McClain family Christmas

Christmas morning with new scooters from Santa

stockings waiting to be opened

Ellery's gold, frankincense, and myrhh gifts

Elan and Ellery were going to fall asleep in the front of the Christmas tree on the pullout sofa, but Ellery asked later to be put in her bed. They thought it was a fun idea, though.

Christmas eve with new PJs

Getting ready to receive new PJs

First time to meet cousin Jakob

Union Terminal

We wanted to do something fun while visiting Noni and Lito so today we went to Union terminal in Cincinnati to see the train displays and play in the children's museum. The kids had a blast! A little Graeter's ice cream was a special treat too!

Noccolula Falls

We went to Gadsden, AL to look at Christmas lights. We rode the train through the park and also looked at some animals in the petting zoo. Ellery enjoyed it all!

We were surprised, but Ellery was not scared of Santa this year. Perhaps her best year yet as far as that goes! The kids enjoyed breakfast with Santa at the preschool, and Ellery told Santa that she wants a doll house.

The Thanksgiving program at Elan and Ellery's school was a lot of fun as always. Ellery was a turkey and did the turkey wobble, and she did a good job of performing--no stage fright! Thanksgiving weekend we took some family photos thanks to Noni and Lito coming. Elan and Ellery enjoyed making little cookie turkeys with Noni.

Halloween fun--Ellery was proud to be part of the three blind mice. The first picture is of her costume parade at preschool. The second picture is her Halloween cupcake at trunk or treat at New Armuchee. What a mess! Then there are a few group pictures of the mice (and the farmers wife ready to cut off their tails). The kids won a costume contest at the local credit union, so they each got $20 added to their savings accounts.

Friday, October 28th we carved our pumpkins. Ellery was proud of hers!

Bath time--the kids love taking a bath together, but I know the days are limited. Took this chance to snap a picture of all three of them, although it was hard to get them all to look at the camera!

Lowery Farms

From the looks of these pictures you would think Ellery had the time of her life picking out a pumpkin. Really she just likes to say cheese for the camera! They did have fun getting their pumpkin and crawling on the tractors.

Maybe if I post these videos one at a time, they will work better. This is Ellery counting her fruit leathers on her birthday. It was funny!

Video from Ellery's birthday--maybe I will get a few more uploaded, but it has not been easy to upload videos. She enjoyed her card with music from Noni and Lito.

Orchard visit

The second weekend of October we took the kids to Ellijay, GA to pick some apples. Ellery enjoyed the activities that were available at the orchard, including picking apples. It was a fun day!