Girl's Weekend in Minneapolis, MN

Having never been to the Mall of America I was thrilled to have the chance to shop at the mecca of all malls. May I say it did not disappoint! There were 3 stories, a Lego Land, Aquarium, Roller Coaster, lots of stores and amazing restaurants. I would love to take my boys back so they can enjoy it too.

Anji and I attended the Midwest Pageant Palooza in Minneapolis the first week of February. After living in the south for several months the frigid cold was actually refreshing...go figure! I had a wonderful visit with the Mrs. MN America state directors and my Mrs.America class of 06 sister, Mrs.MN America 06 Holly Ernst.

Time to go for dinner and relax a bit.

It's SNOWING!!!

Not only were the boys happy it was snowing, but I was thrilled! SNOW!! There wasn't much and it melted fairly quickly, but it created a beautiful light blanket of white everywhere. Snow is so magical and pure. Few things can make you feel like a kid the way snow can.

As the snow began to fall our neighborhood actually looked like it was winter.

Our back yard and deck.

Hamming it up for the camera. They were sooo excited to play in the snow!! I think they were more thrilled than the other kids in the area. They look at snow as a part of home and having snow here was special for them.

Trying to catch snowflakes in his mouth. Looking at our yard you can see that the snow wasn't deep, but there was enough to play and make a miniature snowman. I think they had to roll the snowballs around the yard using up all of the snow we had just to have a snowball fight.

Muscle Shoals Recreation-Basketball

Both Bay and Jackson are playing basketball through the Muscle Shoals Rec. Department. They are enjoying it, but still can't wait for baseball to begin. When I get some action shots I will post them.

Bay's team is the Aztecs

Jackson plays for the Cowboys

Magnificent Maya!

Here are some adorable photos of little Maya at 3 months. She is such a beautiful baby! A big thanks to her Mommy and Daddy (aka; Katie and Wes) for the photos.

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere!!

It seems kind of crazy, but this is from late December. The weather was mild and there were lots of leaves everywhere. Back in Illinois this photo would have been appropriate for October, not Decmber.

We had tons of leaves fall in our yard and on the deck. Joe even bought a leaf blower to help with the clean up. That is just part of having all of these gorgeous old trees in our neighborhood.

The guys helping Dad clean up the back yard.

Some cute pics of our nieces

I just wanted to share some of our nieces with you. They are all incredible! Yep, that's right no nephews. We are an equal opportunity family though, so if any of the aunts and uncles would like to add a boy, my guys would think that is pretty cool.

Ryan and Holly's second girl, Ava Leigh, was 1 1/2 years old in this photo. I had the opportunity for a couple of days to watch her while her parents were at work. She LOVES Cheetos!

My gorgeous niece Sydney Lynn with her teacher on her last day of school. This is Ryan and Holly's oldest daughter.

Little Miss Reagan Larie is Jacque and Zac's daughter. She was 2 in this photo. Can you believe those curls, adorable!

My sister Tiffany's little girl Vayda was trying on my heels. She has an amazing hair color and peaches and cream skin. She loves to wear shoes, hats and jewelery. A real girlie girl, YEAH!

Christmas at the Cammon Farm

We also spent some time with the Cammon side of the family during the holidays. Somehow this is the only photo we have. They always celebrate with the family on Christmas Eve so, we missed the Christmas photos. Here Jackson is holding his newest cousin, little miss Ella. She is a perfect mix of both her sisters, Sydney and Ava.

Our Christmas in Illinois

Aunt Jacque sent us this adorable photo of the "3 amigos" and we just love it! Jackson, Reagan and Bay had a great time playing together and opening gifts. Her outfit was too cute. There were matching cupcakes on her shirt and back pockets!

Uncle Joe holding Reagan...he just likes having someone little enough to hold. Of course our clown, Bay is peeking around Dad.

More from Christmas Morning

Jackson, Bay, myself and Riley all enjoying the excitement of Christmas morning.

Jackson was super excited to get his gumball machine that he had been asking for since before we moved. His cousin, Sydney, has one and he just thought it was the coolest thing ever! Above you can see how focused he is on filling it and making sure it is ready to go.

This has proved to be one of Riley's favorite toys. She managed to get the scarf off of the penguin and if I put it back on she immediately tackles the toy and takes it off again.

Christmas dinner with our family in our Alabama home. It has become a tradition to use my Grandma Cammon's dishes, it's like having her there with me.

Christmas Morning at the Rineharts

The boys are leaving the milk and cookies by our REAL fireplace this year.
This was a huge "pile on Dad" on Christmas Eve. We sat out cookies and milk making sure everything was ready for Santa. Jackson even left a card for Santa.
Bay and Jax were super excited and let each other share in opening the Spy Car that was for the both of them. Talk about going through the batteries, wow!
Bay is getting so tall he can easily take down his stocking.

Classroom Christmas Parties!

The classroom Christmas parties in Muscle Shoals is quite a big deal. When I arrived at the school to help with the festivities I had to park at a nearby church. The school parking lot was overflowing. Also a new tradition to us is the treats for the party are almost always breakfast food. We had donoughts, pigs in a blanket, mini breakfast casseroles and Sunny D. Of course I had to post this photo...Bay is the "class clown" you might say.
Here is a shot of Bay with his classroom gift. You might notice it has "Flora Wolves Rule" in orange and blue across the front.
The gift for Jackson's class was personalized scarves. I made the scarves and Emma's grandma donated her time and embroidered scarves with each student's own initials. They were in Red and Black, the colors of our Muscle Shoals Trojans. Jackson is second from the right in the middle row.
Here the students are opening their classroom gifts and goodie bags.

Rinehart Christmas Cards

We always send an updated photo of the boys or our whole family at Christmas time and this year was no exception. Taking the photo this year was kind of surreal. It is unbelievable how quickly the time has passed. I kept thinking of when the boys were 3 and 8 months and I had them wear Santa hats while sitting in a wrapped box in front of the Christmas tree for the Christmas cards that year. This was our first Christmas card photo in our new home in Alabama.