Christmas 2009 Part 3

Christmas Eve we went to David's Aunt Macy and Uncle Alan's house. They had so many people there for lunch that they had to take the furniture out of the living room to fit enough tables for everyone. It was fun to get to meet some of the Valaer family that we had heard so much about and to get to see so many Givens' gathered at one time. We had a great time and made it back home in for the Christmas Eve service at church where David tells the children's story every year.

ANNALEE

Annalee Carr Givens is here! She was born March 8, 2010, and wieghed 7 lbs. 10 oz.

Christmas 2009 Continued

After we got back from Jackson, we made a trip to Smut Eye to spend "Christmas" with my parents. Even though it was a few days earlier than Christmas day, it was fun! David, William, and Lily decorated Grammy's tree for her while she was busy cooking food for all of us to enjoy! They did a pretty good job!

Aunt Flossie came over to eat and to open presents.


Joseph had a great time "opening" his presents.

Lily got too many presents to name, of course! This is her enjoying her new silver hairbrush.

The big thing Lily got from my parents was a kitchen for her room.

She loved it and was totally surprised, even though she was with me when we found it at Sam's!

Every year my Mom and Dad (mostly Daddy, since he usually picks them out) give me a pair of quirky Christmas socks.

David got a paper football set.

And this was Aunt Flossie's face as she opened her gift from us-a very silly yearbook picture of David that I think she will treasure forever :-) (notice the very nice wrapping paper!).

Christmas 2009 Begins

To begin Christmas break, David took the last day of school off and we went to Jackson. It had been 4 years and 2 children since our last trip. It was WAYYY overdue! We only got to stay for 2 nights and had to leave very early the last morning (I'm talking 6 a.m.), but we had a great time. Mamaw and Papaw cooked for us, Mrs. Hall came to see us and meet Joseph. Aunt Julie made us cupcakes and came to visit. And Uncle Paul came to eat dinner. Uncle Daniel and Aunt Hali came our second day and spent that night. Lily loved going to mamaw's beauty parlor, where she got her hair curled! The kids all enjoyed being somewhere different and getting to visit with so many people. We had a great time and hope to go back much sooner than 4 years!

Baby Dedication

My parents were the only family able to come to Joseph's dedication. We, as usual, did a crummy job of planning our family event, so we missed a lot of family that got to be at Lily's and William's dedications. They all were able to watch on taylorroad.org thanks to our communications director! We love our church family and are glad they are so committed to helping us raise our children in God's ways. My Mom had the camera for the dedication and missed us crossing the stage, so here a couple of shots of us getting ready to go on stage.

Ruth turns...Almost 30!

This year I turned 29 and celebrated with David, the kids, and my parents. We had pizza and ice cream cake. They made it a very special party!

Thanksgiving 2009

I know this post is a little late, but get ready-I'll get you caught up!
This Thanksgiving was a great one! We started out by having breakfast at David's parents' house-Daniel and Hali and Gran and Grandaddy were visiting. Gran and Grandaddy brought Lily's birthday presents and boy were they a hit! At around lunch time, Uncle Danny and Aunt Rosemary came. The plan was for lunch to be at 2:00 and we were leaving to eat with my parents in Montgomery, since my mom had been busy working all week. We met up with them at our house and made our way to Cracker Barrel. Our original plan was to eat Chinese, but none of the restaurants were open. Apparently we got Thanksgiving confused with Christmas-they are ALL open on Christmas. Anyway, Cracker Barrel turned out to be a great thing! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had NOTHING to clean up!

I could NOT resist posting these pictures! You may have heard the rumor that when there are 8 or more Givens together there will be head measuring and a "Biggest Head" winner will be declared! It is true and here is proof! I believe the winner on Thanksgiving day was Uncle Danny with Jason as a close 2ND and Ruth as a VERY close 3rd. You may think this is weird, but it is so funny!