A few of my favorite things

Addyson loves long necklaces-mardi gras beads : ) She also loves her cell phone-which she calls "bye-bye", and she really loves silk blankies-I thought it was really cute that she climbed on the couch with all of her favorite things (she's such a girly-girl!!)

SNOW!!

Last Thursday there were a few small snow flakes mixed in with the rain. My kids were ready to build a snowman, they were so excited. Oh, well I told them it's still early for snow-maybe later this winter, or maybe not???

What have I been up to???

Well, besides working full time for the past seven weeks and taking care of my family, I have been making Christmas presents, mostly for teachers,but now I'm starting to work on some family happies as well. These hand towels have taken over my spare time. I hope to have a more fun update soon...

Thanksgiving

My first feast

Dancing with Buffy(Aunt Angela and Uncle Charlie's puppy)

Three Little Turkeys

Helping Papa cook

Getting into EVERYTHING

Thanks Aunt Amy

My sister, Amy, made Addyson this precious outfit for her birthday. She wore it to church today and got lots of compliments. It's nice to have such a talented aunt!!

Addyson Clair is One...

Today is bittersweet for me. Although I love to see Addyson growing and changing into her own person, I know that she is my last baby. This means that all of her firsts are lasts as well... Anyway, I am so thankful that I have been blessed to enjoy three beautiful children and Brad and I have so much more life to enjoy when our children outgrow us : ) With that being said here's a glance back to her two week old pictures and a video from today-she is just starting to walk...

Addyson's First Birthday Party!!

Today we celebrated Addyson's first birthday. Her actual birthday is tomorrow. We had many family and friends help us celebrate. We had a cupcake theme and really cute cakes(the cake pictures are on my parents camera-I'll add them to the slides when I get them). Addyson loved all of her toys, but she did not like sharing them!

Another Tailgating Saturday

This Saturday we tailgated again with BJ and Kerry. MC and her boys joined us too. Cade played with his friend Griffin. Laken enjoyed her friends Kristen and Abbigail and Addyson loved playing in the dirt!!

Halloween

Friday we celebrated Halloween by trick or treating around the neighborhood, having pizza, and watching Disney Halloween movies. Laken and her friend Kristen dressed up as sleepover girls. Cade was a Georgia football player (I got a good before/after candy shot) and Addyson was a butterfly princess/fairy??

Tailgating

This week we set up a tent in the Junction at MSU. We had a great spot right beside the Kid Zone and Brad had the TV set up so he wouldn't miss the GA game. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed visiting with family and friends.

Cade had fun eating and playing football with the Dinkelacker boys-Cody and Andrew.

Addyson loved all of the food. This was when we busted her in Amy's chess squares!!

Laken with her two friends Kathryn and Walker-they practiced cheer stunts all afternoon.

Pumpkin Patch

This Sunday after church, we met the Dinkelackers in Tupelo and went to the pumpkin patch. This was a great place: petting zoo, horse swings, bounce house, hay ride, hay maze and a PUMPKIN PATCH. We ended the day with a yummy supper at the Dinkelackers.

Namesakes

I thought this picture was really neat. Thomas Dobie Holden (statue), named his son Thomas Eugene Holden. Both Amy and I named our sons after these wonderful men: Thomas Cade Vickers and Holden Harrison Day.

Dobie Holden Saturday

This Saturday Tom's father who is a coaching legend at Pearl River Community College was honored with this huge bronze statue. This picture is of the statue designer, Grandmother Earlora (age 99!!), Carole (Tom's sister), and Tom. Don't they look proud : ) It was really neat to hear all of the stories and how much this man has influenced so many lives. We felt like celebrities for being part of the Holden family. Here are a few more pictures...

The Day's come to Starkville

Amy and her family flew in for the weekend. We started off at Cade's ballgame. Then we had dinner at Mugshots. Mary Katelyn spent the night with us and we went to Jackson for pictures with Mauri, and birthday lunch at PF Chang's. Angela and Barbara joined us for lunch. Then we went to Hattiesburg and met my mom's sisters and their families for dinner. This was all in preparation for Dobie Holden Saturday(I'll explain later).

My birthday

Here's what I would have looked like in the middle seventies-if I wasn't a newborn!!
Yesterday was my birthday, but why just celebrate for a day??? I usually manage to get a good two weeks out of it (the week before and after)!! This year Amy and her family started off the celebration. Amy and I have the same birthday and there have only been a couple of years that we haven't celebrated together. Last night we ate at Old Venice and Brad and the kids had a custard pie from Bop's with candles when we got home. Now I have to manage to pro long the celebration a few more days...

My Girls

I just love it when Addyson can wear one of Laken's old dresses. This doesn't happen very often because I've given most of Laken's stuff away, and if I haven't given it away I should have!! Anyway, look how different these two sisters look-I guess you never know what genes are going to pop up...

Mary had a Little Lamb

Laken is still enjoying her (really Aunt Amy's) flute. We (the home audience) are so glad she can actually play songs now rather than the same notes over and over!! She recently earned the position of second chair flute!! She's such a hard worker-whatever the task.

Athens (The Vickers were Back in Black)

This weekend we traveled back to Athens to visit friends and go to the Georgia/Alabama game. We left early Friday morning and had a nice relaxing trip. We dropped Brad off at UGA to visit with old professors and friends while I took the kids to our favorite ice cream stop (Hodgsons). Next I took Laken to the gym where she took gymnastics for the three years that we lived in Athens. These girls were her best friends and as you can tell from the pictures, she jumped right back in like she hadn't missed a day. We had dinner with the Arenas family at On the Border-something we did reguarly when we lived in Athens. The Arenas's were sweet enough to let us stay with them as well. Saturday morning Brad, Cade, and Pete (daddy Arenas) went to college game day. Kim and I joined them with the girls later that afternoon to tailgate. All of Brad's UGA friends were in town and they joined us for the tailgate. Pete got Brad a ticket for the game and Emily and Ilsa(Brad's UGA friends) got Cade a ticket. Although the outcome was depressing, the boys had a wonderful time being at the game. We left early Sunday morning so we could get back and go see Fireproof with a group from our church. However, our car had other plans!! Our WATERPUMP WENT OUT!! This happened about twenty miles past Atalnta. Five hours and a thousand dollars later-we were back on the road. Here are the pictures-ENJOY!!

Andrew's Buffalo Park Birthday Party

Thanks, Dinkelackers for a wonderful day!!

My Big Girl

Laken is so grown up these days. She is having a wonderful school year-she gets to change classes, and she has a locker. She has also made alot of friends this year and they are pretty much inseparable. School is still pretty easy for her and she is very self-motivated in swimming as well. She was at Camp Lake Stevens this weekend with several of her friends and had a wonderful time-that's why she's not in any of the birthday pictures. She is still as sweet as can be and remains naive to most of what's happening around her. We are really proud of her and wonder why we are so blessed to be able to raise such a sweet girl : )

Cade's First Flag Football Game