Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Gone Fishin' (Dec 14th)

Today, McKinley & her Daddy went fishing with some of their best buds...Mr Kevin & Ashton. They live next door. They're Auburn fans...but we love them anyway. I think it was a good day for practicing their casting! McKinley came back and told me she threw a big one. Awesome! Maybe one day she'll return saying she "caught" a big one. Then she can tell fish tales with her Daddy. The one thing McKinley has consistently requested Santa bring is a Barbie fishing pole. Aside from my giving birth, it was one of the few times I think I've seen Jay MacBride shed a tear. I thought he might get in the car and drive to Bass Pro on the spot. In any case, he and Santa have been having a time searching the world wide web for the perfect 5' Jr. Barbie fishing pole. I have a feeling one of Santa's elves is working on a custom made edition as we speak. Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas & Go Gators!

You're a Mean One...Mr Grinch (Dec 2nd)

We went to the Downtown Lakeland "Walkabout". There were lights, carolers, and it was COLD!!! McKinley and her best buddy next door, Ashton, got their faces painted...

Thanksgiving circa 2008

Over the river and thru the woods to Grammie's house we go...

We headed up Thanksgiving morning. It was another great visit to God's Country...this one smothered in good food, family, and football. McKinley helped in the kitchen. There was some leaf hunting in the backyard. This was also the First Thanksgiving for Mr & Mrs Johnson. (Aunt Ashley - Jay's sister - was married this past July to Uncle Ryan). The other cute dog in our family, Emmitt, was also in attendance. It was a short trip for me, as I had to work the next day. I headed back to Lakeland that night. Jay stayed on with the girls to watch more football and eat leftovers on Friday. It was a beautiful holiday! Hope there are many more like it!

Meet LaLa...

LaLa is Aunt Lauren's dachsund. She's ummm...roughly 6 months old...I think! She is super cute...so is Aunt Lauren! They're quite the pair. LaLa is a family favorite and she's very tolerant of the girls constantly talking to her, chasing her, McKinley bossing her, Caelyn loving her aka laying on her...etc :) As I read that back to myself, I guess Aunt Lauren and LaLa are almost one in the same!
This was a post Halloween visit where the girls also insisted on a live demonstration of their

costumes!

UF vs Citadel (November 22, 2008)

Sorry...it's been a while. But as you'll see, we've been busy. The weekend before Thanksgiving had us making a practice trip up to God's country. There were a few extra tickets and a willing auntie for the children, so we grabbed our friends Nicki & Bob and headed up for a kidless overnight to watch the Gators win...again! It never gets old! We had an awesome sushi dinner on Friday night at DragonFly. It was an hour plus wait, but so very worth it. We tailgated that morning with Jay's usual suspects. We got to see our friends Jeff & Sam and their daughter Emily...whom I hadn't seen in forever. We had a nice quick trip, left the game a little early, and headed back to see our girls. They had so much fun without us, I think they wished we stayed longer.

Side Note: In the last picture, the 2 people on the left are our friends Stuart & Allie. Although they were not at the time, they are now engaged. Congratulations Stuart & Allie!! They'll be married in October 2009. We're very happy for them!