Visit with The Hands

I'm a little late posting these....somehow I completely forgot I took these pictures. Anyway, our dear friends Jeremy & Felicia were passing through from Georgia and we were able to meet up with them for a visit. They lived on the Coast at the same time we did and we all went to church together, were in Bible studies together, and then pretty much hung out together almost every weekend. We all moved from the Coast around the same time and have only gotten together 2 other times since we moved. (I know that's sad) So we were sooo excited to be able to visit with them. This was their first time to meet Ella Caroline and we hadn't seen Elizabeth since she was 8 weeks old. Brady & Anna Lee use to play together almost everyday so it was neat to see how much they have grown and how much they have changed. It was also sad to see how much they had forgotten one another. Thanks for taking time to meet up with us Jeremy & Felicia.....we miss you guys and can't wait for our next visit!!


Sweet Anna Lee - My how she has grown!

Little Ms. Elizabeth - no longer a little baby


Brady & Anna Lee - I don't think they remembered each other

Elizabeth & Ella meet for the 1st time

Ella meeting Mr. Jeremy

What is this crazy man doing to my brother?

Boys will be boys!!

Will these men ever grow up???

Like father like sons!!

Chuck E & the Gang

Countown to Disney

Yippie!!! We leave for Disney in 2 weeks and we can't wait!!! Every night Brady & Hudson ask us how many more times do they have to sleep? This is there way of comprehending we leave in 13 days. They are so excited and are talking nonstop about what they are going to ride first. Of course right now instead of getting things in order for our trip we are fighting off yucky colds & viral infections. Ella ran a fever first so we headed to the dr. thinking she had strep - it's going around like crazy here and one of the kiddos in her MMO class tested positive for it last week. Well, thankfully she tested negative and just had some type of viral infection. She was fine within 24 hours. Hudson then woke up Friday morning with a high temp....I decided to hold off on taking him to the dr. b/c I'm sure his was just viral.....siblings just love to share germs, right. Well he continued to run a high fever until Sunday morning, but then woke up Sunday with a yucky cough, congestion, and runny nose. Fevers now gone, but cough & congestion have moved in!! Most of the time that doesn't stop Hudson, but today this poor guy has been pitiful! So back to the dr. we go. She did a flu test, which came back negative....yippie b/c that's going around like wildfire too! She said his sinuses were completely blocked and the fever was probably from a viral infection. He's gotten worse since we came home from the dr. and has started running fever again......please don't let this sinus infection turn into the flu or strep. We're on Vantin for 14 days hoping he will be all cleared up before our trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth"! Let's just pray this does this trick and we stay out of that yucky, germ infested dr. office for awhile!!

Sweet Babies

First, I must tell you that Ella absolutely adores her big brothers.....she just LOVES them! For the most part they adore her as well.......however, there are those occasional moments when they get a little frustrated with her - like when she tries to knock down the star war jedi's they have so neatly lined up. Well, last night this is how I found my babies. They had just gotten out of the bathtub and were watching a little "Super Why" before we started our bedtime routine. Hudson was snuggled up next to Ella, but as soon as I got my camera he moved over and insisted on being photographed by himself - little stinker!! (Sorry, the pictures are a little blurry....I'm still trying to figure out how to use my camera) These babies melt my heart.....I just love them to pieces!!

Saturday Fun

Andy's been out of town since Wednesday and will return on Monday - yippie!!! Anyway, I've been going a little stir crazy in the house the past few days - we had some pretty yucky weather last week and have been stuck indoors. What about Chick-fil-A, Back Yard Burgers, or Gattitown.......great idea, but who wants to load up three kids ages 5, 3, & 18 months and hit the roads??? Sometimes it's just much easier to stay in the comforts of our own home. Other than leaving to pick the kids up from school and a trip to Target with my mom (I don't go too many places alone with all 3 of them) we haven't been out much! Saturday morning came and I was about to go crazy......I had to get out of the house!!! So the kids and I went to watch my niece and nephew play Upwards Basketball. Brady & Hudson love watching them play and even Ella had a good time cheering on her cousins. Afterwards, my niece, Mary Katharine, and my youngest nephew, Jacob, came over to play. The kids had a blast. The weather was great so we headed outside to play. I had a great time just watching them play. They played outside for hours. All that play must have been exhausting because my kids were well asleep by 7:45! Thanks Mary & Jacob for coming to play with us....we had lots of FUN!

Do you see what's missing?

Training wheels!!

Mary Katharine leading the gang

My sweet, sweet May-May!

Hudson....trying to give me his serious pose.

Whee, look at me mom!

Yes, those are cowboy pj's with his boots!!

Did you see how far I threw that?

Jacob just loves Ella.....she just loves to ride!

You can't really tell, but she is just a smiling!

Hold on, Ella!

Don't worry Ella, we'll get you out of this!

Wii are having FUN!!

The title says it all.....and that's why it's been a while since my last posting. Andy got a Wii Nintendo Game system for Christmas and it has been more of a gift for the family than just for him. Our entire family, yes, even Ella, is having a blast! The first 3 nights after Christmas Andy & I were putting the kids to bed early and then staying up until nearly 1:00 am playing this thing. We've played so much that our arms were sore and we had to slack off a little bit....no joke I could barely move my right arm b/c it hurt too bad. We have had so much fun playing with the kids and even playing each other. We even joked about hiring a babysitter and instead of having date night inviting some friends over to play the Wii! If you're unfamiliar with the Wii it's an interactive video game system where you swing the remote to interact with the system. My favorite is bowling.....you actually swing the remote just like you would swing your arm to through the bowling ball. What stinks is that my 5 year old always beats me and gets a strike nearly every time he bowls! Brady has mastered baseball & tennis.....I don't even like to play with him because he beats me soo bad and I even stay up late practicing and still can't seem to even make the game interesting. We've have lots of friends coming over more frequently and Brady even had a spend the night guest (my friend Lisa's little boy, Jake) do you think it might have something to do with the Wii???


Andy testing out Wii Golf

Testing out Baseball

Brady & his friend Jake playing tennis

Brady & Ella doing a little bowling

Look, mom, I bowled better than you!

Christmas at the Cruthirds

Okay, so I know this is a little late, but I'm finally finding just a few minutes to post. We had a wonderful Christmas. It was so nice and relaxing. This is the first time in almost 10 years of marriage that we have not had to rush and be somewhere on Christmas Day. We slept until almost 8:00 and then opened presents with the kids. They were so precious and had a blast. It's so much fun to watch them get excited........what a joy to experience Christmas through the eyes of your children. I wasn't sure how they would react because they never really asked for anything for Christmas - I know it sounds crazy, but we just didn't play up Santa brings you lots of presents.....we tried to keep it simple and stay focused on Why we celebrate Christmas. After we opened our gifts, which took awhile because Santa wrapped EVERYTHING and we tried to open one at a time, Andy made us breakfast and then we spent the rest of the day lounging in our pjs, playing with all of the kids new toys, and snacking on all the "goodies" we had made. We had celebrated Christmas dinner 3 times in the past few days so we skipped the traditional Christmas lunch and I made corn chowder instead.....yummy!! I think we finally got dressed around 3:00 and then headed to the movies to see The Chipmunks.....it's too cute and if you haven't seen it you really should. We then went to my Moms and finished off all of the Christmas dinner leftovers. It was definitely a fun day for us all!


Sunday Church Service


The Cruthirds Family - Christmas 2007


Wow! What's in this Stocking?

Opening Presents



Help me open this, Please!

I think he likes it!

Hudson's favorite - a Saints Helmet


Is this one for me?

Thanks, Daddy, for helping me!

Are there any more presents around here?

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year!