Griffith Christmas 2009

We had a great time with the Griffith crew this past Christmas. Ava enjoyed her tickle-time with Grandpa Dean, and Liam enjoyed hanging out with Grandma Dolly. Wow, looking at this picture, I think it is probably one of the last we have with Liam using a pacifier.

I tried my hand at Wii for the first time. I think I'm addicted to the Cabela hunting games... Here I am in some sort of driving game, being interrupted, as you can tell. :-)

Even Ava enjoyed the hunting games. Here she is, shooting at some birds. :-)

Doug and I drove up to see Aunt Freda on a weekday for lunch. Jordan and Daymian went with us, as they were out of school on Winter break. We met at the Farmhouse (I think it's called?) in Lapeer. It was great to catch up with and see Aunt Freda. And it's always good to spend Uncle and Aunt time with the boys. They're growing up so fast. Daymian is already taller than I am! It's hard to believe that Rebecca (my "littlest" cousin) will be graduating from high school this year, too!

Ava really seems to enjoy her snuggle / tickle time with Grandpa Dean. Whenever it's time to relax and watch a movie, she just seems to automatically sit next to him. :-)

Mrs. Claus (I mean Dolly!) in her festive apron.

Liam cheesing for the camera and doing some serious building...

The Larabee clan all snuggled in for a long Winter's nap

Kristin and a happy Sophia

Peace, love and family time,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Carey Christmas 2009

Christmas was so fun this year! Ava is at such a magical age, where Santa hangs the moon, snow glistens and Christmas is the best day of the year. I had fun watching her have fun this Christmas!

We opened gifts with the Carey clan on Christmas Eve. We had dinner with Tim, Tracy, Jim and Mary. It was super yummy. Tracy and Tim opened gifts with us before heading to Tim's Dad's house later in the evening. Tracy, Tim, Doug and I all went in together to get Michael Buble tickets for Jim and Mary for a March 2010 show. Jim and Mary seemed excited about the tickets. Jim handmade a very intricate keepsake box for me, telling me that he wants it to be handed down to Ava. He told me I was very special and wanted me to have the box. Of course I cried when he was telling me all of this. :-) It is a beautiful box. I will try to take a picture of it later and add it to the blog. (This year, I think we only took video of our gift-opening). Tracy and Tim gave us a cool game called "Chit Chat". It's a box of questions that are conversation-starters, to break-out when we have company. It's pretty cool!

Ava didn't really seem to be into opening gifts on Christmas Eve (as much as I thought she would). Within the hour, I felt her forehead... she was BURNING UP! She had a pretty high fever which disappeared Christmas morning. Poor thing, she felt pretty bad and it showed. :( Luckily it wasn't a long-lasting bug...

Here are some pictures of our time with the Careys, and other Christmas goodies.

Mary ordered these cookies from Shannon (Sirard). She always does an amazing job with these cookies. They were too pretty to eat!

Dressed in their matching pajamas for the night. Ava looks thrilled about this concept. ;-) (Actually, she was sick at the time...)

Ava and Liam in matching Christmas jammies.

Christmas morning Santa stash!

Ava and Liam opening their stockings

Liam loves bears. Here he has taken the bear from the foyer area and brought it into the kitchen. He likes to sit and look at their faces while he just laughs...

Peace, love and stocking stuffers,

SC, Doug, Ava and Liam

Visiting Santa 2009

This year we visited Santa at The Village in Rochester.



I was curious to see how Ava's visit (specifically) with Santa would go... When we went to the kids' day care for their holiday party a week earlier, Liam's teacher (Miss Kelly) dressed up like Santa. Let's just say that Kelly is a shorter, African-American woman in her late 20's, with contemporarily-framed glasses and has quite the feminine "Ho, Ho, Ho". So when I mentioned to Ava that it was really nice that Santa (at day care) gave her a Barbie for Christmas, she said, "Mom, you're silly... that was one of my teachers pretending to be Santa..." Nothing gets by this girl!

After our visit with "Day Care" Santa, I wanted to be sure to get pictures taken with Santa. The Village offers FREE pictures with Santa. After a lunch out with Grandma and Grandpa Carey, we went to The Village on Christmas Eve's Eve.

At the Village, there is an enclosed gazebo that was actually warm and quite peaceful. So, it wasn't a madhouse and some terrifying experience for a kid. I think it helped Ava buy into his "Santa-ness"; she bought it hook, line and sinker! It was so sweet to see. And truthfully, I was kind of hoping Liam would have the "screaming visit with Santa" picture this year, as it seems a rite of passage for every little one. Instead, always taking his lead from Ava, he was cool, calm and collected when visiting with the big guy.

This Santa was the best! When we walked in, he asked Ava's name and held out his hand for her to come to him. He said "Hi Ava!" and Ava walked up to sit in his lap. When we've asked what Ava wished for from Santa this year, she has repeatedly said "I will be happy with whatever Santa brings me." (What parent doesn't like THAT answer? - And this was not a canned response... I kept fishing and that is ALL she would tell me). So I was a little surprised when Santa asked Ava what she wanted, and she shyly responded "A dolly". :-) Fortunately Grandpa Dean and Grandma Dolly (fittingly!) came through with a dolly for Ava for Christmas. Her wish list was complete.

Ava was beaming as she sat on his lap, soaking it all in. Liam then joined her and seemed to do really well. No threat of tears from Liam this year. :-) Santa's helper gave each of the kids a coloring book, a reindeer antler headpiece and a candy cane. The candy cane was a big hit, and it was a pretty quiet ride home because of them. :-)

Ready to visit Santa


Santa and Ava


Liam, Santa and Ava


Liam and Santa


Helping drive Santa's sleigh!


Giving Santa's reindeer a smooch.

Enjoying a candy cane, compliments of Santa!


Liam broke open the candy cane wrapper, so we didn't hear too much from him on the way home from visiting Santa... :)

Peace, love and candy cane happiness,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Lighthouse Academy Christmas Pictures

School Pictures 2009

Ava - November 2009
3 years 8 months


Liam - November 2009
17 months

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas this year!

We're in the midst of celebrating the holiday season and this time of year, which helps us reflect on everything with which we've been blessed.

This year, we went for a free carriage ride at The Avenue. IT was a bit chilly waiting in line, but we made our way through it and enjoyed a warm snuggly ride with our friends the Hoffmans. Liam has been teething lately, so I was just glad he made it through the ride! He enjoyed watching the horses as we waited for our turn.

We also went to the His Kidz Christmas play at church on Saturday. Kids 13 years and younger can act in the play. They did an amazing job! Ava really seemed to enjoy the play, singing and "choreography". She clapped enthusiastically after ever number. Liam also sat through 2/3 of the play, before Doug got up and walked around with him in the back. (I was suprised that Liam made it that far, honestly!)

Liam now says: car, truck, duck, tower, flower, Mama, Daddy, more, Ava, tree, thank you (tay-too), apple, ball, block. I'm sure there are others, but these are what come to mind right now.

Ava has such an amazing memory. I don't know how she remembers half the things she does! She is excited to celebrate Christmas this year and asked Santa to bring her lots of toys (when I told her she could have one big toy or lots of less big toys, she opted for "lots of toys"). She also mentioned that she will be happy with whatever Santa brings to her. That made my heart melt. She wants a "purple coat and a small blue coat to give to Liam". I think it's so sweet that she is thinking of her little brother and trying to be his voice for Santa. She wants to make sure Santa doesn't forget to bring something to Liam!

When we wrote out Ava's letter to Santa, Ava started out by saying that she thinks Rudolph is cute and that she hopes he is okay. It was at that point that she asked for the purple coat, etc. I have no idea why she asked for a purple coat. Too funny. Maybe because she already has a pink one and a blue one... :-) I think she was actually asking for a purple snowsuit (not coat)...

The tree is up (lit and decorated), I made four recipes of truffles this year (Oreo truffles, Kraft's simply elegant chocolate truffle recipe, buckeyes, cookie dough truffles), I've had my fill of hot spiced cider and we've had a holiday party celebrating with friends in our home. It doesn't get any better than that. Everything else is gravy. But I'm sure there will be gravy on the menu before the year is up... ;-)

I love to watch the look on Ava and Liam's faces as they see Christmas lights and decorations. Liam's repetoire of words isn't lengthy, but lengthy enough that he can say "Oooh! Wow!!!" whenever he sees houses lit up with lights. :-)

Life is good.

Peace, love and starry-eyed babes,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Turkey Day from the Careys!

This year we went up to Michigan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. I worked from MI for some of the days while Doug watched the kidlings. I took vacation days for the remainder of our trip, which was nice. It's never enough time that we get to spend with family and friends in Michigan. We did get to: celebrate Thanksgiving with the Careys, with the Griffiths, with the Lawsons, visit with friends.

My sister and Mom have a Black Friday tradition of shopping for Christmas presents in the wee hours of the morning. So, I joined in on the fun and we marked some things off our Christmas list together.

It was the first time we had seen my Uncle Danny since he had a heart catherization. He looked great and is doing amazingly well. While we were in Michigan, Doug's youngest sister Tracy was VERY sick with mono. She then had horrible stomach pains and went to the ER with them. Long story short, she had a softball-sized tumor on her ovary that was so heavy it flipped the ovary and cut-off the blood supply. She had the beginning signs of appedicitis, as well, so they took out the ovary, a fallopian tube and her appendix (appendix was precautionary). Since her surgery, she had some fevers but they have since gotten better. She shouldn't have any problems in getting pregnant, as she still has one very healthy ovary. (So many people have mentioned that their friend only has one ovary and they've gone on to have numerous children). She had to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital, but was treated very well while she was there. Her husband Tim works in the hospital where she stayed. We visited the hospital with the kids, who did really well and hopefully didn't wear Aunt Tracy out too much.

Doug continues to search for a job, but is doing some freelance work on the side, in the meantime. God continues to provide for us in every way necessary, and above what we imagined.

So, I say all of that to say that this year, more than ever, I realize that Thanksgiving and all other holidays are about spending time with family and cherishing the time we have together.

While in Michigan, Ava and Liam enjoyed tickles from Grandpa Dean, enjoyed touching Grandpa Carey's beard, Ava liked doing puzzles with Grandma Carey, enjoyed playing at Grandma Pam's house (and plugging in the Christmas tree with every visit), liked getting "picked-up" and hugged by Aunt Sherry, making chocolate cupcakes with Grandma Dolly (Ava says "Grandma Dolly helped me make cupcakes, Mommy!" ;-)). Liam also enjoyed snuggling with Grandma Dolly, playing with blocks, trucks and cars.

We are so thankful our family members are all healthy and well. We send our love to you all and wish you the happiest of seasons together with your family!

Peace, love and stuffing,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Jay and Sarah Collins' Wedding

We've been part of the same small group at church for 10 years now. Jay and Sarah Collins are also part of the group. They are like family to us... we see them more often than family, in fact! Ava is smitten with Mr. Jay. We were honored when they asked if Ava would be the flower girl in their November 14, 2009 wedding. Ava was also a flower girl in Aunt Tracy and Uncle Tim's wedding on October 10th, so she had a little practice before the Collins / Lanning wedding. :-)

Ava did REALLY well! She walked down the LONG aisle all by herself, scattering flowers along the way. She did well during the ceremony, too. It was a long ceremony for a three year-old to stand still through, but she did SO WELL!

Doug and Liam ended-up heading out into the lobby during the ceremony, as Liam was getting a little bit "squirrely". After the wedding, I ended-up taking Liam out to the car and driving home. He was wiped out! Doug and Ava stayed for the church wedding reception. Later that night, we all went together to the reception at Sugo's for close friends and family. It was a fun weekend.

We're so happy for Jay and Sarah, and wish them an eternity of happiness!

Peace, love and flower petals,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Ava at the rehearsal, holding Miss Laura's hand (maid of honor)

The wedding rehearsal

Flower girl Ava and Laura, the maid of honor

Taking a break during rehearsal

Rehearsal

The rehearsal

The rehearsal. Ava wouldn't walk back down the aisle with the ring bearer, so the maid of honor and best man (Jay's Dad) all walked down together.

Shelly, Melissa Baillairge and Ava at the rehearsal dinner. Ava was a party animal! She really enjoyed her strawberries and chocolate and stayed up WAY past her bedtime. ;-)

Friends at the rehearsal dinner. Jeremy and Spencer Duncan came in from Nashville for the rehearsal / wedding. Marsha drove down for the wedding with Preston and Aidyn the next day.

Fast friends: Ava and Spencer

Shelly and Ava at the rehearsal dinner

Shelly, Anna Fletcher and Melissa Baillairge

Ava enjoying her strawberries and chocolate.

Kelly Martin (Jay's sister), Anna Fletcher and Melissa Baillairge

Ava, Jay and Spencer

Shelly and Doug at the rehearsal dinner. Doug cut his hand with a box cutter while working on a project. They glued his incision and gave him a split to help it heal more quickly.

The happy couple at the rehearsal dinner.

Kenyon and Anna Fletcher

The flower girl before performing her duties.

Sarah, while getting ready for the wedding

Beautiful flowers!

It's official! I love Jay's face in this one.

Mr. and Mrs. Jay Collins, after exchanging vows.

Ava, right after the wedding

Ava and Shelly at the wedding reception.  Blurry, but proof we were there. :)

And the professional pictures (although some were scanned low-resolution).