Playtime with Papa and Grammy

Grammy and Papa Gates and Great Grandpa Bodell came to play for the weekend and we went to a really fun place that is huge and filled with trampolines!

Thank you people who own Defy Gravity in Durham... your place R O C K S!!!! We can only imagine how much your insurance must be... but it is one of the funnest activities we have done as a family.

I hate Clowns...

I certainly don't mean to offend anyone who is a huge clown lover... (huge amounts of love for clowns... not loves 500 pound clowns) but I really do not like clowns. They freak me out. Alot. So when Savvy kept saying, "Mama, I want to go hug on them - Please!!!!!" I realized that I don't want to pass my phobias on to my kids, so I had to let her do it.

But seriously, YIKES!!! They freak me out!

Shhhhhh! Santa's Special Secret for Savvy!!!

This year Santa surprised us all with a special secret package for Savvy! We are so very lucky that Santa loves us so very much!!!!

 Santa brought Savvy a wonderful treasure chest of dress ups...

 And an American Girl Dolly that looks just like Savvy! She has short brown curly hair, beautiful brown skin and eyes.

 Savvy named her dolly Princess Sophia dolly.

Thank you "Santa" for being so very wonderful and for loving us so much!
What a wonderful year!

7 Years of AMAZING!

Cole is seven. Seriously???? How is it possible?
He is such an amazing hero. For his birthday we went with cousins to go bowling. We had a great time celebrating Cole! Some of his favorite things are:
Orange Juice, cupcakes, bowling and anything that he gets to be the center of attention, so it was a great day!

Mmmmmmmmm

Cousins, Cousins, Cousins!!!

We went to the Ice Cream Shop for yummy frozen yogurts! So much fun!!!

 I love Hadley's squishy nose smiles!

 Mmmmm.... Life is Sweet with Savvy in it!!!

 Chocolate Fountain Fun at Golden Corral with Zetta Cait and Charley Bear. (Grandpa Bodell is the Where's Waldo in the back)

I LOVE THESE KIDS!!! As the director of Kids Are Music I get to work with my favorite kids in serving our community throughout the year. It is AMAZING!

We were asked to perform an 8 minute medley for the North Carolina Homeless Veteran's Council at the Hilton Raleigh last Saturday night. It was our new Governor Pat McCrory's first big day as a new leader in NC.

They had us start by leading on the Marines Color Guard. Of course our boys were enthralled with their bayonets!

Next we lead the Pledge of Allegiance,

My adorable neice Tara Mei and my gorgeous son Cole were both a great addition to the show! I am so proud of all of these kids!

Then we sang the National Anthem with the crowd. There were hundreds of people there in the ballroom.

After the National Anthem we performed a 7 minute medley of patriotic songs!

Brighton and my nephew Connor James... what AMAZING guys I have in this group!!!

The kids were sharp! Classy and Professional! They were FANTASTIC!

We were featured on Channel 14 news and asked to perform again for a Statewide Function coming up soon! We will also be in the Inaugural Parade this next Saturday! Hooray! We love a parade!!

It was a great night! Thank you all for coming to support this event!