The Graduate

Last Friday Jason's younger brother Matthew graduated from our alma mater, The Baptist College of Florida.  Matt graduated with honors majoring in Biblical studies.  Way to go, Uncle Matt!  He also won a nice scholarship for Southwestern Seminary in Dallas, Texas which is where he'll be heading this fall.

Dr. Kinchen -- president of the Baptist College of Florida for 26 years. Dr. Kinchen handing Uncle Matt his diploma.

One of Jason's college friends Eric also graduated with Matt.  Way to go, Eric!  And all life's special milestones are best celebrated with a party!  So, we hosted a graduation party for Matt at the Marianna Caverns.  It was a small event for Matt's family and friends and a few of Jason's college friends who were in town for the graduation stopped by, too.  We were so glad for everyone who could join us to celebrate Matt's big day. We kept the food traditional...with a visit to KFC for chicken + the donut shop for the custom cake.  Fried chicken, mac + cheese, potato salad, fruit salad, zucchini + squash casserole, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, chips + cake--yum!  I'm so grateful for Seana's help Thursday preparing all the food.  You rock, girl! The kids loved seeing Nana, Grandaddy, Aunt Mel + Uncle Matt.
Micah loved meeting new friends his size to run with + play. Ivory enjoyed the girls her age for a little while, but she was mostly fascinated with "Uncle Matt's silly friends."  "Mom, why are those boys so silly?"  Well, they're sort of like teenagers.  "Oh, okay."  And then she couldn't get enough of them.  Crazy girl.
The graduate. Grandaddy + Korban                                                Titus + Emily  All the fesitivities wore poor little Korban out. "Feed me + lay me down please!"                           Excessive dirt = proof Micah had a blast Miraculously this picture was super easy to take.  These are the kids of some of Jason's college friends--we so enjoyed spending time with them.

Ivory, Korban, Maggie, Hannah, Micah, Titus.

Congrats, Uncle Matt--we're so proud!

Giggles + Hiccups

Forgot to upload this and post it a while back. Such a cute video. Micah thinks it's *hilarious* that Aunt Mel has the hiccups.

Thanksgiving Sunday

Micah + Korban before Sunday School.  Micah still loves his little brother--so sweet. Micah went to Sunday School for the first time!  He joined Ivory in Cassie's class.  My kids love Miss Cassie + Mrs. Tonia!
No more crying evey Sunday when Daddy leaves for Sunday School with Ivory and Micah is left behind.
Korban gave Daddy smiles after church!  I couldn't quite catch the full smile on camera, but here's a hint of it.  Ivory loves monopolizing Nana's time with fun playtime. Ivory's favorite ornament this year--it's the one she's allowed to take on and off the tree as much as she wants.  Love my red-hot-hottie!  Ivory is very creative at inventing games.  Here she found "treasures" and her and Daddy would take turns hiding + finding them.

Sadly, everyone had to say goodbye Sundy afternoon to get back to work + school.  Sad times.  Thanks for coming everyone! 

The Christmas Tree

The Saturday following Thanksgiving we went to a tree farm to cut down a Christmas tree for the first time.  
Ivory wasn't too sure about all the walking...

But the walking was better in new tennis shoes from Nana + Aunt Mel.



After walking all three sections we finally decided on one, walked back to the truck and rode to the spot to cut it down!  The kids were excited to take a short ride in the back of the pick-up for the first time.

The tree we chose in the last section. It took a lot of Bennetts to cut down the tree...
In the end Ivory's muscles fell the tree...well, Daddy may have helped a little.

My studly man.

And it took a lot of Bennetts to drag the tree.
The tree farm owner earned major points by handing out candy canes for all! How our backseat looks these days...yes, we're saving up for a mini van very soon!


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My men putting light on the tree. Nana + Grandaddy helped entertain the kids with games, cookies (made by Ivory + Aunt Mel), and snuggles until the lights went up on the tree.
Ivory + Micah were SO excited to look through the ornaments, especially Ivory.  Micah just wanted any ornament that looked like a ball.  I handed him a ball ornament to hang and before I could blink, yes, you guess it, he threw it.  Shatter.  Ornament fail.  Oh well!  One less ornament to break!

Micah did eventually hang a few ornaments on the tree.
Ivory adores hanging ornaments on the tree...and taking them off...and putting them back on. Trimming a tree to look gorgeous is totally not my speciality.  But, ours is homey, special and full of special memories and I like it that way. Re-purposed wreath...simple, clean lines.  Nothing fancy.  I sort of re-did it on a whim with a few twist ties and ribbon I had on a reel.  It was one of those fluffy green wreathes that had seen better days.  So, I just bent the green down and wrapped it tightly with ribbon then tied the bow.  Not gorgeous, but it works and much better then the previous wreath.  Love setting up our first Nativity set Jason's mom bought us last year for christmas!  It's a gorgeous set--I love it.  I had been waiting to buy one for us until I found a set I just loved.  Well, I never did find one--it found me!  I'm so pleased with this set.  The large angels on either end are from a previous Christmas and we love them, too!  The pictures are Ivory + Micah's from Sunday School.  Love seeing what they bring home from church classes!  They have such good teachers and the kids love going so much.

Ivory + Micah were excited to pull out their play nativity set Grandma + Pa bought for them last year.
  Thanksgiving wouldn't feel the same to me without a college student writing a paper (shout out to Rachel T!).  Matthew spent many hours working on his paper on Christian doctrine.  Deep stuff.  Melissa was very helpful in the kitchen + with the kids...also at being a little goofy.  Dad worked hard on some outdoor projects + keeping Korban happy.  Nana was a big hit with her i phone apps, hair clips, and hugs.  She was also a big help with the kids + in the kitchen.  I'm blessed to have a family full of sweet, servant-hearted people.  
Love having our Christmas decorations out so early!  Something that staying home instead of traveling this year has allowed.