Brett Family Christmas 2008 by Lauren Rhea!

Busy. Busy. Busy. Last year during Christmas the twins slept through most of the gift opening at both of our parents houses but this year was a different story. They were full speed ahead! For weeks it had been "no no" to touch the tree and the presents but all of a sudden it was time. They really didn't understand what was going on but they knew it was a lot of fun! The light finally came on for Caden when we tossed a present in his direction and it made a really cool sound. He had the present open all on his own a few moments after that :)
Caden and Elizabeth would open a present, see what it was, and run off and play. They had a really big Christmas! A lot of money was spent on all the really cool toys (thank you) but one that brought more laughs was a balloon from the dollar store. (Do you remember the big balloons that had the big rubber band that you can bounce the balloon on your hand? That is the one they have had a lot of fun with until they popped.)
They experienced a lot of new things from a cookie swap (yum yum), Christmas Eve service (the first time they sat in a church service and did really well), learning how to ride a sheep rocker (a stuffed one in the living room which they could get moving), a trip to Wild Adventures (a theme park- where there are a lot of rides and animals; they played peek-a-boo- with a giraffe that kept walking into his house and then back out), they saw a live nativity story which included animals, played outside and loved every moment, and loved seeing family and friends. It was a GREAT Christmas and they enjoyed every moment. THANK YOU to all who made it a wonderful Christmas!!!
We are now back home with most of the toys unpacked. Some are still pack up but will soon be rotated out to give them a new surprise. They are talking constantly and a new word comes every day or two. The doctor said they have to be fattened up so they are really enjoying the ice cream and cookies. Well mommy better go and get the house picked up while the little ones are asleep. So good bye for now :)

Serenity's going to kill me....

But I HAD to! Bless her little heart, this is the story of her life.... asleep in the back seat of our car while we travel. She is a road warrior but is the cutest little snoozer I know! She's catchin' flies, isn't she?!
Also, some cute ones of our bad/sweet girl, Allie. She is so cute, but if she keeps eating random stuff at our house, she's gonna be for sale...

Ants in Pants and a Bday Party!

This weekend we had an early 'welcome to your 8th year of life' celebration! Our lil nugget is turning 8! Wow! I cant believe it! Here are some pics of our sweetheart! Check out those cupcakes!! Serenity made those! She wants to be a chef like dad, and she's on the right path! We decorated them later and they were beautiful! She did awesome! :)


Here's just an extra lil something to make you laugh! Ant's in her pants and she needs to dance!!

Dizzy Dizzy Dinosaur

New Years Eve date: Pat Sajak

See?!?! My gorgeous husband donned white pants, country club green blazer, and a gosh awful mustache to be the mc of our church's new years eve party. He played the role to perfection (i think the mustache took over his naturally charming personality!) It was awesome! Our church threw a party for the whole family at the McWane Center (kids science center) here in bham. We rented out the top floor, had a band, spot-on mc, and great food... outside of the 'big kids room' was the little kids room! The Mcwane center provided all these cool, fun games for the kids to play: floor piano, giant lite brite, interactive shadow screens, miniature train exhibit, etc. It was so cool! We all danced the night away and had a wonderful time! We even had a Michael Jackson dance off between our pastor and his oldest son! The son squeezed a victory out, but it was a close call! Husband and a few of his friends did a delightful rendition of 'Ice, Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice! This was by far the most fun new years eve I've ever had! Job well done, Powers! It was one to remember!
The Newlywed Game!!

Dearest Bretts,

We will have your families Christmas pictures and stories posted shortly! Beautiful Amy loaded me up with great pictures (thank you, you sweetest thing!) but I wanted to let Lauren post this one so she could tell stories about your week! We are ready to go, just need the stories to go along side your precious family pictures! Hopefully we will get to that this weekend! Finding quiet time with mom is the hardest job I have! She is full speed ahead all the time! We love your family dearly and miss you so much!

Mr. Gary, I know you are not headed out yet, but before I forget, please email pictures from your mission trip to Nicaragua when you get home. I know everyone would love to see what you guys are doing down there! We have started praying for you and your team and are excited about what you'll accomplish while you are there!

Love ya'll!

The Dinny Rhea's Thanksgiving and Christmas Vacation!

My apologies for the delay in posting The Original Rhea's Thanksgiving and Christmas pictures... I was sans camera for both holidays and had to get some pictures sent to me. Our thanksgiving was awesome! We were minus a husband (who was doing missions in Ecuador) and missed him horribly, also minus Fun Uncle Barry and Doreen (we cant do that again!!) but it was another wonderful smelling, hilarious story tellin', old school picture laughin', good ole' family thanksgiving! I have to say, this is one of my most favorite days of the year! It just doesn't get any better than this... See some pics from our day of thanks below... The parents to be practicing

The annual family photo!


And... most importantly... the INFAMOUS MATTIE SUE!!! No one is family like Mattie Sue... she's increased our waist sizes for, i guess close to 60 years now, and we love every inch of her!!!


On to Christmas day... we spent the Rhea Family Christmas with the Clyde Rhea's and had a wonderful time! The hit of the holiday was no doubt Andy's new cookware... the twins mixed christmas bows in his measuring cup with his new spoon for hours... I dont know why we buy them all these cool, noisy gifts! They were happy little larks with that mixing bowl and seeing how many bows they could stuff in an empty box! We did take lots of pictures though, because Din Din got a new digital photo album for her house... everyone got GREAT new coffee mugs (barry and i love ours!!), new cooking stuff, makeup, clothes, our most generous gift from Din Din... we got it all! The mom and dad to be were doing great and looked great! We are so ready to see that little bambino! He'll be one heck of a story teller with a dad like Josh! Anyway, it was another hilarious Rhea Family holiday that we need to partake in more often! It is always such a good time!

A little lagniappe