Christmas in Savannah

Christmas in Roanoke

Breakfast with Santa

Congrats Rae!

Volleyball banquet was last night and our little v-ball star took home MVP and best hitter for Blacksburg Middle. None too shabby!

Cooking helpers

Thanksgiving Day

Hope on the hill - we're going to be in trouble is less than 10 years!!
not quite a huddle - but they are conspiring against dad

doesn't look like touch football

i'd say that was a full tackle!

do the end zone dance!

good throw Hope!

keep going!!!

all girls but dad still has a team.

going wide!

.

Christmas Decorating

Leaf fight

itchy and scratchy...

Shockley girls

Emma's airborne hair

Rachel's new talent - caligraphy

Hope's working hard - nice day in November!

emma is getting the hooks ready to string the outdoor lights

thanks granddaddy!

it's so easy a 7 year old can do it!

getting set up

Hope is hanging Hope's first christmas ornament

over/under - tangle the little sister in the tree

such concentration

who's got what??

it's the "Electric Kitten"

robert redford, eat your heart out!

this was the weekend before, emma is kissing the praying mantis she saved from Charlie

Car washing is never a dry task at our house.

Smile big daddy!

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We decided to get all the stuff out and decorate the house last weekend.

Usually we have Rachel over the thanksgiving holiday and we do it that long weekend but it wasn't going to work out this year so we did it a week early.

good thing too because last weekend the weather was beautiful and this weekend it's NOT!

David's "40th" Surprise Birthday Party

Ok, one way to really surprise someone on their birthday is to celebrate it a month in advance!

another great way is to make t-shirts of the birthday boy in all sorts of

crazy pictures from his prior 39 years.

so here's some highlights to David's 40th pre-celebration at Hungry Mother State Park.

ok, this is where memaw was getting her christmas card photo done... helps to have all the grandkids in one place!

David and Ben

Oh yeah, s'more time....

family shot with everyone in their "old davey" shirts.

most of the clan, less david and rach though

and we added a kid.

who needs a playground when there is a mountain right behind the cabin

the kids spent the whole time climbing up, sliding down, climbing up....

Em, concoring the hill...

Cousin Katie with a HUGE smile...

Em playing rapunzel in reverse.

Hope up on the hill, i like the new camera with turbo zoom lense!

G-daddy and Hopie

Birthday Boy and nephew Nicholas

Jennifer made sure there was the full 40 candles... he needed some help!

Ha!

our friends the Anderson's - they braved the Shockley/Skinner clan and hung out with us to the end! Great folks.

Dave and Ben, Val and Andrew

Looks like trouble.

Just hanging out.

Hopie and G.G.

Charlie is trying to get Hope to wake up!

Words fail me - I was just glad Emma did not suffer any permament damage - the cats soooo close together, there would of been blood from someone before long!