JAMES Family Christmas 2009

For Christmas with my family this year, we did something a little differently. We wanted to have an "old-fashioned" holiday so we rented two 2-bedroom cabins at Paul B Johnson State Park for the weekend. We had a great time - great weather, cool and crisp "Christmassy" temperatures, and lots of fun to be had by all!
We started out our Friday evening roasting hot dogs and making smores over an open fire! :)

Followed by a holiday pajama party!

... and ended with a Phase 10 game at about 2 A.M.!!!

Saturday morning, Dad fixed us a wonderful breakfast and we played outside, watched Christmas movies, all that fun stuff :) We were trying to work up an appetite for presents and a big Christmas dinner to follow!

Roasting more marshmallows... and playing more cards. My bro-in-law thought it funny to stick leaves in my head that looked like reindeer antlers (yeah... we were in the middle of the woods, so I wasn't gonna go through the trouble or the time of putting on makeup!)

LOVE this picture - kicked back, relaxing by the fire - just Jobes and Daddy

The kids colored and decorated snowflakes for the tree - with everyone's name on them :)

FINALLY - present time!! The kids could hardly wait for Uncle Patrick to get there (from deer hunting) so we could open all the gifts! It was chaotic to say the least... but you know... all part of the fun, right?!

Say "CHEEEEEEESE!!"

Jobi sporting his new Thomas the Train flannel PJs that Nana and Papa gave him. His big ol' belly hiked the shirt up a little bit :P He enjoyed taking the middles out of all the snowflakes and so carefully putting them all in one big pile!

The only thing we'll do differently is get a little bit bigger place. But overall, we had a GREAT Christmastime with all the fam. I'm so glad we still have LOTS more fun to come!! Hope all our friends and family are enjoying their Christmas season!!

Merry Christmas from our Egg Nog-drinking, nose-blinking little reindeer :)

(That would be Dairy Fresh Egg Nog just to clarify!! Wouldn't want anyone starting rumors!) haha!

Extreme Home Makeover: Hattiesburg Edition!

Well... last week (actually Dec 3-11) was an exciting week for our community! A local military/Katrina family was chosen to receive a new home for ABC's hit show - Extreme Home Makeover Edition. I went to the volunteer pep rally the week of Thanksgiving and wanted to sign up to work with the project but the schedule was FULL due to the overwhelming support of the community - good for them, bad for me :( It was something I really wanted to be a part of. Anyhow, I had to settle for being on "standby" - and ultimately never got called. Chris and I did take Jobi, however, to see the "goings on." It was such a cool thing to see everyone pulling together for the greater good of this family in need. The design team got a little taste of our South MS! 70 degree weather, 30 degree weather - snow one day, rain the next, sunshine the next, MUD! All the elements... ya'll know how it is! Made for a little more difficult scenario busting a house from its foundation and starting all from the bottom up. Here are some pics... and the final result!!

These were taken Day 2 - finishing up the demolition and clearing the land site


Day after our big snowfall... it was one big mess of sludge and slush! But so fun to witness the excitement!


This was a preview pic from the builder... such a pretty design!

And finally... REVEAL DAY! "MOVE THAT BUS!!!"




Christian Slater was the guest celebrity that worked on the Heathcock Family project. He walked about 10 yds in front of us. Chris didn't have the camera ready! Oh well... :)

I stole this last picture from the official EHMO Hattiesburg website - priceless :)

I just have to do it - can't help myself.... "Welcome Home, Heathcock Family!
WELCOME HOME!"

"It's Gonna Snow... Right Here in Dixie!!"

Weather has predicted that our December will be "brutal." Well... it's still been going from 30 degrees to 70 degrees - nothing different so far really and not too "brutal" besides the RAIN! But we'll have at least this one glorious weekend of a White Christmas! The weekend of December 4th, 2009... the first snow of the season :)

Some pics from the front of our house...


A view of the back yard...

And... Jobi making snowballs and playing! :)

Daddy and Jobes WORN OUT from all the playing in the Winter Wonderland!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, ya'll! :)

Meet Beautiful Baby Riley Kate :)

While driving home from Thanksgiving, we decided to make a stop over in Cumming and Atlanta to meet our new baby cousin, Riley Kate Holcomb (mom and dad - Lisa and Justin) AND make a Christmas shopping stop at IKEA! (We love that store!) We had a nice lunch with the whole fam and spent some good Q.T. It is always nice to get the little cousins together :) Jobi is outnumbered 3-1! AND there's another one on the way for my cousin Kim and her hubby Fleet. Will be anxious to see if it's yet another girl - heehee


The proud "LeLe" - my Aunt Linda :)


Say "CHEESE!!!!"


These shots turned out SO cute!! I loved seeing them laugh together (all of you would've laughed seeing me and Kim dancing jigs to try to get their attention to take good pics!!)

Jobi had to check out his baby cousin :) and give her kisses of course!

"The Troublesome Trio" ;-) I love you girls!!