Christmas with the Brady Bunch

This year in New Jersey Christmas did not bring snow......it brought Bohannons!! The Lubbock Bohannons, aka Nana and Papa, and the Brady Bohannons, aka Brandon, Kelly, Keats and Kemper, all joined us for a wonderful holiday time.

The boys didn't waste any time getting out toys and making noise!! Keats told Kelly, "I know what Aunt Marcy is going to do when she sees me. She is going to hug me, then tickle me." He was right!!!! And he came to NJ without his 2 front teeth!

These 4 had the best time....I am so glad they got to see each other. Time with cousins is priceless.

Reading with Nana :)

We spent most of our time talking, chilling and eating! One requirement was a take-out order from Sultan Wok....our favorite Chinese place. B and K don't have any good Asian places in Brady. They didn't have to ask Chris twice!!!!

Reading in Aunt Marcy's bed!! Sweet memories :)

Reading some more!

Kemper has a bathtub radar. If he hears it running, he's half-naked and jumping right in! Aren't they just absolutely adorable?!?!?

The weather was a little chilly for the kids to play outside, so we took them to Chuck E Cheese's one day to expend some energy....worked like a charm!


And one of the most fun and adventurous days we had was the trip into NYC.

My boys! Except for the big one in the back making the weird face ;)

Keats and Kemper's first subway ride!

After the subway ride, we waded through a mass of people on 5th ave, shuffled around the skating rink and found a place to squeeze in a few pictures. It was mayhem and chaos. I have never been in such a crowd in the NYC before. I cannot believe we ALL survived!!


We literally had only a couple of minutes to snap a pic of the kids and the tree before the crowd swept us away. This one turned out really well!! We even got one of the angels in the pic!

Nana wanted to look at store windows, but we realized we were quickly running out of time before Chris had to be at the theater. We ran across the street to Saks 5th ave and looked at their window displays.....it did the trick!! This is the kids infront of the window with all the storybook characters.

We had a quick bite to eat at B and K's favorite place, The Stage Deli.

And we made it around the corner to the theater in time to snap some more pics with Chris.

The lights behind us are from Times Square.

On stage after the show....the whole gang! We had the best time in the city.....it was a huge success. The only thing looming over us was that the Brady Bohannons had to leave the next day :(

So after BK3 went home, we had a few days to hang with Nana and Papa before school started back. We pretty much just lazed around the apartment and ate lots of yummy food! On Chris's day off we went to Mercer County park and walked around for a little bit. It was a little chilly, but lots of fun.

We discovered this sign inside the "grandparents grove". It says, "No cowboy was ever faster on the draw that a grandparent pulling a baby picture out of a wallet." Sooooooo appropriate!

We took a walk out to the gazebo on the water. (This was the same gazebo covered by the lake during the hurricane).

As always we had a fabulous time with everyone. And it was too short. Always is. We are thankful that they all made the sacrifices necessary to come see us. Now it's our turn. See you in February!!!!!

Seasonal Meltdown

I need a good laugh. I am tired and overwhelmed with Christmas and I hate that. I want to enjoy this season because it's one of my favorites, but I am working and cleaning and cooking and taking care of kids and trying to find time (and money) to buy overpriced gifts for our children. So, these pictures make me laugh and forget about being overwhelmed.

The first.........Chris's idea of what I look like. He said, "Come on guys! Let's go to the library!!" Is this his way of calling me a dork? Probably.

The second......Jordan wanted Chris to "look like her". Don't miss the detail in this picture: the headband, the feather, the violin, peace sign bracelet on his left wrist, AND the purple glasses. He is also looking over the glasses the same way Jordan ALWAYS does.

Funny ;)

Long Weekend

Since Hurricane Irene ruined Dad and Debbie's trip to see us this summer, they came to visit this past weekend. It was perfect because the kids had Thursday and Friday off, so we spent 3 days enjoying NJ and NY with grandparents!

No trip to see us is complete without a visit to one of our favorite places.....yes, Terhune Orchards! I know you have seen tons of pics from the farm, but here are some more!!!

And guess who we ran into?! Our neighbors, the Storinos!!




Everyone fed the goats!!! Dee Dee acted like she thought it was gross, but she really actually loved it!
We also squeezed in some antique shopping, a trip to HomeGoods (Debbie doesn't have one) and the Carter's store for stuff for the other grandkids.

On Friday we ate lunch with Chris at the mall, Dee Dee took Jordan to Justice to buy her a new shirt, and then we headed to Liberty State Park so we could ride the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

The story behind Ellis Island is really interesting. I can't imagine the crowds those people had to endure, not to mention the waiting.


Unfortunately, we arrived after 2pm so we didn't have time to get off at both stops. We did get to ride around Ellis Island, but we will just have to make sure and go next time.

Look at the skyline of Manhattan....I just love it.

When we got off to see Lady Liberty, it was REALLY chilly and windy. We walked really quickly around the island, a very nice tourist took our picture for us and then we got back on the ferry!

I think the best view of the statue is on the ferry ride back. It was dusk when we left, so her torch and crown were already lit up. It was a neat sight.....

Looky there....another fab view of Manhattan. And the Empire State building was red, white and blue for Veteran's Day.

Saturday was our NYC day. We took the train in to shop on 5th Ave for a while and then..........

we went to the Broadway Theater to see Sister Act!!!!!!!!!

The gang with Chris after the show........those are two huge Mary statues that they use during the show.

My 3 favorite people!

Standing on a Broadway stage......priceless. We had such a wonderful time. Thank you GD and DD for treating us this weekend, we really, really enjoyed every bit of it!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween 2011

Here we are!! One Spidy, one Christine Daae from the Masquerade scene in Phantom, one Hermione Granger (aka Harry Potter's best friend) and one pirate. A Motely Crue if I have ever seen one......

This is a better pic of my costume. Didn't pay a cent for it. All stuff I had here, including my TTU graduation robe. And yes, I know Gryffindor's colors are not maroon and navy but Chris didn't have a tie with maroon and gold.

Jordan was very creative with her costume. We found a black cape, mask and red gloves at Target and she put all of that with one of her dresses and my high heeled black boots. She was gorgeous :) We threw together Chris's pirate costume together in literally 10 minutes. We used a bandana and Tshirt we already had plus a skull necklace that Jordan won at her Halloween party. And Jaron was dying for Daddy to use a stuffed owl on his shoulder as a parrot. He just didn't understand that it doesn't have the same effect!

And here is........well......some kind of jack-o-lantern that would only be found in the house of the Bohannons. Split it down the center and you will be able to tell that it is Spidy on the left side and regular jack on the right with a Double T on it's cheek AND black paint under it's eye so it can play football. Seriously. You don't want to know what we had to endure to get this done. I was one fuse away from just chunking the thing out the window!!!!!!!

Good News!

After four years, $300+, countless hours studying, researching, making copies and LOTS of time sitting around WAITING, I finally received my New Jersey teacher certificate in the mail today!! I cannot explain the excitement knowing all that time and money paid off!!!!! Now all I have to do is get me a full-time job! But here's the thing.....if the Lord was able to help me pass the Praxis test I had to take, He can help me find a job :)

And the best part........NO expiration date! It's a lifetime cert!!!! I am so proud of myself, truly.


P.S. Halloween pics are coming....I just had to share this first!!