what's been going on since last I posted....

Ryne, Seth, Alec and Jason with their Great Grandmother - Thanksgiving 2009

Nov 7 - My poor baby Alec had strep throat for the first time in his 9 years of life.
Nov 9 - my mother-in-law had a birthday - Happy Birthday Maxine!
Nov 15 - I attended a baby shower for my friend Crystal. I am so happy for her. She has wanted another baby for quite awhile and her dream finally came true (with a little help from medical science).
Nov 21 - We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family at Mom and Dad's. It was great fun and the food was all very yummy!
Nov 24 - We drove 11 hours to Pineville, LA to spend Thanksgiving with Brad's family.
Nov 25-28 - We enjoyed the nice Fall weather in Louisiana and of course we greatly enjoyed spending time with Maxine, Charles, Mammaw Willis, Tami, Shawn, Ryne and Seth. The boys spent most of every day outside just being boys.
The night of Nov 28 - we drove the 11 1/2 hours back. It took a bit longer going home since we went through Little Rock - but it felt much safer driving on the Interstate instead of those curvy, narrow, 2-lane roads in western Arkansas. However, both coming and going we made better time than ever before because we traveled at night. The boys slept most of the time and we rarely stopped. In the past, the same trip has taken up to 13 hours.
Nov 30 - back to our normal routine and back to school for the boys
Dec 1 - Alec's 4th grade class performed Christmas songs at the Blue Springs Mayor's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It was a fun time and the first taste of the Christmas season - old favorite Christmas songs, lights, decorations, Santa hats, red & green, chilly temperatures, hot chocolate and Santa himself.
Dec 3 - Brad's oldest son - Michael - turned 27. Happy Birthday Michael! You have made great strides in 2009. Keep it up!
Also on Dec 3 - I turned in my final portfolio for my Nature and Scenic Class. If you are interested - you can find it here. I think that will be my last class for awhile. Not that I have learned everything I need to know - I just am going to find other ways to learn more. Maybe take an online class, self study Photoshop and maybe even try to find a job with an experienced photographer. I also plan to keep taking pictures and more pictures and working to build my own business - It's All About the Image.

So that brings us up to today.... This afternoon, Alec and I are going caroling with the cub scouts at an Alzheimer's care center in Independence. Then tonight I am meeting 7 wonderful ladies for dinner at Carmen's Cafe. This will the first time our book club has gotten together in couple of years. There should be another truly wonderful friend with us tonight but breast cancer took her life much too early - at the young age of 44 - 7 weeks ago today. We are meeting tonight in her honor. I truly believe that she will be with us tonight in spirit.