Fort Bragg and Santa

This weekend we took a trip down to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to welcome home a friend returning from Afghanistan. We are so grateful to him and all the men and women who serve and work to protect us and our freedoms. Offer a handshake, buy a drink at the airport or just say thank you to the next service man or woman you see.


Ash and Jerome with a little more hair than the last time we saw him...ok, A LOT more hair!


Auntie Boo and Mary-Michael.


We had to make a trip to the Harley-Davidson store upon Jerome's return. As you can tell by the smile on Geoff's face, he was dragged there...


Our sweet girl with a sweet smile.

After our visit to Fort Bragg, we had a little downtime at home and then we spent Sunday at church and followed this with our annual Thanksgiving dinner at my mom and stepdad's house. We gathered everyone at Bass Pro Shop first for a visit and photo session with jolly old Saint Nick. Though we waited for almost 2 hours, all 6 grandkids did remarkably well, and we even got a few good pictures.


Me, M&M and Cousin Layne on the ATV.


Grandad helping M&M take her first ride on a 4-wheeler.


M&M and her first visit with Santa. We had no tears, which was amazing considering she hadn't had a nap in over 6 hours by the time it was our turn.


The fam!


All the grandkids tear-free with Santa!