Holiday Fun

Every year, the kids and I enjoy decorating cutout cookies together.....and every year, Michael seems to disappear when I announce that it is time to bake :) The kids did a much better job this year not making such a huge mess.

We're back!!!!

I am sorry it has been so long since I posted something new. We have been crazy busy here working on our house. You can check out the progress on sturgillhomeservices.blogspot.com Anyways, I am not even going to try to post everything that has happened in the last couple of months. So, I will just post our latest event :) Tonight, the kids were in the elementary Christmas program. Mackenzie tried out and got a part in the play. Bryant got to sing a duet. They both did an awesome job, if I do say so myself :) I sure wish that we could have had family close by to see the kids in the program, but we know that isn't possible. This is where God wants us and we truly do love it here! This time of year always makes me a little homesick, especially when we are so many hours away. BUT, since we are going to be home alone this year, we are looking forward to starting some traditions with the kids.

The kids did sign language for one of the songs....it was really neat!






Mrs. Brown is our awesome music teacher....all of the kids LOVE her - especially Mackenzie!

Fall Festival

Last night was Oakwood's annual Fall Festival fund raiser. The kids had so much fun running from event to event....and, of course, we spent tons of money on their "events."



Mike had to be the target for paintball shooters - cute!



People could pay $1 to put someone in jail. One of Bryant's friends stuck him in jail....I am thinking that I need to get one of these for our house :)

My baby is ONE!!!

I can't believe that Makayla is one already! This year has flown by so fast. She is getting quite the personality these days as you can see in the pictures. She fell tonight at the house and hit her face on the fireplace....so, that is what the marks on her face are from. We had a little party for her after church tonight with some friends.

Clemson Football

Friends of ours had four tickets to the Clemson Football game and gave them to us and the Samms. We had such a blast. Thankfully, our seats were in the shade :)

Men's Quartet

All I have to say is that it is good to hear my husband sing in church again.....

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

P.S. Please excuse the camera work -- Madyson was sitting in my lap and got a little antsy

Balloon Fest

This weekend is Balloon Fest here in Anderson. There have been hundreds of hot air balloons in the sky over the past few days. On Thursday morning, a few balloons actually landed in our church parking lot while practicing for one of the events this weekend. Of course the elementary classes HAD to come out to see the excitement. See, there are some benefits to living on the church property....I got to see the ballons, too. Then on Saturday morning, we got up early and went with some friends to watch the balloons compete in a bean bag toss. They drop these bean bag type things from the air and try to hit a target on the ground. It was pretty neat to watch all the balloons come from different locations all over Anderson.

This was what I saw when I stepped out of our apartment on Thursday morning


The K4 and K5 classes were screaming with excitement


We got to see this one actually land


Bryant's class got to come out and see the balloons


This is Mackenzie's first grade class





Coming in for the toss

Midnight Flight

On Friday night, Mike and a friend ran in a 5K race here in Anderson. It was called the Midnight Flight. Of course, we all had to go to cheer him on :) He did a great job and we were all so proud of him. Bryant is already training for the next one. He woke up early this morning so he could run 2 miles with Mike....and he actually made it the whole way :)

Waiting for the race to start



We couldn't find Mike in the sea of runners, but we are SURE that he is in this picture :)


The finish line


I was posed with the camera for several minutes so I wouldn't miss Mike running across the finish line. Well, Madyson and Makayla got into a sucker war and just as I bent down to separate the sticky screamers, Bryant yells, "There goes daddy!" I jumped up and snapped a picture....so I am sure that Mike is in this blurry mess :) The other excitement for the kids was that two runners threw up right in front of us. The workers threw buckets of water on the yuck and we just happened to be standing in the pathway of the watery throwup :) Exciting stuff!


I knew that the kids were going to be up late for the race, so I put them down for a late nap on Friday. I thought they were almost asleep so I went over to the other Prophet's Chamber to take care of Makayla until it was her naptime. When I came back over to put Makayla down for her nap, the picture below is how I found Madyson. I guess she got bored in her bed and decided to try to get the bags and junk off of the coat rack. Do you think the baby sling and K4Truth sash around her neck is a choking hazard? :) That girl sure keeps me hoppin'!