James’ Birthday Bash

Following are photos of all the fun we had at James’ 1st birthday party!

Hello and welcome to my party!

Austin and Kylie

Nathan

Lots of hanging out by the pool……Mark and Shauna

Ty and Andrew

Liam and Luke in the background

David and James

Hostess Melissa

Fun on the jet skis

Hollon family

Lindsay and James Thomas

My girls

Cupcake time

He was not too sure at first

He enjoyed a few bites

And then was signing “all done” and daddy took away the cupcake

James had fun opening gifts

Then I just had to get the grandkids together for a photo……

We all had a great weekend together with the Hollons and are thanking God for a blessed first year of life for James.  We love you little buddy!

Party Preparation

Melissa chose the theme and the colors, the location and the food and we put our heads together for the decorations.   Everything turned out better than expected.

Welcome to James 1st Birthday Party! (Guest sign in table)

Beach towel party favors.

James monthly photos display

Tissue pom-poms….fun to make.

Melissa made the cupcakes and Shauna decorated them.

Shauna is so talented at cake-decorating.

High chair banner

Decorated fish cookies

Almost ready

Ready to dig into lunch.

Now that I have set the stage, the next post will show all the fun at the party!

The First of Many

This is the first of many posts that I foresee that involve Ty and playing baseball.  He was held off a long time as he never played Little League or any sort of organized baseball before this fall.  At age 8 he is playing on a select tournament team with his daddy as coach and he loves it!  Following are a few pics from last week’s games.

Next week I will try to find somewhere to take photos other than through the chainlink fence.  It is hard to get action shots when trying to avoid the fence!

Happy 1st Birthday James!

One year ago today this was your chubby little self just minutes after you were born.

And 12 months later…

Actually these were taken when you were 11 months, but my how you have grown and changed.  We can’t wait to celebrate with you this weekend.  You have added so much to our family with your spunky personality.  We pray all God’s best for you.

Grandparents Day

We didn’t even know it was Grandparent’s Day until Heather called to invite us to dinner.  Of course we said yes and enjoyed an evening with our in-town grandchildren.  They are so busy with football, school, baseball etc. it was nice to see them all in one place at one time.  I guess we did have lunch with them that day as well!  My one request on Grandparent’s Day was a photo of Steve and I with the Hodge boys….Thanks guys!

I also took a picture of the boys with the other grandparents. 

Billy, Betty Ruth and their grandchildren.

Mimi and Noah.

We enjoy spending time with the Hodge and Brown families.

Super Soccer Player

While in Austin we attended Kylie’s soccer scrimmage….from 11:30am – 1pm, in 108 degree heat!  Kylie and the other soccer girls are tough.  Following are some photos from the scrimmage.

Kylie was all over the field playing several positions including goalie.  She is a great soccer player!

When we came home she showered, had a snack and was talking to Shauna and I as we were going through some boxes and next thing we knew she was sound asleep…..a well deserved nap.

Housewarming

Not exactly a housewarming as yet, but by next weekend everything should be ready to entertain guests at the new Alexander home.  I did not see the “before” state except in a few pictures but I can imagine all the changes that Shauna and Mark made so that their home would be updated and the layout would serve their family’s needs.  They did an awesome job with their remodel!  Last weekend Steve helped Mark put together and repair some furniture and I helped Shauna organize each room.  I didn’t take photos of the house but I did take a couple of the grandkids.

I think the kids would probably say that their favorite feature of their new home is the pool.  Andrew spent hours after school and on Saturday in the pool.  Steve and Mark loved cooling off every evening in the pool with the kids.  Next time I come I am going to take advantage of the pool as well.  Enjoy your new home!