Beach Pictures are in...

When we were in Destin, Florida, this summer we had our pictures taken by great outdoors photography. I thought the pictures turned out great...here are some of my favorites!! Seeing these pictures, makes me want to go back to the beach right now!!

Nothing but rain and mud here!!

~Whitten crying because Vaiden left him in the bottom of the pile~

It rained here for 2 weeks solid!! We were inside for 2 weeks and my boys were not happy!! We are such an outside family and the rain really had us sad. The one good thing about rain is that it makes MUD!! We loaded up the wagon with dump trucks and boots and headed to the end of the neighborhood and found a huge mud hole. We so much fun playing. So happy to see the rain has stopped!!

Last Swim

~Vaiden and Whitten~

~Taylor, Vaiden, and Whitten~

We had our last swim a couple of weeks ago, when we visited Canton. We got to swim at the Priestley House again and it was so much fun!! One of my best childhood friends, Rebecca, and her daughter, Taylor, came to swim with us. Rebecca's mom, Susan, came by for a visit too!! We had a great time letting the kids swim in the COLD water!! We had lunch and then more swimming!! The kids had a blast...I just hate that summer is now over!!

Sugar and Redneck

(look closely and you can see Sugar on the left of the feeder)

My parents gave the boys an awesome gift a couple of years ago...a hummingbird feeder that suctions to the window. We have our feeder at our breakfast room window, so we can see the birds eat while we eat. Vaiden has name them...Sugar (the girl hummingbird) and Redneck (the boy hummingbird)!! My boys love to watch these sweet little birds and so do Michael and I. Great gift for children, if you are looking for something other than toys!!

It's Grove time!!!!!!

Ole Miss had their first home football game this past weekend!! It rained in Oxford for a week solid, so come gameday, the boots came out and we were ready rain or shine!! There was no rain, but alot of mud in the Grove. Ole Miss beat Southest Louisiana and the rebel fans were so excited!! One of my best friends, Candice, gave Vaiden the best birthday gift last year. She gave him a membership to the Colonel Kids Club. One of the "treats" for being a member was to walk behind Coach Nutt and in front of the players down the "Walk of Champions"!! It was so crowded, so Michael decided to put Vaiden on his shoulders. It was so much fun and Vaiden loved it!! So many fans gave him high fives...he thought he was so important!! After the grove walk, the kids set up in the stadium and gave all the players high fives!! The players loved seeing all the kids there and the kids, of course, loved seeing the players!! We had a great first home game!! Hotty Toddy Rebels!!

(our family)


(PawPaw, Whitten, Vaiden, and Nana)


(Coach Nutt coming off the bus)

(Vaiden walking down the "Walk of Champions" on his Daddy's shoulders)

(Vaiden inside the stadium)

High fives!!

My husband the hunter

When I met Michael, one of the first things I learned about him was that he LOVED to hunt. We have been married for 9 years and I try really, really hard not to deny him a hunt, especially with his friends, dad, and brother. I thought that Michael had hunted everything he could possibly hunt until this past weekend!! Michael and his buddies went out to the Reservior to go Alligator Hunting!! I was so nervous about this hunt...I guess because he had never been before and it would be dark, raining, and very dangerous!! Thankfully the hunt went safe and they did kill an alligator. It weighed in at 21 pounds and measured 5 ft. 4 in. Even though the gator looks tiny in these pics, Michael said it was super intimidating!! Of course, he and his buddies love the gator hunting and are already planning to do it again next year!!

Michael and the alligator

The gator on ice

Waiting on the bus

Every morning, Vaiden, Whitten, and I sit out on the front porch to wait for the school bus to come pick Vaiden up. Vaiden puts his backpack on his back the second he walks outside, so he can play with both hands. Whitten kept screaming the other morning, "backpack" over and over again. I finally went to get his backpack and he had to wear his on his back too. Whitten looks up to Vaiden so much and wants to do everything just like Vaiden. He now has to wear his backpack every morning while we wait on the bus. I couldn't resist taking these pictures...they are so stinking cute:)

Watching Vaiden's bus drive off

We'll miss you while you are at school brother!!

(notice, Whitten is still in his pjs!!)

Labor Day Dove Hunt

Michael has been encouraging Vaiden to go with him on some hunts this year. Vaiden really doesn't understand the whole "hunting" thing, but loves to be with his Daddy. Vaiden begged Michael to take him dove hunting last weekend so, Michael did. They left the cabin at 4:30am and hunted some birds!! Vaiden loved it out there and Michael said he asked a ton of questions and did all the right things. I was so happy to see these two out in the woods together...I just hope they make room for one more because Whitten will be right up in the middle of them both in a couple more years!!

Michael and Vaiden

(Michael's friend let Vaiden hold his gun to make the picture look cool!!)

~Vaiden loves the outdoors as much as his Daddy~

~my best shot of the day~

~Michael letting Vaiden pull the trigger~

~Vaiden's thinking about picking the dove up~

~Vaiden's picking up the dove~

~Vaiden's quickly walking with the dove~

~The dove hunters~
~My camo cuties~

Vaiden, Michael, and Whitten

~The Ellis boys~Paw-Paw, Jason, Vaiden, Michael, and Whitten

Night out in NYC...

~Laura, Katharine, me, and Tanya~

~Katharine and I~

~Laura, Katharine, me, and Tanya at Tillman's~

~Katharine with the bar owners of Employee's Only~

Happy Belated Birthday MOMMA!!

HAPPY 6Oth BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!

~me, my mom, and my sister, Katharine~

~Momma's cake~

~make a wish~

~Dawn's birthday was August 17th and Sittie's was August 26th~

They had their own cake!!

~the crew at dinner~

Katharine, (my cousin) Tanya, and I

~ Myron and Dawn (my mom's sister)~

~Dawn, Sittie, and Tanya~

My Momma celebrated her 60th birthday on August 22nd!! My sister, Katharine, Sittie (my grandmother), my mom, and I all flew to New Jersey to visit my Aunt Dawn and her family. We had the best girls trip!! We enjoyed great food, fun friends, good shopping, a silly movie, and some adult conversation!! We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday, Dawn, Ian, and Sittie's August birthdays, and Sittie and Giddie's (my grandparents) 61st wedding anniversary. We had such a great time together and look forward to doing it all again next year!!