Halloween 2011

Luke as Woody

Hadley as Jessie

The Culp's: Lyla, Lucy, Brody and Brock

Ava the elephant

Brooklyn as Snow White

Playing with the power wheels

Emma and Sophie as 2 of the 7 dwarfs

Yeah for jumpies

Playing games


Hitching a ride

Seeing cousins: Kate-Cinderella, Nathan: Spider Man

Isaac was Bubba-Phat

Happy Halloween! Ava was able to celebrate with her playgroup friends, school friends and her cousins. We started the evening with a cook out with playgroup friends. We then went on to Burnt Hickory (Ava's school), for the Harvest Festival. While we were there Ava played on the jumpies and played some games. She had a great time seeing her school friends and her cousins Kate, Nathan and Isaac. It was a great way to celebrate Halloween and Ava was the cutest elephant!

ERBC Harvest Festival 2011

Ava: Elephant, Hudson: Pascal, McClellen: Rapunzal

Eating with Brad and Carri

Walking to Trunk or Treat

Ava was not too sure of the firetruck

Ava, Grammy and Mommy

Playing on the Jumpie...Brad was the helper


Shooting the basketball

Playing a game with Daddy

My little elephant

Daddy, Mommy and Ava

On Saturday night we had a great time at the Edwards Road Harvest festival. Ava had fun on the jumpies, playing the games, getting candy at the trunk or treat and eating Chick Fil A with family. Ava is an elephant this year for Halloween and I think she is the cutest elephant, ever...if I may say so!

GWU HOMECOMING 2011

Go GWU bulldogs

Ahhh Decker Dorm...my freshman and sophomore dorm

Student center: Cafe, mailboxes, bookstore

Corie and Abbey back together!!

Sitting on the steps of the Campus center with my family

Christina, Abbey and Corie


Corie holding Ava...full circle picture

Matt and Corie...I think I set them up, back in our GWU days!

Christina and Jeremy

All the kids loved Adam: Jack, Ava and Kensley

Ava and Kensley are the same age and had a fun time playing together

Kids watching the parade: Brycen, Aiden and Bella

Christina and Kristin

GOOOOOOOO Mighty Bulldogs!! On Saturday morning Adam, Ava and I drove up to GWU for homecoming. It was such a great time of reconnecting with old friends and showing Ava around Gardner-Webb. We started the day with a little tour of the campus, pictures in front of my dorm and student center and into the bookstore for some long sleeve t-shirts for Ava and Mommy. We then drove over to our tailgating spot and met up with some great friends, The Weathers, The Sterlings, The Normans and the Espinosas. It was so fun for all of us to be back together...it was like no time had past.

One of the funny, "you know you are old moments" came when Christina and I saw a cheerleader walking in to the stadium. Of course we ahhhed and "you remember when we were cheerleaders together". After a second we looked at each other and said, isn't she cold, she needs some pants on or at least a turtleneck. Do you think she took some Emergen-C so she will not get sick? We then ask...were our skirts that short. One of the guys that went to school with us, said yes ya'lls skirts were just that short! It is amazing that just a mere 13 years ago (wow), we would have been worried about how cute we looked in skirt and then on Saturday we were having a "mom" moment towards the little cheerleader.

Saturday was so fun and a blessing to see great friends and just see how far God has brought each one of us in the years since we have graduated. God has been so faithful to answer the prayers that we prayed together as 18, 19 and 20 year olds. God has truly given me and I think I can speak for the others, far more then we could ever ask or imagine!

Weighing the Consequences!

Ava and I had a funny experience this morning...well now it is funny! After Ava had breakfast we sat at her little table to work on her bear puzzle. She loves it because you can make the bear have a different head, shirt and pants, and switch them all around. She played with the puzzle for a few minutes and then said, "I all done.". I said that is fine, but we have to clean up. Ava looked at me and said no, and then ran off! I went after her and brought her back to the table and told her to clean up again. She again looked at me and said, "No."! Do you sense a pattern?? After the second No, I told her she could either clean up or get a pinch. After reading Dr. Dobson's Dare to Discipline, we give her a very slight pinch on the fatty part of the back of her leg, instead of spanking. When we have spanked Ava she usually laughs and spanks us back. So back to this morning. After I asked Ava if she wanted to clean up or a pinch, she paused for a second, cocked her head and said, "PINCH"!! That is what happened!! She got and pinch and then she cleaned up! It is never a dull moment

Pumpkin 2011

The finished product

So proud of her pumpkin

Waiting on Daddy to carve the pumpkin

Since this previous post told about our adventure in finding a pumpkin, I thought it only fair that I showed the final product!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Ava chilling on the way to the pumpkin patch


Look how tall I am!!


This is the one!

Ava loved feeding the goats

Ava loves her daddy!

Annual Cooler Family picture


She is my heart!

On the hay ride!

Doc and Grammy came in town...yeah!

The tradition continues!! Today we made our annual trek up to Jasper, GA to Yahoo farms. It was a special treat because Doc and Grammy were able to come in town and go with us too. We love Yahoo Farms because it is small and sort of off the beaten path, so it is not too crowded. Today, Ava had fun on the hayride, in the butterfly garden, playing on a jumpy and feeding the goats. Feeding the goats was her favorite and was worth the drive! While we were there we found our pumpkin that will be turned in to our Jack-o-latern this evening. I love making memories and having traditions that Ava will look forward to as she grows up. Thankful for a beautiful day, and amazing family and fun times together...feeling blessed.