Trip to meet Baby Will

We were so excited we were about to bust! Ever since last Tuesday when Will was born, Sutherlan asked every day if it was time to go see him. The 3 1/2 hour trip seemed more like 5 hours because she asked every ten minutes..Are we there yet?? We were so excited to meet our new nephew and cousin. We went to Birmingham on Sunday and came home on Monday. I have to say....He is ABSOLUTELY precious!!! I forget what it is like to hold a newborn. It sort of gives you "baby fever", but not quite enough to do it all over again. We can enjoy our nephew/cousin! I hate that we don't live closer because I know he is going to change so much in the next few weeks and months. Thank goodness Aunt B does a GREAT job at updating her blog!!! :) We look forward to seeing all the pictures that I know she will take. I think she said she was on picture 149 or so. Keep them coming!! We love you and miss you already!!!!

Baby Will

Brandon's sister gave birth to William Michael Vakakes on Tuesday, January 13 at 3:30 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. The kids are so excited to have a new baby cousin and we can't wait to see him!!! He is adorable!

Bittersweet Bowl Trip

Dylan and Brandon received a call a couple of weeks ago from Pops with some exciting news. Brandon's Aunt Kay and Uncle Perry had three tickets for them to travel to see Alabama play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Trip=sweet. Final score=bitter.

The Tide just didn't come to play and were outplayed, outcoached, outscored...out-everythinged by the Utah Utes. However, Dylan had an awesome time. He was so excited in the days leading up to the trip. He kept getting on the Internet looking up pictures of the Superdome and it was pretty much all he could talk about. The night before the game he told Brandon that he didn't think he could go to sleep because he was so excited.



Brandon, Dylan and Pops left Friday at noon on Uncle Perry's private airplane and arrived in New Orleans about 5 hours before the game. They went down to the French Quarter and ate lunch at the Acme Oyster Bar before walking over to the stadium. When they got close and could begin getting glimpses of the roof, Dylan's excitement built. See, not only was he going to see Alabama play, but the Superdome is also the home to his favorite NFL team, the Saints.



Outside the stadium there was a lot going on, but they soon headed inside. Dylan was antsy to get a souvenir with some Christmas money he'd saved from EE. He wound up getting a t-shirt commemorating the game. Brandon and Dylan also went down to the edge of the stands to watch warm-ups. He got to see many of the players come out of the lockerroom and just thought that was the coolest. Their seats were great. They sat in the loge section in the corner of the Alabama end zone. Javier Arenas ran the punt return back for a TD right in front of them, which turned out to be about the only highlight for the home team.

After the game the guys headed back to the airport for the ride home. They got back to Birmingham about 2:30 am and Dylan was needless to say exhausted. All in all, though, it was a great memory that he won't soon forget. Thanks Aunt Kay, Uncle Perry and Pops!

Christmas 2008

Preparing for Santa.....

We watched the tracker, we made cupcakes and cookies and we fed the reindeer. We're ready!



Sutherlan had to try out her new cupcake maker. She said she is going to make cupcakes for everyone!



If anyone read our previous post about "Donuts with Santa", Santa gave us Reindeer food to throw out in the front yard so that Santa's Reindeer could find their way. The mix included oats, sunflower seeds and glitter to "light the way".



We made sugar cookies. Yes, they were pre-cut, but the kids iced them and decorated them with sprinkles. I think Santa liked them! He even left us a note.

So, Was it the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER??? I bet the kids would say, YES, YES, YES!!

Christmas at Nana and Papa's

We also went over to Nana and Papa's for Christmas this past weekend. The kids had so much fun seeing everyone! Dylan even said that this was THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!! How are we going to top that????

Christmas at Kiki and Pops' House

We went to Kiki and Pops' house for Christmas this past weekend. We did some arts and crafts while we were there. The kids made some really neat frames and Dylan got to make an Alabama helmet out of clay and paint it.

We headed over to Aunt B's house for dinner on Sunday night. Thanks for having us over! Aunt B had a really good idea to make a gingerbread house with the kids...well, it sounded good anyway. It started out good, but ended with us giving the kids each an end to decorate. It was a sweet thought...I don't think you will be building any gingerbread houses with Baby Will in the future, do you?? Who knew those things were so hard to make!!!



The final product......



We then went back to Kiki's house to get ready for Wentzel (Santa's elf) to come see us at Kiki and Pops' house. We went to bed early and the kids couldn't wait to see what Wentzel brought them.



After a wonderful Christmas breakfast including breakfast casserole, hashbrown casserole and peaches, we opened gifts.



Sutherlan was so excited about the cupcake maker that she got!! She has been consistent throughout Christmas telling Santa that she wanted a cupcake cooker and ice cream maker. Kiki talked to Santa and told him she was getting the cupcake cooker.



Dylan, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled about getting jeans for Christmas as you can tell from the picture, but he so desperately needed them. He only had one pair of jeans left that didn't have a hole in the knee!! But, he ended up being very happy as you can see.....