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Love,

Jodi

Jeff & Angela's Wedding

Ahhhh... I love my cousins. And my "baby" Cousin Jeff finally married the girl of all our dreams, Miss Angela Dupont (or Dupe, Ange, Dupont, among other names). She has already been family to all of us for many years. And we love her dearly. Now she is Mrs. Angela Lamothe ( a name that was formerly her Sister-in-Laws, as Jeff's sister is named Angela as well).

Anyway, I am told that the wedding was very nice. Told, you might ask??? Yes, told, as I missed the wedding by 15 minutes! My truck broke down on the way to the wedding. When we finally got to the church I ran in and saw that it was over and just started crying. I was SO looking forward to watching my cousin Jeff wait for his bride to come down the aisle, etc, etc. But, we were able to enjoy the reception and I am thankful for that.

So, here is the gorgeous, sexy, sassy bride:

And here is her man:

And here they are with their parents:

And here is my cousin Angie, the Maid of Honor, showing me her cleavage in her sexy dress. She is one of those gorgeous women who has no idea how beautiful she is.

And speaking of gorgeous.... check out my little Man, Isaac:

Here are my Cousin Angie's girls (she also has another baby girl, Sophia). This is Ana and Lauren. They are my good buddies:

Isaac likes the too:

Girls are always wanting to touch Isaac's hair. I am sure that he is not going to mind when he gets older:

And here I am with all of them:

It was a great time. We are so proud of Jeff and Angela. And we are very thankful for all the love and laughter we shared with all of our cousins and extended family!

Also, we spent time with our cousins Nicole & Murry Ellison. We recently found out that they are planning to adopt their first child. We know how wonderful and how challenging a journey that is and we wish them every blessing on their journey. Please visit their website to see their progress: www.ellisonadoption.com. They are planning many fundraisers in order to pay the high fees involved. If you can assist them in any way, please do! These are very deserving and humble people. We can't wait to see their family grow.

Love,

Jodi

New Years Weekend w/ Jamie & Amy

Jamie and Amy came to Bobo and Poppy's house to celebrate Christmas over the New Years weekend. It has become a tradition for us to celebrate a low-key Christmas together after the holiday chaos has past. Here is a picture of Meaghan and Isaac in front of my parents' Christmas tree:

Meaghan was so excited to see Amy. She really looks up to her.

Isaac loves to sit with his Poppy!

One of Isaac's first gifts from his grandparents was a tool set with an "electric" screwdriver. SO cool!

His favorite part of the tool set was the safety glasses! That's my little man, remembering that "Safety comes first".

Ummm.... its a shame that my parents don't spoil their first grandchild .... *choke & clearing of throat*...

Mom (Bobo) gave Jamie a box of vintage items from McDonalds ... because he is a vegan, he hates McDonalds, and that is my Mom's sense of humor. Jamie loved it!

Jamie, the Vegan Fry Guy! Hilarious!

His McDonald's employee badge:

Dad, Pop, and Poppy ... looking very festive:

Gorgeous Meaghan:

Isaac gets a high-tech Tickle-Me-Elmo:

We all had a great time together. So many loving and thoughtful gifts were exchanged. And in the evening, we all went to the Casino ... while Bobo stayed in with Isaac. Jamie won some big money, too. Then we all had a sleep-over. Here is a picture of Aunt Amy securing Isaac's new slippers before breakfast:

The End.

Merry Christmas to All!

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

All our love to friends and family - at this joyous season & always!

Happy Solstice, Happy Hannakuh, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad & Joyeaux Noel !

Christmas Tree Hunting with the Renshaw / Sirimoglu / Dana / Pehrson / Goodale Family !

Every year at Christmastime, our best friends - the Goodales - and their family head to Piper Mountain in search of the perfect Christmas tree for each of their homes. This has been their family tradition for years, and this year we were invited! And it was SO much fun. We hope to do it evey year from now on.

Thank you to Johnny and Deanna for inviting us :) Now we KNOW we are "family".

Here are the highlights:

Melissa, Heath, Isaac, Halis, Sydney, Meaghan, Devon & Matt

Isaac in awe of the tree.

Melissa climbs the tree that she wants so that no one else can have it!

Isaac and his Mommy.

The prey has been "taken down" and the hunter shows off his "game".

Meanwhile, Meaghan attempts to cut down her own tree. It only took her 2 days, 3 hours and 17 minutes. We are so proud :)

Halis and Heath having a chuckle.

And the former football player lifts his tree high over his head, while ...

... the computer techie drags his. He is no fool!

Melissa REALLY preferred this tree, as she could fit more presents underneath it, but Heath wanted something a little less, well ... a little less ugly.

This is US.

My son never wants to smile in family photos. He always looks like we have taken him prisoner. And Meaghan is rubbing the chapstick on her lips. But hey, Halis and I are smiling!

Grandpy and Auntie Missy show Isaac how to make a snowball.

AND LET THE SNOWBALL FIGHTS BEGIN ....

Johnny says this one has Melissa's name written all over it.

What an arm on this one!

Look out, Devon knows what he is doing! He has a snowball and he's not afraid to use it.

Grandpy and Meaghan exchange snowballs. Although it looks like Grandpy may have won this battle.

Sydney, Meaghan, Grandpy, Devon & Missy.

Auntie threw a small snowball at Isaac's feet, and he thought it was wonderful!

Meaghan took a few hits.

Jodi took one hit on the head ... and judging from the background of the picture, so did Grandpy.

Hey, what are all those "nuts" doing in that tree?

Ok, now off to the sleigh rides ...

Isaac, Halis and Matt get cozy on the sleigh ride.

We say goodbye to the horses, and eachother.

What an AWESOME day!