Where Has the Time Gone?

It was brought to my attention this past weekend that I have been slacking in the posting department.  So I thought that I would update everyone on my life - it's not that exciting.

Thanksgiving was spend alone on my couch trying to get rid of an allergy attack.  Mom and Dad had the opportunity to go to Spain for a business trip for Dad (and sightseeing for both) and it just happened to fall over the Thanksgiving Holiday (cause Spaniards don't celebrate Thanksgiving).  So I stayed in Gainesville and was blessed with a cough, sore throat, and no voice for a few days.  I was able to Skype with Mom and Dad and with Tiffany and the kids.  I did manage to make myself go to my friend Maranda's house on Thursday so that I could enjoy some traditional Thanksgiving food and we even did some Black Friday on Thursday shopping.  We were home by 11:30 PM and bed before midnight :)

I went home the weekend after Thanksgiving to have the Southwell Thanksgiving, cause Mom and I just couldn't stand not having our traditional foods.  It was a nice time, but some how I failed to take any pictures of us all together.

December brought the end of my fourth to last class of my Bachelor Degree along with birthday and Christmas.  I was able to take a week and a half off of work (and life) and go home from December 14-26. We had everyone over to Mom and Dad's house for my birthday dinner (which for me is the best birthday present ever!) and then on Monday, December 17, Mom, Dad, and I took off to Charlotte, NC to visit my grandparents.  We spent a few days up there and came back through GA in order to get some apples.  It was a whirlwind of a trip, but good to be able to visit with the grandparents for a few days.

Christmas was very low key for us this year.  We all gathered at Mom and Dad's house for Christmas Eve.  We had dinner, went to church, then came back for presents, cake and ambrosia (a Southwell tradition).  The kids loved their presents from Grammy and Papa and the hooded towels that Aunt Robin made were hardly looked at (although, I've been told that they are a BIG hit now :) - hopefully I can get some pictures soon and update).  After spending 12 days with my family, it was time to go back to Gainesville and return to work.  Jay almost broke my heart when he asked "Do you have to go back to Gainesville?".  He had such a sad look on his face and that is why it is SO HARD to leave them each time!

Front view of 2 of the
towels

Back view of names

In January Miss Adalynn was baptized and we were all there for the blessed event.  It's always an adventure when you get the 11 Southwells together and even more so when we add two Brownings into the mix.  Let's just say that after two restaurants and an hour and a half we decided to go back to Steven and Tiffany's house and grab some sandwiches.  The kids did great considering it was well past their nap time before we even started getting their lunch together!

I've been home a lot over the last few  months and have no pictures to show for it :(.  I will be going home for my final Spring Break in March and will definitely be taking pictures.  I have special things planned for the three older children.  We should have some fun!!

What's coming up?  Three birthdays in three weeks!  Our birthday season begins soon.  Mom will be coming up to Gainesville for her birthday and I have some fun things planned for us.  Then the kids' birthdays come in March/April.  I've been informed that the two oldest will not be having a party as they are going to Disney for the first time for their birthdays, but the little monkey should be having a party near his birthday at the end of March.  I, of course, will make sure to take our annual birthday pictures and post them.

Hope that it's not 4 months before I''m back on here, but with finishing up my degree (which will be completed December of THIS year!!!), working, and spending as much time as I can with those adorable children I call mine - I just haven't made this a priority. . . Sorry :)

Oba and Her Kids

A few weeks ago, I asked a family/church friend of ours to do a photo shoot of me with the kids.  We took over 300 pictures and had a blast.  Here are the best of the mass of photos.

Me and Ethan

Me and all the kids

Me and Adalynn

Me and Jay in his pumpkin patch

Me and Lily

I had so much fun and am definitely going to have to do this every year with the kids (no matter how many there end up being)!

She's Here!!!!

I reported back in June that we were adding to the family (see photo below) and I found out last night that she has arrived!  I don't have a name yet, but she is 8 lbs., 9 oz., and 20 in. long.  Her birth date is 10-11-12!!!  How neat!!  Can't wait to get to meet her and spoil her just like the other three kids! :)

Sonogram of Baby #3

Our newest little angel!

I've been a little crafty

So I've gotten out the ol' paints and stencils (no I did not do this free-hand) and have created some really cute (if I do say so myself) shirts for some special kids.  Can't wait to see the shirts on the kids!!!

Kids at the park

While I was home for Mom and Dad's anniversary, I was able to spend a good part of a day with Mom and the kids.  We took them to a small park in town and they had a blast!!!  Here are just a few pictures :)

Boo!

Sliding is my favorite!

I can swing too!

Ready, set, GO!

Monkey boy!

Maybe I'll slide

L-bug likes to jump with Grammy

Hi, can you see J-man?

Wee!!!

I like to hang too!

Maybe no sliding,
Good-bye

We all had fun and almost all of us took a nap after this (well, after lunch at Pizza Hut)!!!

The BIG 4-0

No, I'm not getting ready for my 40th birthday (cause that's still YEARS away!!!), I'm talking about my parents celebrating their 40th anniversary.  I asked my mom several months ago what she and Dad wanted to celebrate their anniversary.  (I felt that this was something important to celebrate, especially with the divorce rate in the world today.)  Mom said that she wanted dinner with just the immediate family.

So on June 16, 2012, the 10 1/2 of us got together (figure that one out) for a nice dinner of steak, baked potatoes, and salad and a special dessert of banana pudding (one of Daddy's favorites).  I couldn't have done it without the help from my brothers and sisters-in-law!!!

Back in November or December, I started thinking of something special I could do for Mom and Dad for this milestone.  I finally settled on creating a new wedding album for them.  Their original one was falling apart and I wanted the pictures that they had from their wedding to be preserved for generations to come.  So, I stole their album and put the pictures into a scrapbook, then I found some pictures that my grandfather (mom's dad) took at the rehearsal, wedding, and reception and I decided that I could have some fun with those pictures and scrapbook them! :)

Mom loved the album.  I'm sure that Dad loved it too, but he doesn't really speak of things like that.  The kids loved looking through it too.  It was a little more special since we had the unity candle that Mom and Dad lit at their wedding on the table and pictures of it in the album.

We also took the opportunity to take a new family photo (probably the last one with just 10!).  We had a wonderful evening and it was so great to spend this special day with not just my parents, but with the rest of my family.  They mean so much to me and I can't wait to spend more time with them.  I pray that one day I find someone that I will spend 40 years with!

Take one

Take two

Do you see the 1/2 I was talking about earlier?  We had to take two shots because with three small children and seven adults, you can't get a good shot in just one attempt (and sometimes not even in two).

Jay helping open the present

Still opening

Looking at the book

Happy Birthday Granddaddy, Family time, and a trip North

My mom's family got together during the Mother's Day weekend to celebrate my granddaddy's 90th birthday!  We had 26 of the 35 members of our family together!  The most that we've had all in one place in quite a while.  It was too bad that Josh couldn't be there or we would have had all of Granddaddy's daughters and grandchildren present.

The birthday boy ;)

Blowing out the candles

Almost the entire family

The Sisters

The original Galloway clan

My mom's youngest sister, Jeannie, has always been the fun aunt (not that my other aunts aren't fun, but since she didn't have any children of her own, we all kind of adopted her :)) and for some reason, all of the nieces have been called "Jeannie" while Jeannie gets called all of the names of her nieces.  So we decided that we needed to take a picture of "The Jeannies".

The Jeannies

The smallest of the next generation had fun playing together both during the party and then on Saturday night while the rest of us enjoyed the manager's reception (with free drinks) and dinner all together (we left the grandparents home so they could rest).  It was so neat to see the kids all play together and have fun. These pictures aren't the best, but it's the best you get when you have two two-year olds and one four year old running around :)

Jay and Lily posing themselves :)

Lily smiling, but already thinking
of where she's going next

Jay turned around just as a snapped
the picture

Just before we had dinner, Steven joined our cousin Richard at the bar and they were watching some racing on the T.V.  Well, Mr. Jay just loves racing and so he decided to join Daddy at the bar.  It was just too cute not to snap a few pictures of :)

Like Father, Like Son

We managed to get Jay's attention

After our weekend in Charlotte, Mom, Dad, and I went to Ohio to retrieve their Hi-Lo camper that was being repaired.  Since the repair shop was within two hours of Lake Erie, I convinced Dad to go there first (also, we weren't going to be able to get the camper until Monday, so what was the rush).  So we spent Mother's Day in the truck with a brief stop at Lake Erie.

Not the best picture, but it's a light
house in Lake Erie

A look of Cleveland across a bit of
Lake Erie

Happy Mother's Day at Lake Erie

a self portrait with a Lake Erie
background

Our trip was a total of five days (Friday - Tuesday) and we went through a total of nine states (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, then back through Georgia and Florida).  I was able to see the Ohio River for the first time and enjoyed the beautifulness of The Great Smoky Mountains!  It was a fun trip, but I was never so ready to be back in my apartment and out of a truck :)

The Great Ohio River
outside of Cincinnati

The Smoky Mountains - can't really
see it but there is smoke coming
off the mountain

We're talking about another trip to Charlotte for Fourth of July (since we didn't really get to spend much time with the grandparents), but first I have a trip to Tampa and Busch Gardens coming up next weekend.  Then in June I will be celebrating my parents' 40th Anniversary and the birth of my best friend, Christy's, baby girl!!!  So I'm sure that there will be more stories and photos to come!!