Christmas Eve - 2010

I must admit that I was really looking forward to Christmas time this year because all of my siblings and our families were going to be in town together, which is rare since we are spread out in different states and all married now.

We always travel to Jackson, TN Christmas Eve to get together with my mom's side of the family.  This isn't the best pic of the 4 of us, but here are my 2 brothers and sister.  Clif, Laurie, me, and Matt.  

After we eat, we do lots of singing.  Tatum loved this part this year.  She is always singing and really wanted to do a solo this year, but never got a chance to.

Two of my cousins were singing and Mateo stood and watched them the whole time. 

He also decided that my mom needed some help playing the piano. 

During our night, each generation gets up and sings as a group.  Here are Tatum, Mya, and Mckayla.

This is my generation next....

...and my mom's generation

...and finally my grandmother's generation.

I can remember going to Christmas Eve every year since I was a baby (well, I don't remember it as a baby, but we were there).  My great-great grandmother and great grandmother were there many years that I remember before they passed.  This is the only time we see most of this side of the family since many live in different states, so we always do our best to make the trip there.  As soon as it is over, we drive back to Memphis so that we can be home on Christmas morning.

These last pics are out of order.  Antonio and I took Mateo to get a haircut the week before Christmas and for the first time in a LONG time, he did great and didn't shed a single tear.  When he got home, I let him open a present that my friend Amy had given him since he was so good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

My blogging here has been slacking, but I will return!

Until then...

Christmas 2010 - Part 1

Here are some random pictures from Christmas this year.

This first picture is our Elf, Anderson.  Tatum named him last year and we have no idea where she got the name, but I like it.

We really talked alot with Tatum and Mateo about being good this year because Anderson goes to see Santa every night to tell him if they have been good or bad.  (Remember this because it will come into play in a later blog post.)

I found a christmas tree last year that is for displaying Christmas cards.  I loved using it this year.  It was fun adding to it everyday, but it got full fast!  I need to find another one of these or either find another way to display the rest of our Christmas cards when I run out of room.

One night after church, we headed out to look at Christmas lights.  Tatum was allowed to sit in Daddy's lap when we would stop so she could see them.  Mateo was fine in his seat in the back.

On our way to one house, we passed a church that had a live nativity every night, so we stopped by.  It was very neat and Tatum enjoyed telling us who everyone was and why they were important.  She is growing so fast and is so smart!(yes, of course, i am biased)

The week before Christmas, we went to see Gabby sing in her church musical.  Here are Caiden and Tatum waiting for Gabby's group to sing.

Gabby and Tatum after Gabby got to sing.  She did such a great job!

We decided to take pictures of all 4 of the kids since they were all dressed up in their Christmas outfits.

Happy 4th Birthday Mya!

My niece, Mya, turned 4 at the beginning of December and we got to all go to her Princess birthday party.  Here are Tatum and Mya before the party began.

Mateo wanted his picture taken, but this is the best shot I got.

All the girls got to dress up in Princess outfits, get their hair done, and get makeup put on.

Here is the whole group of girls.  Tatum had a great time dressing up, having a tea party with REAL dishes, and getting to dance with all of the girls.

St. Jude Marathon Hero

Antonio decided several months ago that he wanted to run the St. Jude 1/2 Marathon.  When he went to sign up, it was sold out.  So then he decided he would run the full marathon, but it was sold out too.  The only way he could sign up for the race was to sign up as a St. Jude Hero and run the marathon, so that's what he did.  Now, being a St. Jude Hero means you are committing to raise $500 for St. Jude. 

Antonio did lots of training and was ready for the race.  I was so glad to have Antonio's sister there with me to help cheer everyone on while they ran.

This panda bear from the Memphis Zoo even showed up with music to cheer for the runners.

We sat between mile 7 and 8, which meant when Antonio turned around it would be between mile 21 and 22.  When he passed us the first time, he looked great and dropped off his sunglasses with us.

My sister also did the St. Jude 1/2 Marathon and she did great as well.  When she saw us, she had to lose some of her layers because the day was warmer than we thought it would be.

Gabby and Tatum were also there and cheered for the runners too.  However, they got tired about half way through the race and decided to rest a little.

When Antonio passed us the second time, he wasn't looking as fresh as the first time (but what normal person would after running 21 miles, right?)

After the 2nd time seeing Antonio, Tatum and I headed to the Redbird's Stadium to see Antonio cross the finishline.  When we were walking in, we ran into Pouncer, so we had to get Tatum's picture with him.

Here is Antonio crossing the finishline!  He made it!  All 26.2 miles!!! 

Tatum and I were both so proud of Antonio!  Here is Tatum with her Daddy.

We are all so proud of Antonio for running the St. Jude Marathon and being a St. Jude Hero!  He ended up raising $823, well over his $500 goal.  

Promised Picture

Here is the picture of Mateo from Sunday morning at church.  I promised I would share it in an earlier blog post.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I will post lots of pictures later.

Thanksgiving 2010

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Antonio's family early because his mom was heading out of the country.  Here are some pics from Thanksgiving on the Simpson side...

This is my Eliana and Chris, my sis-in-law and her husband.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is always at my grandmother's house and I always eat WAY TOO MUCH because I don't get cookin' like that any other time!  Here are some pics of the food...yummy!

I don't know how she makes it, but she makes THE BEST cornbread ever!!  I could have eaten this whole thing by myself (if no one else was there), but I had to share.

These 2 girls are gonna be trouble in a few years.  6 weeks apart and 20 miles apart = double trouble?

This is my plate (which was cleaned in no time)!

My sweet, laid back child decided he didn't want to eat anything at all, so this is what he did instead...

...Good thing he was rescued by Grandmommy and Granddaddy so he could sit at the 'adult' table.

Tatum and Mya sang several songs for us that night.

My mom found some Halloween costumes on clearance and bought them for the kids to play dress up.  This kept them all entertained for a while.

...and I decided to try one on too.

Mateo sure loves his Uncle Cyp.  He taught him how to play cards at Thanksgiving.

We all stayed at my parents house that night and all 4 kids took a bath together the next morning and had a blast.

And this last picture is a normal one for Mateo...he is wearing Tatum's boots.