"Some family pictures"

We did a quick, informal photo shoot back in November in hopes of possibly trying to see if we could get some pictures that we might be able to possibly use for Christmas cards. My sweet mom took some pictures for us, and I took a few also. I still don't really know how to use my camera after 5 years!!  I should probably just carve out some time to read the manual!  I hope to do that in the new year.  But, I think we captured some sweet and some silly faces, and made lots of memories in the process.

Elijah (age 6), and Ellison (almost 3) 

"Birthday Boy"!

Elijah wanted a spend the night party for his birthday this year - 1st spend the night party ever!  He invited 4 friends for a "Ninja Turtle" sleepover.  These boys were so low-maintainance! They didn't care about doing anything but running around the backyard "saving the world", eating pizza, watching Ninja Turtle cartoons, and building Legos.  Seriously, easiest party ever! They entertained themselves, put themselves to bed, and had a great time together.

Happy 6th Birthday sweet boy! 

Perfectly precious - she was so happy it was his special day

Birthday Chapel at school that morning. This is such a sweet tradition his school does - the kids are prayed for and sung a special birthday blessing song to on their special day.  

He requested "Ninja Turtle" cupcakes to be brought to school 

Expressions are priceless! 

Silliness with Daddy and cousins 

Let the party begin!!!! 

One of his friends gave him this electronic "spaceship" and it was a total hit all night long! 

Trip to Nancy's Italian Ice 

Silly boys!
(Ben, Elijah, Nate, Will, and Wyatt) 

Flying the spaceship the next morning in 30 degree weather! 

This was one happy 6 year old little boy.  Jay and I both said that he smiled more in 24 hours than we had ever seen him smile!  And I just realized from the pictures that I think he wore the same clothes for 24 hours too!! 

and of course, little Ninja Turtle had a blast too! 

"6th Birthday Trip...."

Elijah was given a trip to "Music City" for his 6th birthday by all of his grandparents. Mommy and Daddy were just allowed to "tag along", and we were so thankful we were able to!  He has been playing guitar for quite some time now and has made some incredible strides, so we thought a trip to Nashville would be a fun way to give him some inspiration and hear some really amazing musicians - and also be reminded of how much effort goes into perfecting his instrument.  It was so neat to watch him begin to realize how rewarding and satisfying it can be to work really hard towards something that you love so much - like his music. He lived with his guitar in his hands for 48 hours! We heard about every style of music one can hear during that weekend, and it was so awe-inspiring to hear truly outstanding music - regardless of the style. It was all just done with such excellence you couldn't help appreciate it.  This was a wonderful weekend for all of us and so many memories were made together. Thank you Bebe, E-daddy, Gammy, and Pop Pop for making this weekend possible for us!

This is the face of one excited little boy when we told him!  We surprised him the morning we were leaving. 

Dropping off Ellison at Bebe and E-Daddy's house for the weekend. 

Tennessee State line 

He played his guitar most of the 4 hour drive 

The "General Lee" 

Checking into our hotel.  We absolutely looked like "stage parents" bringing our child to Nashville to try to break into the industry!!  He just loves his guitar so much that he wanted to carry it everywhere we went. 

He wanted to take a picture of us  :) 

He was trying to do the classic "escalator move" as seen on the movie "Elf" 

New Lego's with Daddy at dinner 

Giant birthday cupcake at "Rainforest Cafe" 

An evening at the Grand Ole Opry 

Was a super long show and he was fading by 9:30, so Mountain Dew and Twizzlers it is!!   He thought we had lost our minds to let him eat and drink this, especially at that hour - maybe we had, but we had fun! 

We got back to the hotel and he tried for at least and hour to pull his tooth out!  

Ready for church the next morning - of course, guitar was on his back! 

Breakfast the next morning 

The "Elf move" again! 

We spent the afternoon downtown letting him look around in all of the shops and hear the live music  

With some of his spending money, he bought a harmonica 

and crazy sunglasses 

and cool light-up drumsticks! 

So tired at dinner! 

We had plenty of leftovers after dinner and hated to throw them away, so I told EB that I was sure there was someone out on the street who might be hungry and would love to have a meal. He asked how we would know and I said, "ask God to show you and He will".  We walked just a few feet down the street after we prayed and these gentlemen reached out to me and said, "hey darling, could we play you a tune for your leftovers"?  I told that they were welcome to have our leftovers and we let EB walk over to them and give them the food. They were thrilled and wanted to play us a song anyway, so we stood there and listened to their music.  Those few minutes we were able to spend with these guys were very special, and was awesome for EB to see God provide both and answer for us and also a meal for these men. After we walked away, we turned around and they were devouring the food we gave them. 

After dinner, we had tickets to another show at the Ryman Auditorium - Steven Curtis Chapman, Danny Goekey, Tenth Avenue North, and Mercy Me were playing. I thought our son might jump out of his seat!  

And this is how we finished our weekend - another 4 hour concert on the way home - but this time on a blow up guitar!