Happy New Year 2012

Our week of CoUSiN CrAziNeSs continued...we drove home from Austin on Thursday, while my sister, Carolee, and her family were driving to our house from Jacksonville, Fl...where they live!

Eliza was excited to come play with her cousins!!!  Here she is opening her Christmas present from us while her mom watches!  :)





















We had a great time playing with Eliza!!

It was perfect weather for playing at one of our favorite parks...


KOOP PARK, a.k.a. "THE ALLIGATOR PARK"!  :)

I tried to put captions on the pictures but it messed up their placement...I need to figure why!!  Until then I'll just have to write about them!  :)


While Eliza, Thomas and Mattie played over in the park area, the big kids played frisbee across the street in the field.  While Eliza ate her lunch, Mattie and Thomas ran around together for a little bit playing their favorite game of "GRUMPY OL' TROLL" minus the troll...which was me!  :)  Of course, playing in the sand was a hi-light!  When the BIG KIDS finished playing, they joined us on the playground, just in time for some pictures!!  Aimee was more than thrilled!  :)

Eliza...she is 2!  :)

All the kids!
Eliza, Andrew, Mattie, Thomas, Aimee and Bethany :)

New Year's Eve was quite the fireworks show!!!  The fireworks started before it got dark and went on all night long!  There were at least 3 different neighbors doing fireworks!!  Here are some shots from the neighbors in the cul-de-sac behind our street.

The house below the fireworks is across the street from us, where my friend Laura and her family live!  :)

We didn't have to go outside to watch fireworks though,  because we had quite the show from our kitchen windows, that started around 4:30 and went on all night long!!  While we watched the fireworks, Carolee, Aimee and Mattie made hairbows and hairclips!  :)

Aimee's hair bow!  :)

When I went outside at midnight to watch the fireworks, it was almost like a war zone!!  It was so smokey, there were big booms and the whistle of fireworks shooting up into the sky that could be heard all around...even from outside of our neighborhood!  But very beautiful with all the fireworks all around in the sky!!  :)

The fireworks finally ended around 12:30-1ish!!

On New Year's Day, Carolee, Tim and Eliza went to church with us.  Then we headed home for some yummy dinner!  After we ate, the kids went out to the trampoline to play a few more minutes before Eliza had to drive back home!  Edd took a few pictures of Carolee, Tim and Eliza together on the trampoline...maybe I can stick one in!

"sTaTiC eLuXtRuXitY"
Someone used to call it that!!  :)

Carolee, Eliza and Tim
Thanks for coming to see us!!  :)