WHAT A FUN SURPRISE!

We had a great family surprise the day before Christmas Eve. We went to see Charlotte and her finance, Critter in Chatanooga. When we got there, they told us they had a surprise for our family for the day. They took us to the TN aquarium. WHAT A BLAST!
My favorite part of the day was seeing Addie bond with the penguins. Penguins are her FAVORITE animal. So it was so fun for us to see her come face to face with them.

The kids got to feed stingrays. It was way cool! Even Abel got in there to feel them.
Here's Charlotte and Critter. Charlotte had a butterfly land on her arm in the butterfly exhibit. Addie thought it was WAY COOL...

Abel was loving the sites as well...


Picture time!

We also had the great surprise of going to the IMAX. We saw Under the Sea. It was GREAT!


The pictures below I took with my iPhone... not bad!!!
We had SUCH A GREAT DAY! Thank you to the FOSTERS (Critter's parents) who treated all of us to the Aquarium and the IMAX. We had such a great day!

Pirana... you don't wanta go swimming with these guys!

Inside a tunnel


Sea Horse

These were umbrella Jelly Fish. They were SO SMALL
The Sharks were SO COOL. We got to see them eat.

AIDAN TURNS 7

We had a birthday party for Aidan.... He turned 7 in November and we celebrated in December. I think we will celebrate Abel's birthday next month. Too many birthdays in a row.... YET, SO FUN!
It snowed the morning of Aidan's birthday party. It was COLD but the party went on! Ted planned a Indiana Jones Treasure hunt for the kids. He had clues and treasures hidden all over the house.
The kids had a great time!

Here's his cake... Thanks Granny Charlotte for another great cake!
Love the joy in my boy's face... and in his daddy's face too.




Someone enjoyed their piece of cake A LOT!


These pictures are of the kids going on the treasure hunt... FUN TIMES (even if they were stuck in doors!)

GINGERBREAD MANIA...

This is the finished product. Avery and Addie decorated this Gingerbread House. THANK YOU TO THE HORNES for having us over to decorate houses. We had a BLAST!


This picture is so funny because you can tell Avery was trying to convince Addie to do it HER WAY.


Abel took a little break for some play time.


Aidan's gingerbread man, Charles.


Ted's creation (Above)... A levitical priest!

Addie's gingerbread WOMAN

Avery's gingerbread girl... Rebecca

I accidentally dropped Charles... I FELT HORRIBLE!

We repaired him as best we could and even gave him a cane... since he lost a leg.

This is our make shift ER that we took Charles to.




Below is Samantha totally preparing for the Gingbread Contest... She was taking it OH SO SERIOUSLY.
Samantha won the BLUE RIBBON for this AMAZING gingerbread house.

BIRTHDAY WEEK!

Three of our four children had birthdays last week... WOW... We are still recovering!!!

We only had ONE PARTY...
we still have TWO MORE TO COME!

We celebrated Avery's birthday last Friday night with a little AMERICAN IDOL party.
It was great fun!!!

The Burks (our dear friends from Texas) were in town. THANK YOU DEANNA for all the pictures you took during the party!!!
YOU ROCK!


THE NINE YEAR OLD... last year of single digits! LOVE HER!! and I am SO PROUD of her! I love you Avery Ancelet!!
It takes a village to raise a child and give a party! Thank you Christy and Deanna for painting nails and to Charlotte for doing ROCK STAR make up! What a fun night! Thanks D for also taking pictures!


I think Abel did a DUO with everyone who sang. He grabbed the other mic to sing with them!
PRECIOUS GIRLS!


Sing it AUDREY!





My GIRLS!

Abel... is the music that bad? or is it that good that you need to clean out your ears to hear it better?
Avery saved up all her birthday money to get an American Girl Doll. Thanks to Granny Charlotte, MawMaw, Deanna and the Hornes... It was possible! SHE WAS BEYOND EXCITED! Thanks everyone!


Sweet Holly and Avery have the same American Girl Doll... HOW FUN!?

Abel turned TWO YEARS OLD the day before Avery's birthday. We haven't celebrated yet... but when we do, I will post pictures!

We had 20 girls come over to celebrate Avery's birthday! OH WHAT A NIGHT!!!
Even the boys had to jump in for a little SING TIME!!! THE BOYS ARE BACK! (from HS Musical 3)

Happy Birthday to Aidan as well. He turned 7 on the 7th. We will be celebrating his birthday in a few weeks! These birthday parties need a little spacing out!! FOR SURE!
LOVE THESE KIDS! Thank you LORD for such amazing gifts!!!