'Twas the Night Before (MS) Christmas

It's Christmas Eve in Mississippi. How do we know? Well, the reindeer food has been sprinkled on the lawn, the stocking are hung by the chimney with care, and cookies and milk await Santa. It's worked in the past; will it work again this year? Only time will tell...


A special family night out...dinner at the Beau Rivage.


Magic reindeer food sparkles on the lawn to shows the way.


Santa's favorites, and Haley and Jenna's, too...Aunt Eva's butter drop cookies with milk.

Polar Express and Holiday Tea

Haley and Jenna invited friends over for a girls-only Christmas party. They made the invitation and planned the activities. There were snacks, games, crafts, and even photos with "Santa."

Christmas on the Water

A lighted boat parade, fireworks, playing in the sand, and a bonfire with GIANT marshmallows...how can we not love Christmas on the Gulf?

Santa Claus is coming to town....but not tonight!

The girls were excited to go downtown to the town tree-lighting and meet with Santa. They were writing their Christmas letters when the fire truck arrived. A bearded man clad in red stepped off and made his way to the gazebo. My girls glanced up, flatly stated, "That's a bologna Santa," and went back to their letters. They can tell the real Santa (he usually makes it to this annual event) from a fake. The letters, they know, will get to the North Pole. As for the fake Santa, they had no interest in waiting in a long line to see him. They did enjoy the carols, cookies, and running around on the town green. And like I said, those letters will get to the big man, so they are not worried in the least.

Reading Fair

Congratulations, Haley and Jenna, on a job well done. Your Reading Fair projects are FABULOUS!


Jenna had fun painting and glittering Harold at the North Pole.


Haley's silver dragon flew out of the novel Dragon Rider.

Oh, Christmas tree...

The girls were excited to go shopping for a Christmas tree. How about this one? Over here, dad! I think this one is better...Poor dad got tired of picking them up and shaking them out for us girls to take a look and decided which one was just right. In the end, we got the perfect one!


Jenna was a pro at decorating...she found just the right spot for each ornament. She made sure to dress for the occasion; she just loves a party!




Haley really enjoyed rediscovering her ornaments from previous years...Pooh Bear, Care Bears, a delicate little fairy...and knew who should hang up the the monkeys (Jenna!) and soccer Santas (dad!).

Happy Thanksgiving!

The grown-up's table in the dining room. Doesn't that turkey look delicious? Henry did his own frying in the backyard this year, and, yum, it was good!



The kiddie table in the kitchen. The cousins love the kids-only dining, followed by lots of playing, running, chasing, swinging...



The whole Nguyen family. With 17 people, it's not often we are all together. HAPPPY THANKSGIVING!

Gramdma and Pop-Pop's Visit

We were all so excited to have Grandma and Pop-Pop come to visit. The weekend was very busy with dinner out at a favorite restaurant, The Peter Anderson Festival, and the grand opening of the Ohr Museum. And of course, lots of visiting and playing!



Grandma and Pop-Pop joined us in celebrating the girls' outstanding report cards...with dinner at the Beau Rivage.


Haley

Jenna

The Peter Anderson Festival featured lots of beautiful artwork. The most fun, though, was found at St. Alphonsus. The girls had a blast menuvering the kid-sized hampster balls.

A Hauntingly Fun Time

A wizard, a witch, a cat, and a bat head out to a friend's annual Halloween party.


My pretty black cat and her jack-o-lantern. She did it all herself!


My little bat loved flapping her wings (thanks, dad, for making them!) and proudly carved her own pumpkin this year.


Ready to trick-or-treat! Even Elephanto is dressed up...as a ghost! BOO!


Haley made a little something to decortate the front door. Don't you just love it?!

Corn Maze

Jenna had such a great time on a class trip last year, that she just had to take the whole family this year to Seward Farms. We had a picture-perfect day for the corn maze, and all of the other activities. The jumping pillow, hayride, cow train, corn cannon, and playground were all so much fun! The kids even got to feed some animals and enjoy an ice cream when we all got too hot and tired from all the excitement. Yee-Ha!

Porch Party

Swept the porch, put out some chairs, and invited the neighbors. Added in a pot-luck of yummy finger foods, laughing playing children, and socializing adults. What did we get get? A PORCH PARTY!

Zonta Festival

We had a beautiful day for the Zonta Festival. The girls were a big help running our yearly craft both, and boy, were we busy! We had more kids than ever. This years craft? Sand art pictures!

a little more of that summertime feeling...

What a beautiful weekend to go to the beach! Pensacola was sunny and warm with a gentle breeze, just perfect for enjoying the blue-green water and fine white sand. The waters were calm, so the girls did not get to boogie board as much as they would have liked. But that made it easy to search for critters under the surf. Haley found a jelly and some hermit crabs, not to mention lots of lovely shells. There were mermaids on the beach, too. Some are related to us, and the others swam down to the Gulf for the weekend with their family. How great to have friends vacationing in the same spot. The kids had fun playing together and we grown-ups had a chance to catch up. If only that summertime feeling could last forever. At least we recaptured it for a few more days!

My beautiful girls

Seven!

Jenna was so excited to be turning seven. She had a fabulous day! It was her first day of Connections class, she brought cupcakes to share with her class at lunchtime, and she had her party on her actual birthday! She invited her two closest friends and lots of family to the pool. We had dinner and cake pool-side and had lots of fun swimming and playing games in the pool. She even planned a joint birthday party with dad...we went to the Beau for dinner Saturday night. Happy Birthday, Jenna...may the fun and special times last all year long!

Happy Birthday to Dad!

It's back to school time!

Phew...we made it to the bus stop on time! Guess the first-day excitement helped the kids get up and moving early this morning! Both girls really like the teachers they got and can't wait to see what the year has in store. I can't believe they are in 2nd and 4th grade this year!

Dancing Queens

Haley and I were invited by friends to an ABBA show. The girls were so excited to be having a big night out together. They had a great time singing along and dancing to the music.

Grandmaland

It wouldn't be summer vacation without a trip to Grandmaland. The girls love visting with their grandparents and playing with the cousins.

From Tomato to Water Dance

Turning nine does have it's priveledges, like getting to paint your room! Haley's room has a whole new feel now that we painted over her deep pink "Tomato" walls with a cool blue called "Water Dance."

Before...



During...everyone helped paint, so the job went by quickly.



...and after. Rearranging the furniture really opened up the room.



There is even a cozy reading nook in the corner now!

Turning nine is so devine!

Haley had so much fun planning her party, from choosing games, music, and party favors, to making her own decorations. She did most of the pinata herself!



It's so exciting to have a birthday, and even more so having friends come over to share in the fun.



We hope your birthday wish comes true!



It was a fun night of games and laughs with a great group of friends.

Penang, Malaysia

Singapore

Vietnam

One little, two little, three little Indians...in a Town Play

Henry hung up the tux from Saturday night, and doned a loincloth instead. He played the Indian Chief in the town's annual reenactment of the Landing of D'Iberville. Haley and Jenna joined in the fun, running with bare feet and braided hair around the Indian village set up on the local beach. The chief was at first supspicious of the Frenchmen coming ashore, but then offered them the peace pipe. It was a beautiful day, and our little Indian family did an awesome job preserving a bit of local history.

Here is the link to the report shown on the local news:

Lieutenant Governor joins Ocean Springs to celebrate history

A Night at the Ball

When you recieve an engraved invitation from the Queen, of course you are going to the ball! Henry and I really enjoyed our grown-ups-only evening of socializing and dancing the night away.


Henry and I at the Ball.



"Party favors" to share with Haley and Jenna.

Bunkbeds!

Want to know how to turn a routine school night into a wild, fun time? Have dad show up in a pick-up truck loaded with bunkbeds! Of course,they were set up and slept in that very same night. Who says there are no sister-sleep-overs on week nights?

Yeah, pool!

So happy it's swimming season again....we just love being at the pool!