Moudy Christmas

We had a great Christmas with the Moudy Family, although we were disappointed that more of the family couldn't be there. Robyn & Vernon were not able to come as planned because of family health issues and Matt & Keely's family was not able to come either. We missed them all dearly, but made the best of it and enjoyed being together for a quiet and relaxing Christmas together. Lynsey got to come earlier than Robby, so we got lots of time with her! She is always so sweet to play with Avery and participate in whatever games Avery thinks up. This time, it was mostly about having "total makeovers", so this is what you will see in the photos below. Aren't they gorgeous? Lynsey spent a night with us and slept on Avery's bottom bunk, which made Avery so happy.

Lynsey and I got to have a fun afternoon of shopping together one day and I had so much fun with her. Lynsey is one of the sweetest people I've ever known, and so much fun too. I'm so glad to have her as a sister.

We didn't get nearly as much time with Robby as with Lynsey, but the time we had together was good. We celebrated our Christmas Eve early with our traditional Baked Potato Soup and then had a Dirty Santa exchange with the adults and Avery got presents from everyone!! Our pretend "Christmas Morning" we had our big brunch and Grandmother & Grandad Mimms joined us for that. We went to a movie and had a great day.

Aren't these 2 girls GORGEOUS??

Robby and Lynsey went up to Fritch to celebrate on actual Christmas Day with his family, so we had a quiet morning at home together and Avery woke up at 6:30 to see what Santa had left. He left this adorable Groovy Girls bicycle for her!

Granpappy & Mam came over for breakfast and spent the day with us. Granpappy took Avery to the park for her first ride on her new bike. We took a drive to Plainview and through the country and came home for a late lunch and a game of "Family Fued" on the DVD player. It was a fun and restful Christmas Day.

New Friends and Jewelry Fun

The Lord has blessed me with several new girlfriends lately, and I want you to meet these awesome women. First of all just let me thank God for friends who inspire me to want to be better! These girls are people are I want to be like and who encourage me - the way they fill their roles as godly wives, mothers, and friends. They are each heavily involved in service in their church, and in sharing their faith. They are true worshipers who honor God with their lives. They are also very REAL - very fun, not at all "religious"! They are extremely Godly and spiritual, but open and honest with daily struggles of life. These girls pray. These girls value the Word of God. These girls are striving to love and discipline their children in a godly way so that their kids will learn to have kingdom eyes. These girls are givers - givers of their time, resources, and money.

This is what I already know about these friends, and I've only known most of them for a few months! We get together one Friday each month and make jewelry (and visit, and EAT!) for several hours. One of the girls, Laura, has a booming jewelry business and has taught me everything I know! I didn't have the first clue how to put a necklace together, but now I'm addicted! She makes the cutest necklaces and pendants and has generously shared her ideas and expertise with all of us. There are a few others who weren't able to come to our get-together Friday, so they aren't in the picture. I want to thank these girls for including me and reaching out in friendship! I love you guys!

Left: Jara, Heather (in red), Lyndsie (in green) and Laura

This is SERIOUS business. Deep concentration is required! (but we get lots of visiting done too)

Breakfast With Santa

American Girl Bistro

Okay, if you are not a girl, you can stop reading now. This post is only for girls who appreciate girlie things. The day after Thanksgiving, my mom planned a fun girls' day out for the women in our family - Mom, Aunt Sessie, Aunt Julie, Avery, and me. She made a reservation for us all at the new American Girl Boutique & Bistro at the Galleria in Dallas. Downstairs where you go in is the store, and it has ALL of the dolls, accessories and fun things you could ever want for your American Girl doll. Avery has the Bitty Baby doll which she got for her birthday this past year. She had SO much fun going through the Bitty Baby section and showing us all the things she liked (most of which we all secretly bought for her for Christmas). In addition to all the merchandise for your doll, there is also a Hair Salon where you can have your doll's hair styled. It was pretty cute. Not that Bitty Baby has any hair, but the bigger American Girl Dolls do.

When it came time for our Bistro reservation, so we went up the escalator to the Bistro and Dessert Bar. You bring your doll with you, and your doll has a special seat at your table.

These were the napkin rings which we got to take home. They can be a cookie cutter, or just a neat souvenir.
We could not get our cameras to work in this place - weird lighting or something, and it made the pictures all look blurry. But, at least you can tell who we all are.
Aunt Julie, Aunt Sessie, Avery and Mimi

Proud mom with daughter Bitty Baby
Avery and Mimi

This was Avery's favorite part, the delicious sprinkle sundae. She THOROUGHLY enjoyed it.

Sorry for the bad picture, this could have been really pretty if we knew how to use a camera!!

When Avery is a little bit older I want to get her the "Kit" doll because she looks so much like Avery. She looks more like her than any of the dolls you can create to look "just like you".

We had a blast that day and hope we can go back to the Boutique and Bistro in the coming years, although it's a very dangerous place because you want to buy everything in there!

After we left there, we went to look at the GIANT Christmas Tree in the middle of the Galleria Ice Rink. It was amazingly huge. Here we are - again, bad picture. Sorry!

Thanksgiving

Call us crazy, but 7 of us in the Mabry gang got up early on Thanksgiving morning to run the famous Dallas Turkey Trot. Some were excited about it, and others had to have their arms twisted, and yet others graciously volunteered to stay home with the smaller kids who weren't able to go. Here we are with our fake smiles at 7:15 in the morning just before we headed downtown. The Trot has 2 parts - the 8 mile race or the 3 mile fun-run. We opted for the fun-run and so did close to another 31,000 people!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY! Those of us who wanted to run had trouble, because of the sheer amount of people, plus dogs, and strollers are allowed in this race, so as you can imagine, there weren't many serious runners in this crowd. It was super fun though, and we all crossed the finish line! I think we will make it a tradition on the Mabry Thanksgiving Years.

Before the race

Starting line

Then we came home to the wonderful smells of a Turkey Feast deliciously prepared by Mom. It was fabulous, as always, and tasted really good since we had actually worked up an appetite!

Mom has a tradition of making cookies with the kids on every holiday,

so here are the Turkey Cookies!

Happy Fall

The Verdict

Sorry to all of you who were on pins and needles waiting to hear what Avery decided to be Halloween night, (I'm sure many of you lost sleep over it!) After all my tossing and turning trying to get her just the right outfit............drum roll...............she decided to be the cheerleader! That's when as a parent you just have to throw your hands up and say, "whatever". Anyway, she was adorable and had lots of fun. No child should get this much candy in one day, even if it's Halloween!

With our good friend Michelle

With our good friend Bertelle


Now to a couple of stories: The other day Gabe and I were driving through the Starbucks drivethrough and she was reading the sign. She slowly and carefully spelled F...r...a...p...p...u...c...c...i...n...o. "Starbucks!," she yelled! It was pretty cute.

Then yesterday she was with her best friend Kaidance and her mom Amanda and Amanda overheard she and Kaidance playing dolls, who were going to the Dr. Kaidance said that her doll was sick. Avery said, "Oh no, does she have parvo??"

The Maize

For several years now, we have wanted to go to the Maize, a really amazing corn field in Shallowater, made into a giant maze that you try to find your way through.

We went on a perfect cool Saturday in November and had a great time. Well, Avery only made it through half and then wanted to go ride the train pulled by a 4-wheeler. They also have a little petting zoo and some fun stuff like a rock climbing wall and a pumpkin blaster that shoots at targets and a nice picnic area. It was a great family day!

The many faces of Halloween

Today is Halloween, and so far, Avery has already been 2 different things, and we haven't even had Halloween night yet! For the last month, we've been trying to figure out what she is going to be, and she has wanted to be everything from a scarecrow to a ballerina, from Hello Kitty to a dog. But when she mentioned cheerleader, I jumped on that, because we already had the costume! I figured she could just be a cute little Abernathy Cheerleader - simple, cute, affordable. So that was that.

Until...midnight on Monday night when I realized that if Avery was an Abernathy Cheerleader for Halloween, I would feel like the most lame mom in America. Why? Because it's so "every day"...every little girl in Abernathy has an Abernathy cheerleader uniform, so what would be special about being THAT for Halloween? When I mentioned this to Gabe, he said, "JILL! SHE'S 4 YEARS OLD, AND BESIDES, SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO BE A CHEERLEADER!!" But, I didn't sleep well at all the rest of the night and was overcome by motherly guilt.

Tuesday morning Avery got up and put on her cute Abernathy cheerleading "costume" to wear to school, and I must admit it was cute. And worked out fine that day, because she goes to school in Lubbock, so her outfit was not so common there. That day I was at my friend Helen's house getting a massage and I mentioned my quandry. She told me that she had 4 tubs full of Halloween costumes that would fit Avery! She let us borrow several, so we came home with 4 new choices for the poor girl. Now she could be a movie star, medieval princess, pink poodle, or a dog. Today for our local library carnival, she decided to be the movie star. Tonight for Trick or Treating - the verdict is still out! Thank you Helen for saving me from being a loser mom!
I'll post more after we see what she is going to be tonight...nice to have choices, isn't it?

Before Sonshine School

She said "All Cheerleaders have to have their name written on their head". So....we did.

Miss Movie Star or something elegant - we aren't quite sure.

With her best friend Kaidance at the Library Carnival

Baby Jaxon - for those of you who haven't met him, this is the little boy we keep on MWF. His Nemo costume was ADORABLE!

Our Family Jackolantern.