already mentioned were my Aunt Lori and her daughter (my cousin), Ashley. We were also able to see my Aunt Lisa, Uncle Mike, their daughter (again, my cousin!) Kris (and Kris's son Ty) the evening we arrived. Here's a picture of our lunch out:


Ashley, Pete & the gang...

The boys, especially Parker, loved Ashley. I loved listening to Parker trying to say her name.

A couple of weeks before we came, Richmond had a very big snow. There were still piles of old snow scattered throughout the neighborhood. The kids thought this was very neat and they had a ball kicking the piles of what was then essentially just dirty ice.


Pete and I took Katherine and Thomas walking around the neighborhood and they enjoyed playing ring-around-the-rosie in an open field.




When the kids got a little rowdy waiting for dinner, we tried to calm them with a game of Red Light, Green Light (or maybe this was Mother May I?).


And after they went to bed, the really big kids (us!) enjoyed a game of Wii Bowling (Pete playing with Aunt Lisa in the background...she was our instructor).


In the end, Mom won and I trailed behind her by two points (Pete & Sheena were 3rd and 4th).


One thing that was hard to break Parker of during and after the trip was his newfound love of "moo-moo." That would be "movies" on the DVD player. It's funny though... The only DVD he watches is one (I can't think of the name of it but it is fabulous) that shows various underwater scenes of sea life while singing these silly but cute songs. He is mesmerized by it. He sits there and watches, calls out the various fish he sees and sucks his thumb while twirling his hair.


Before we knew it, it was time to head home. We took two cars (Mom, me and the boys in our rented minivan) and Pete, Sheena & the girls in the other car. During a stop to feed Lauren, I snapped a few pics of the boys. They were actually reasonably well behaved. I was pleasantly surprised.


Parker though did a little better on the way up there. I turned his seat around for the trip home thinking I could strap the DVD player to the holder on the back of my seat and that would be okay. It was not. And then with the seat turned forward, his lap wasn't big enough to hold it and he got very frustrated. Lesson learned.

I was glad we made the trip though and glad my boys didn't drive me insane during 7-8 hour trip (it actually took us about 9 hours to get back home and they did great). All smiles at this moment!




Hopefully we can go back soon and Trey will be able to join us for his first trip to Richmond!

Christmas Eve Eve

I need to recap Christmas, and I suppose I need to start somewhere.  So I'll start with the beginning of the festivities.  On Christmas Eve Eve we traveled to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with them.  The tree was looking beautiful...


And the boys were most happy to play with their cousin, Eliza.


We had our big Christmas meal that night, and then the next morning, we woke up and opened gifts (after posing for some pictures first, of course).






My mom bought these reindeer ears for all the grandkids last year and we've yet to get a picture with all of them wearing them.  Maybe one day! 


Somehow I managed not to upload one picture of the gift opening.  For our family, it was relatively fast and furious (which just means that it didn't take four hours of one present being opened at a time...instead we all opened one at the same time and tried to take time to see what everyone got before moving on to the next).  Part of the reason I don't have these pictures is because we managed to forget to bring our camera.  These pictures are stolen from my brother's camera.

Later Aunt Beth had arranged for the kids to make some cookies for Santa.  They had a ball doing that.








And then I tried in vain to get a cute picture of the boys together in their matching pjs...


They are cute...and laughing...but not quite giving me the picture I had in mind (of two loving brothers, happily smiling into the camera!).








Oh well.  Better luck next year.

It wasn't long before the kids were getting a bit tuckered out, and they enjoyed a rare quiet and still moment reading a book with Aunt Beth.


These next two pictures are what tired and content looks like:




After all of the family fun, we decided to stay and go to church there to allow us a little more time to spend with everyone, and I think after being so overwhelmed by how excessively well attended the Christmas Eve service was at our church last year, it was nice to be in a smaller crowd (with so many familiar faces!). 

We got home too late for Christmas Eve traditions (we did read Twas the Night Before Christmas right after we put the boys in their pajamas for the ride home), the boys fell asleep in the car and were sound asleep when we transferred them to their beds when we got home. But the stockings were indeed hung by the chimney with care...


And on the next post you can find out if St. Nicholas indeed was soon there!  :)

An old-fashioned Christmas parade

Trey took the boys up to his parents' house this year for the annual Lowry's Christmas Old-Fashioned Christmas parade while I stayed home and got ready for the holidays here. Everyone had a wonderful time (and I had a much-needed respite by myself, and was quite productive for a change).

As you may recall, the parade is not for cars or trucks. Instead, it is for tractors...


And animals...


And some really creative and unique "floats":


And just like any good parade, there is lots of candy being thrown. And from the looks of their loot, it seems that the boys did just fine catching their share:


And of course, at the end of any Christmas parade, Santa must appear:


The boys had a great time with Nana & Umpa...


And Aunt Beth...


And back at the house, the boys had much time to play with Mary D and "B," which always makes them happy. Here are Thomas and "B":


Many thanks to my husband for taking them, and to everyone for taking such good care of them and showing them such a fun time while they were there. I hated to miss it, but Mommy needed a break! :)

Edgefield family reunion

Last weekend we headed up to Edgefield, SC for a family reunion with Nana's side of the family.  We met at the old family church grounds for a delightful picnic.  It was there that I got to see (and use!) a first...a real outhouse! 


And it still works!


After lunch, we drove over to the old "homeplace" and set off in search of the rock where Nana and her sister and cousins liked to play as children. 


It was a little hike...


But before too long, we reached "Buffalo Rock."  Thomas and Umpa checked it out...


Parker got in on the fun...


And then we all got up for a family picture with Aunt Beth:


It was a fun day...


And a good time was had by all!