Merry Christmas!

We hope you that you are enjoying the "holly-days" and celebrating Christmas in a big way. We had a great time last weekend at my parents' house in FL - my brother Michael and his family were in from CA, and my Aunt Betty and her kids made the drive from Ocala to share what's been happening and hang out for an afternoon. (My grandmother would have been proud!)

We hope and pray that you like us are celebrating what Luke 2:11 tells us: "...for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Have a merry Christmas and a full and prosperous 2011!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a good Thanksgiving this year. It was just us and our friend Anne Elstan, who is part of our family now, and it was very relaxing. We ate a big turkey with all the fixin's, lots of left-overs, and then played games and stuff in the basement. It was good just to relax with our 4 kids and Anne. Woohoo!

28 years "going steady"

Sue and I celebrate our 28th "going steady" anniversary today - woohoo!  She and I have done a lot over the years, but one thing we've kept in mind was that we are friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, and all that first.  We have built a great life together, and have a lot of fun :-)  I love you, Sue! 

Happy Birthday, Megan!

We had a good time celebrating Megan's birthday today - scout fundraiser breakfast this morning, GSU football game this afternoon, and finally birthday dinner at Mellow Mushroom and presents and cake at home tonight. It was a long but fun day, and we were glad to have my parents here and Megan's friend Alayna along to enjoy an action-packed day of celebration and adventure. (It's a good thing it's time-change weekend - the extra hour of sleep will be needed :-) Happy Birthday, Megan!

Life is fast at our house

Lots of stuff happening with us: Jacob and college, Megan and junior year at high school, Stephen and soccer and scouts, and Kevin and karate. Sue continues to work, and I am running all over with work and scouts. Life is good!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother is celebrating her birthday today!  Hope you have a great celebration! 

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Our youngest child turned 9 today - woohoo! He's getting big, stretching out as he grows and getting more mature. He's such a good boy! He is in 3rd grade, loves Cub Scouts and martial arts, and is very excited to have gotten such good presents from his family. He was very happy to get a Nintendo DS and a couple of games for it, and loves the action figures and gift card that he got. He really enjoyed the creamy pie that Sue made for him, too (his request). Go, K-man!

Good time in Helen with family

We had a good time in Helen, GA, this past weekend. Sue and I enjoyed tubing down the Chattahoochee River last month that we wanted to bring the kids up and do it with them. We stayed at the Helendorf Inn again, which was very nice, and then walked around the town before we went tubing. Of course the kids went way too fast and Sue and I dragged along (my fault, not hers :-) but it was fun anyways. It was great to have Jacob with us, too. Now that he's 18 we know that he won't do as much with us as he used to, but we still love to have him around. It was a good time!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My dad celebrates his birthday today! He is 72 years old today and doing great! We love you, Pop!

First week of school down

We had a good first week, with lots of activities. Kevin started karate, Megan is enjoying band, Stephen is waiting for soccer to start, and Jacob is enjoying the car we helped him buy (even though he still doesn't have a job). We had a great initial Cub Scout meeting for our leaders, and Sue surprised me with an early birthday cake at the end of the meeting! Ah, life is good...

Happy Anniversary to us

We are celebrating 23 years of marital bliss!  Woohoo! 

Fun July 4th

As much as we wanted to go out we opted to stay home and relax for the 4th of July celebration.  We had a fire and fireworks on the driveway; we figured since Stephen and Megan were both sick this was better than going to one of the local fireworks displays.  Jacob as out with his girlfriend, so we felt a little incomplete.  Hope you celebrated oyr country's independance in your own special way :-)

Summer off to a good start

Well, Jacob has graduated high school, Sue made it back from her mission trip to Nicaragua, Megan is still down there for another week, Stephen and Kevin are in a science day camp this week, and I'm having fun working 4 evening shifts again this week during thunderstorm season. Woohoo! Looks like this is going to be a great and busy summer :-)

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Our oldest child turns 18 today - woohoo!  Jacob is a fine young man and is doing well with life.  He's graduating from high school next week, all set to go to college in the fall, and having lots of fun with life.  We love you, son! 

Life is good but busy

Wow, we're less than two weeks from the end of the school year and in full forward motion! Jacob's graduation, Stephen moving up to middle school, Megan and Kevin and their stuff, awards ceremonies, Cub Scouts AND Boy Scouts, birthdays, and Sue and Megan preparing for a mission trip to Nicaragua - whew! We seem to be keeping up with everything, but it sure seems hectic, too :-) Hope things are good with you!

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

Today our aon Stephen turns 11!  He's doing so good in school, scouts, and life.  Woohoo!

It's Spring!

It's getting warmer, and the weather is pretty more and more. Hope you are having a great spring and getting outside!

Good trip to FL

We went to see Mom Emery this weekend. It was fun - Mark and Mary AND my parents came up and went to dinner with Mom and us. We ate at Cedar River Seafood - delicious! It was a great Valentine's Day :-) Mom Emery is doing good, getting stronger after her leg injury back in December. She got around pretty well with her walker, which is good news! Pray that she continues to strengthen...

Hope you guys are ready for spring like we are! We've got one more encounter with snow coming up - a ski trip with the Cub Scouts, which should be fun. Drop us a line when you get a chance...

Snow in GA

Yes, we got a bunch of that snow that hit the SE on Friday - so much that Stephen, Kevin, and their friens Cameron were able to build a snowman last night.  The kids had a lot of playing in t but it took me an hour to drive home (it usually takes 30 minutes).  Oh, well, more snow is fun!

Happy Birthday, Sue!

Today is my beautiful wife's birthday!  Be sure and send her some good cheer if you get a chance...

We had fun eating dinner at Olive Garden as a family, and brought along Alexa and Gordon to add to the fun. Then it was off to home to open presents - lots of fun!

Busy times at the Holly's

We have been running all around taking care of lots of things lately. Pinewood Derby went well on Saturday, Jacob and Megan are enjoying Youth at church, and the boys are having fun with all the stuff that happens in their lives. Sue and I continue to run around like crazy, and to top it off the heater on the main floor quit working on Friday, but there's no time to get it fixed until Tuesday! Well, we're hoping we can generate some fun for Sue's birthday on Wednesday...