Fallen Right into Fall 2011

Much water has gone under the bridge since our last posts of State Fair and Labor Day happenings!

To name a few, Aly began homeschooling this Fall and is doing a splendid job thus far, we enjoyed taking her to NQC 2011 for her first "Field Trip"...the music was, as expected, wonderful and we saw many friends and laughed ourselves almost breathless! We went to Greg's parents home for our annual "BD" trip...when Aly and Whitley are able to celebrate their October birthdays, together and this year Tanner joined in on the celebration! A triple party it was! The entire Indiana side of our family gathered together for a day of country fun "down at the Farm" and thanks to "Aunt" Nodi, we had a most relaxing and filling day! Of course, we have just come through the biggest event of all...Aly's 4th Birthday!!! "AN EVENING WITH PRINCESS BELLE" went very smoothly, the girls had a ball having "Tea" together and once again our family enjoyed a delicious meal, a specially made cake for the occasion and many stories and laughs!

Rather than going into too much detail and boring you, I'll allow the slide shows I've created to tell the story of how we have quite literally, "Fallen Right into Fall 2011"! ENJOY........

2009 Holiday Review

We were able to spend much of Christmas week in Missouri with Greg's family. Whitley joined us there, as well as Greg's brother, Chad and his wife, Sunny. We all missed Wesley, but are anxious to hear the details of his time at Boot Camp and are excited for his Graduation, from the USAF, at the end of this week! Thanks, Mom and Dad P. for the presents this year and for putting up with all of us... we certainly enjoyed our time with you, as usual! Aly loved being with “Mawmaw & Pawpaw” just as much as we did!
We were also able to spend a few hours with my "adopted" brother Densel, his wife Michele, Jacqueline and Ty. We hadn't seen them for a very long time and it was such fun to re-acquaint ourselves! Aly had a ball with Jacqueline and Ty, as well... no pun intended, Mr. Ball! LOL
We arrived back home, just in time (due to last second car troubles), for Christmas Eve night with my parents! We were thrilled to have had the opportunity to purchase a camera while on the trip, thus you will be able to view many of these activities, for yourself. Alyson was more than excited when she saw the Kitchen Set “Mimi & Papaw” bought for her. A skillet that 'sizzles' and boiler that 'gurggles'. A working microwave and phone. In Aly's own word, “WOW!” Thank you, Mama and Daddy, for the many gifts and love this year! Aly truly loved every aspect of Christmas this year... from seeing all the packages, to opening the gifts and playing with all the new things! How fun it was to watch her eyes light up at each one!

Christmas Morning, the three of us enjoyed being together and seeing what else “Santa” had in store! We relaxed and played together around the tree, before dressing for a fun evening with the Indy family. As is tradition, we celebrated at Mamaw S's home with a wonderful meal and even MORE gifts! Family and traditions truly are a blessing.
On Tuesday, following Christmas, the three of us joined Mimi and Papaw on a little road trip. As is tradition, we headed toward Dayton and my Dad's side of the family, for another Christmas celebration there! Again, it was a delight to partake in the blessings of God... we have been so blessed!
The time following all of this, was spent trying to get back into somewhat of a normal schedule... then again, what IS normal? Church, Kidz Konnect, Holiday Parties, Choir, etc. We also hosted a couple of Holiday Parties and truly enjoyed those special times with a few friends in our home.
New Year's Eve, found us again at Mamaw S's house, with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Another fun filled and VERY LATE evening together (ending around 1AM to be exact)! On New Year's Day, we drove downtown, had brunch at the historic LS Ayres Tea Room & browsed a bit, before heading home for a LONG-MUCH-NEEDED nap!!! That about sums it up, as far as this 'chapter' goes, anyway! LOL
Please bear with me as I was unable to 'edit' any of the photos, much to my utter dismay, due to our computer-crash of last week!!! We are grateful for our new camera. Even if it takes us forever to 'learn the ropes' with it! *Drum roll, please... and here is much anticipated 2009 Holiday Review Penn Palz photo album!

Holiday Memories of 2009

The First Week of 2009 Behind Us... Already!

FYI: NEXT WEEK WE WILL POST OUR CHRISTMAS ALBUM INTO OUR DECEMBER 31st POST BELOW...

(Click on the photos above to enlarge them. #1Aly in the bath Christmas week /#2Aly at Nate's BD Party /#3Aly sleeping Christmas week)
It's hard to believe that we're already into the SECOND week of 2009! How time truly flies! We've had an exceptionally great Holiday season, even though a bit stressful at times! LOL
In the middle of December, little Aly became very ill with an infection, which wound us all up in the hospital on Friday night the 20th. She had become so dehydrated that the Doctor wanted to put her on IV's overnight. However, due to her dehydration, they were unable to find her veins... BUT GOD UNDERTOOK and 'aided' her Memaw and Mommy (with the help of Papaw that night and her Daddy the next morning) in getting fluid back into her little body. Without God (and Memaw!), I'm not sure what would've happened!
We then rushed into Christmas time... On Christmas Eve, Mama and Daddy hosted a 'Cajun' meal of Shrimp Creole' with all the fixin's. It was so fun to be able to 'pretend' we were once again in the good ole' South! The food was incredible, too!!! Thanks, Mama and Daddy for a great time and delicious food! The house was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and the trees were GORGEOUS, too!
Following that meal, we had everyone over to our home for a Dessert Bar. The menu included Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Pecan Tube Cake, Orange Slice Cookies, Party Mix, Nuts, Homemade Peppermint Hot Cocoa, Iced Vernors, Coffee with Peppermint Topping or a selection of Creamers and various Coke's. (Excuse me, for the non-southern readers, that would mean 'Pop'! LOL)
Christmas Day Morning, we had Gift time at our house with Aly, Memaw and Papaw. Aly LOVED opening her gifts, but as of now, she still prefers boxes, bags and paper! LOL Later that day, found everyone at Mamaw S's ("Who's") for a wonderful traditional Christmas meal and Gift opening. Another very meaningful day with those we love!
The day after Christmas, the Jewett side met together at Mamaw and Papaw's house in Dayton for Gifts and more food than the law should allow. We've been so very blessed on all sides of our family with a Godly heritage that we'll treasure always!
On Monday morning, the 29th, Greg went into work only to find out he was being laid off... indefinitely. Though this was and is not good news, we're believing God for a miracle and trusting Him to place Greg into the job He would have for him. These are very rough days and it would seem there are more ahead, but God is in control and knowing that, we are at peace!
The day after Greg lost his job, I was able to go to lunch with a dear friend and try to help her through a rough time and she in turn helped me! Later that evening, we were invited to our precious friends, "Uncle" Ray and "Aunt" Vickie's home for supper... it was not only very tasty, but Aly had her own nameplace and her own crystal goblet, too! She was a real Princess that night! Their home was also beautiful and very much in the Holiday 'spirit'! Friends are such a great thing to have, isn't God good to send us the 'gift' of family and friends? Where would we be without them???
New Year's Eve, Aunt Diane and Uncle Ron had everyone over to Celebrate the Old Year out and the New Year in... we were unable to stay through til midnight, but we enjoyed the time we spent there and were once again reminded what a 'gift' we have in our family! Their home was so pretty with more than 2 dozen trees to look at. Aly couldn't get enough and the fact all her cousins were there only made it better!
The next morning, we hit the road with Mama and Daddy to head toward Missouri and have a 'late' Christmas with Greg's side of the family. We had a great time there, relaxed as much as we could and TRIED to de-stress a little! (Don't think we accomplished that task, but we TRIED and that's the main thing! LOL) Mama and Daddy were able to go on into Kansas City and spend time with family and friends there and also had a very relaxing and fun time!
We are now home, mostly unpacked and trying to get back into our normal (if you want to call it that) routine! We wanted to update our BLOG before we had to write a BOOK to get it all in! OH WAIT! I think THIS is actually a book!!! LOL
Trust you've enjoyed the long read and we haven't bored you to tears, yet!
Have a great week and watch for our next weeks BLOG, plus the Holiday photos we will add to our Dec. 31st post...