Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg, Fall Program at School and Disney on Ice

November was a busy month but no where near as busy as December is starting off. We went to Disney on Ice for the first time and Alyssa had a ball. She loves the princesses and Minnie and Mickey. Alyssa had her second Fall Program at school. They quoted a verse, sang "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" and "I'm a little Turkey." It was so cute. She did a great job and as normal hammed it up. We went to Gatlinburg this year for Thanksgiving and had a blast. We went to Ober Gatlinburg, shopped and played putt-putt. It was nice to get away for awhile. I hope you and your family are enjoying the season and we wish you a Merry Christmas! Til next time....

Gatlinburg Thanksgiving Trip

Fall Program at Noah's Park

Disney on Ice

Our Little Lady

I finally got Alyssa's three year pictures done about a month ago. My friend Rachel took them for me. We tried from August until October to get them made but it rained every Friday. Finally we were able to get together and the weather was perfect other than it being cold. I thought she did a great job! I can not believe how old she looks. Til next time......

Alyssa's 3 Year Pictures

Alabama vs. S. Carolina and Tennessee

This year Jon and I were able to take Alyssa to her first Alabama game. Our friends Dennis, Tammy and Alaina asked us to go to Homecoming. Alabama played S. Carolina and won. We had such a good time. We tailgated before the game and the girls had a ball. We walked around and let Alyssa see all the floats and experience campus life. Jon and I were able to go the next week to the Tennessee game. We won that game too! It was nice to get away and enjoy a game. We have been to more games this season than any other. Well other than when I was a student there! Til next time...... Oh and ROOOLLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

Alabama Games

October Activities

The month of October was filled with lots of fun for the Chessers. I absolutely love the holiday season. We had a lot of fun things going on. At the first of the month Jon and I took Alyssa to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkin. When I was little my family went together every year to pick out a pumpkin. I wanted our family to have a similar tradition so we went to Hayden again this year. Alyssa got to go on her first school field trip this year. They went to Camp Coleman to the pumpkin patch. They made smores, went on a nature walk and hay ride and got to pick out a pumpkin. It was fun. On the Wednesday before Halloween we had a crazy day! First was Alyssa's school party. They made pumpkins and had Chick-fil-a for lunch. That night we took Noah with us to our Trunk or Treat at church. The kids had a blast! The week of Halloween Alyssa and I carved her pumpkin. That was alot of fun. We toasted the seeds and ate them afterward. Halloween night we went Trick or Treating as usual. Alyssa was not acting like herself and later on we found out why. She was sick with a cold! On Sunday we went to Joey and Kelly's, our SS teachers, and had our class Fall Festival. The kids got to ride a horse, feed ponies, go on a hay ride and roast smores. It was alot of fun. We had a good time and hope you did too! To see all the pics remember to click on older posts at the bottom of the page. Happy Halloween! Until next time........

Pumpkin Patch Family Trip

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip with 3K

3K Halloween Party at Noah's Park

Trunk or Treat at FBC Trussville

Carving the Pumpkin

Halloween Night 2009

Fall Festival w/Sunday School Class

Catching You Up On Our Summer

I know it has been a long time since I have blogged so in this one blog, I am going to catch you up on our summer.

June 21st - Alyssa celebrated her 3rd birthday by having a party at our house. She invited her close friends and we played on the Slip N Slide, swam in the pool, played on the playground and even had a horse shoe game. It was so hot we crammed everyone in our basement to eat and have cake and presents. It was a lot of fun. On Sunday, her actual birthday/Father's Day we had the family over for cake and ice cream in honor of Alyssa and the Dads. It was a lot of fun but a crazy weekend. I made her cake again this year and it was a monkey cake. The overall theme was Curious George.

July 4th - My grandparents came from Arkansas to visit. They decided to wait and come after Alyssa's birthday so we could have time to actually visit. We went to the 4th of July Celebration at Trussville. It was alot of fun and the Fireworks were great!

July 12 - 18th - We decided this year to take Alyssa on a big vacation. We usually just go to the beach, but this year we decided she was old enough to go on a cruise. We went out of Miami and went to Turks and Caicos, Half Moon Cay and Nassau Bahamas. It was Alyssa's first time to fly on a plane or be on a boat. We had a blast and she did suprisingly well. We went to Atlantis and spent the day when we were in Nassau and really enjoyed that. Overall it was a great family vacation!

August 13th - Alyssa went back to school. She started 3K this year. It is so hard to believe she is three. Mrs. Kerri (one of my best friends) is her teacher this year.

Labor Day - We went for our final hoorah for the summer to Destin on Labor Day weekend. We met our friends Dennis and Tammy and their daughter Alaina and Sandra and her son Brent down there. We had a good time, but Alyssa was sick with a sinus infection. We had perfect weather and spent a lot of time on the beach. You will notice I have no beach pictures b/c I never took my camera to the beach. It was my last vacation and yes I was lazy!

Okay so we are now caught up from this summer and I promise I will be better about blogging now that I have time again. To see all the slide shows, be sure to scroll down and click on older posts at the bottom of this page. Til next time.......

Amber

Alyssa's 3rd Birthday Party

4th of July '09

Cruise '09

Alyssa's First Day of School - 3K

Labor Day Beach Trip '09

Sorry I am Behind!!!!

This summer has had our family traveling and enjoying the great weather. I have to be honest and say I have not even thought about the blog. I have been so busy!!! Now that school has started I am ready to get back in the swing of updating the blog. I plan to update and post pics from this summer this week. Stay tuned.....

Easter

It is hard to believe that Easter has already come and gone. Where does the time go. We had a very good Easter, but it was very busy. It started on Thursday when Alyssa's school had an Easter Egg Hunt for their party. On Saturday morning we had our Sunday School party and hunted eggs in the freezing cold. I told Jon that I hoped one Easter of Alyssa's life she could hunt eggs without a coat and hat. After that we went to my parents to eat lunch and hunt eggs yet again in the cold. On Sunday we went to church and then to Jon's parents to hunt eggs. We made the usual family rounds. It was so neat to see Easter through Alyssa's eyes this year. She realized for the first time why we celebrate Easter. She would tell the story that, "the soldiers came to get Jesus and killed him b/c they did not like him. Then they would take him to the cave and leave him there. The next day they went to check on him and he was gone b/c he went to heaven to be with God." It was so sweet to hear her tell the story of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is amazing how innocent it sounds coming from her. I hope you and your families all had a very Happy Easter!!!! He is Risen!!!! Until next time......

Easter Egg Hunting

What a crazy year!!!!!

Where do I begin. Things have been so crazy for us lately. Jon was moved out of his position at work back in February and will now have a pay cut starting May 1st. We have been contemplating me going back to work, but decided to try and wait it out a year and see how the market goes. We are completely blessed that he still has a job so to God be the glory for that!!!!! I had to have a tooth extracted two weeks ago and am having a hard time recovering. I get tired real easy and my pain causes headaches. I am slowly getting better though. A huge praise for us is the fact that my business is picking up. I absolutely love sewing and working on my machine. I have to be careful or I would do it 24-7. Needless to say we are glad February and March are over and are looking forward to the rest of the year. Happy Easter everyone and remember to thank God for all he has done for us including sacrificing his only son for our sins. He is ALIVE!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!! Til next time!!!!

March Snow in Alabama

On March 1st, believe it or not we got snow in Alabama of all places. The Chesser family spent almost all of the month of February sick. We all had that lovely sinus crud that was going around. For three weeks we laid around the house and did nothing. On March 1st we followed our normal Sunday morning routine. We got ready for church and headed out. We had some snow at our house but just a dusting. The roads were clear and our driveway was too! As we started into to Trussville the snow began to fall and pretty steady. We got on to I-59 and right past Deerfoot Parkway the interstate was closed. We finally made it to church and us along with 75 other people (our church has almost 4,000 members) continued with Sunday School. After that we started home and the snow was starting to melt. By the time we got back to our house, the snow was gone in our yard. We went next door to Joe and Sandy's house and made a snowman and played in the snow. My mom said we were so ready to get out of our house that we were the only ones crazy enough to get out in this weather. That is so true!!!! Alyssa had a blast in the snow and loved making a snowman. Needless to say we had a good time. Alyssa is only 2 and a half and has already seen to snow falls in her life. If she keeps this up she will have seen more than me in no time. Good news!!! Chad made it home on February 28th. We joked and said he brought the snow with him from Antartica. We are glad to have him home!!! Til next time!!!!

Snow really happens in Alabama! In March!

Take that Daddy!

What are you doing with that snowball?

Alyssa and Mommy in the snow

Alyssa and Frosty

Helping Daddy build a snowman

Alyssa and her snow ball

Uncle Chad's Coming Home!!!!

I am so excited about my brother coming home from Antartica. He is supposed to be here by the end of next week. We have not seen him since November and we miss him alot. He left Antartica two weeks ago and has been traveling through New Zealand. I was excited to see that the show the Bachelor is in New Zealand this year for his last dates. That way we can get an idea of what it looks like where Chad is. Anyway, we can't wait for him to get home. I will let you know when he gets here!!! Til then.....

The Circus

On Saturday we went to the circus for Alyssa's first trip. It was kind of bitter sweet b/c my brother's birthday was on Friday and when we were little we always went to the circus for his birthday. Since he is in Antartica (yes, I said Antartica) it was hard not having him with us. My parents bought tickets for all of us for part of Alyssa'a Christmas present. She had a blast. She kept telling us to look at everything and giggling. She was so funny. She liked everything but the way the elephants smelled (you will see below). We had a great time. I talked to Chad today and he will be home sometime at the end of the month so we are looking forward to that! Especially Alyssa. She tells him she misses him every time they talk. I know he won't admit it but one time I think he got choked up. I hope everyone is well. Have a good Valentine's Day!!!! Til next time!!!!!

This guy was right above our heads!

Lions and TIGERS and Bears oh my!

What Alyssa thought about the elephants aroma

Elephants showing off

Mom, Dad and Alyssa at the Circus

Alyssa excited about the elephants

The Elephant March

Alyssa helping Granny blow out her candles

Granny's Birthday

My mother-in-law's birthday was Sunday so we had the whole Chesser crew to our house for dinner. (When I say crew I mean 10 and that's alot compared to my family of 4) I was nervous because Jon insisted on cooking a pork tenderloin a new way. I told him the cardinal rule is never cook something for the first time at a dinner party. Anyway, we had the tenderloin, mac & cheese (which was also a new recipe), mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. My sister in law Traci made the cake. Everything turned out very well. I was relieved. We had a good time and enjoyed catching up. Thanks for the mac and cheese recipe Kerri. It was delicious!!! Happy Birthday Granny!!!

Happy Birthday Granny!

Alyssa and Joe

Alyssa and Landon

Aunt Traci Reading Me Fanny and Blue

There it goes!!!!

First Time Bowling

Last weekend we went bowling with our friends Eddie, Dedra, Noah and baby Caleb. Alyssa had a great time. They have a rack for kids that helps them keep the ball in the center so it will hit the pins. This way adults can play too without bumpers. It was so much fun. Alyssa and Noah were so cute. She was his cheerleader. Every time he did good she would say Good Job Noah! We had the best time. This weekend we have the circus so stay tuned for updates on that!

This is Fun huh Noah!

I can do it Myself!

Here's the Ball Noah

Alyssa and Daddy Bowling