Kerce Family Fun Day

Al has been working out of town a lot lately (we're thankful he has a job) so we haven't had a lot of time for "family fun". This past Saturday we decided we would take the girls to the Okefenokee Swamp to fish, look at alligators and just spend time together. So, as always, there's a story...

This is at the entrance of the swamp in Fargo, GA. It's probably about 45 min from our house.

We got to the swamp around 2:00p.m. and were legal with fishing licenses and had the boat rented and ready to go by about 3:00p.m. These are our fearless navigators, even though it took Leah a bit to warm up to the idea because her Pa had her scared to death from his "swamp stories" from when he was younger. She just knew an alligator was going to try to tip our boat over.


Ashlyn and Molly were busy trying to soak up some sunshine (with sunscreen of course).

Leah driving with her sugar daddy in hand. What's fishing without snacks???

Down one of the swamp paths on our way to explore and fish before we broke down...

Being towed back in by a nice couple from Jacksonville. The story goes, we had been on the water for about 30min when the motor just stopped without any warning. Luckily we were in the shade, so we sat and fished for a while with no luck and Al worked on the motor without success. Al said it was the Kerce curse. Several people passed by and offered to help, but we thought if we sat long enough the motor would start back up. Not so...What you can't see in the pictures are all the fishing poles that Al brought along. I think I counted 16 (there were 5 of us), and the rope we used to haul us in several miles was made up of our lifejackets that broke once on the trip back, and I didn't catch how narrow some of the spots were we had to get through cypress trees being pulled behind another boat. I didn't have all of Al's poles tucked in the boat either, so they almost broke one time when we hit a tree. Also, the couple pulling us in were there with their family and when we came around a corner too quickly they rammed their family with their boat for a small pile up. Luckily no one ended up going overboard and we made it back to the dock safely.

This alligator was hanging out at the docks. It really wasn't afraid when you got close to it.

All in all we had a good time. We got our money back for the boat rental, and the lady at the counter told us they needed a new mechanic because he had been working on our boat all morning and said it worked fine....

One day soon we'll go back and try again. Hopefully we can get a little farther and we know what questions to ask before we head out again. The one bright spot after all this time was on the way home. We went a little out of the way to St. George to the Shack by the Track for some yummy barbeque. The ribs were AMAZING!! We'll have to enjoy that more often too.

To offset the bad day fishing, Al took us out to our pond that is only 5 minutes from our house. Here's an example of one of the biggest fish we caught. We were trying to use up the crickets and worms we bought for the trip.

Al decided he was tired of always baiting hooks, so he gave each girl a complimentary bait, then they had to do it themselves. Here's Molly with a cricket.

And Leah attempting to catch a cricket. Needless to say, she didn't fish long and no sympathy from dad.

Lucy and Dade got in on the fun to. They were more than willing to check everything out.

Princess Tattletale

If you have more than one child you understand how you love all your kids the same, but they each have such different personalities and quirks making them unique. Around our house our kids end up with nicknames that Al gives them. They change from time to time according to what's going on. For example, Ashlyn tends to be our outgoing and busy child, so Al named her "Road dog" because she stays on the go all the time. (who knows what that means) Molly is quiet and tends to be nosy, so he named her "Sneaky Pete" (which she HATES!) I have to admit, I came up with that name one night and Al loved it so much she's been stuck with it. She probably got that trait from me. We tend to hang back and take it all in, but we know what's going on with everyone. Leah was tagged with "Sharkbait" when Nemo came out and she watched it all the time, but she wasn't crazy about that name so she requested she be called "Princess" so her dad willingly complied. From time to time we change the "Princess" title to include other names. Like when Leah spent the night with a friend and I later found out that she called someone a choice word, then her friend repeated it. This helped her get the name "Princess Potty Mouth" (between Al and I of course). So, this past weekend Al and I both had to work. The girls stayed with my mom, and I always give strict instructions about how they should be on their best behavior while they are there, and they ARE NOT to call me at work to tell on each other. Everything seemed to have gone great, until I was getting ready for bed Sunday night and Leah brought me the following list of things Molly did, earning her the name "Princess Tattletale" for at least this week....





I especially like #6. (Click on the list to see it better) She couldn't decide how to spell snatched, so she opted for 'grabbed the channler' (her word for remote). Obviously she knows how to get around the rules for 'no tattling'. I guess I'll have to add to my list of instructions the rule of 'no tattletale lists'. I could always opt for the punishment my mom used to give out when we were little. If you tattled, you got a yellow 'tail' pinned to your back with a diaper pin that said, "I'm a tattletale." Then, if you dared to tattle again, she had another one that she pinned on the end of that saying, "again and again." Funny how it all comes back around, isn't it?

Grand Champions!!

This past Saturday we traveled to the Jacksonville Veteran's Memorial Arena to watch Ashlyn in her first competition this year. The BCHS Wildcats did not disappoint.


The team behind Ashlyn and her team

Molly, Callie, Karli, Camryn, Leah and Chey

The name of the competition

Ryan, the choreographer of the stunts, waiting for the team to start

Ashlyn's favorite - Heel Stretch

Pyramid

Kick-Double

Dedra, Ashlyn, Jena, Chelsey, Taytum, Rachel, and Katie

Ashlyn and Brooklyn

Ashlyn and Coach Dedra

Ashlyn and the other girls from the BCHS Competition team walked away with the title of Grand Champions. There was only one team that they competed directly against, Fleming Island High School, but their score was the highest out of all 8 school teams that competed in the Jamfest Competition. What a way to start the competition season! Their next scheduled competition is scheduled for March in Tallahassee. Hopefully they can keep up their winning streak!

Some Favorite Christmas Memories

We had a great time with friends and family in December. Here are some of our favorite memories....
The Crews and Carey Family

The Crews and Kerce Family

The Cushman Crew

Daddy (Uncle David) reading the Christmas story from the Bible.

All the grandchildren on the Cushman side. How sad poor Lexi is!!

Lexi loved the sunglasses she found in her purse from Nannie.

Hayden with new spy gear to compete his special missions.

Construction man Zade cheesing for the camera.

Molly, Leah, Hayden, Zade and Ashlyn at Mimi's. (Love that smile, Zade!)

Leah opening a gift from Daddy early.

Molly before she opened her special gift from Daddy.

Ashlyn opening her special gift from Dad. Wow, a bar of soap from the hotel!! What a good sport!

I can't even begin to explain. He's our favorite guy!

Ashlyn was surprised with an ipod from Santa.

Molly's biggest surprise! A cell phone that she's gone text crazy with.

Leah's surprise LPS (Littlest Pet Shop) that she had been asking for.

Mama and Daddy

Mimi in Leah's papasan chair. So comfy!

Wii for Chrismas! This is what we saw lots of. :) He's really trying to pay attention to Molly showing him the burn on her arm, just a little distracted.

Christmas in Florida

Leah was so excited to make this gingerbread house!

She thought that she was going to make one at school, because her sisters did when they were in 3rd grade. She was quite disappointed that she didn't, so...

Leah and Daddy made one at home. They had a good time building and decorating the house (and eating the candy!) If you've never made one of these gingerbread houses, it's very time consuming, because you have to wait between each section of the project for the icing to dry. Since we live in Florida and missed out on the "White Christmas" we had been dreaming of, Leah passed the time by jumping on the trampoline with the water hose to keep cool. :)

She came through the house every so often to check on the progress and add a little to her masterpiece.

The end result was worth every bit of the wait though. Good job, Leah!

It's December

Our front door at night...

The front of the house from the driveway

We still need the inflatable snowman in the front yard. :) (Molly and Leah want inflatable yard decorations, while Ashlyn and I think they are on the tacky side) but, I've come to the conclusion that they are only little once, so we'll have the inflatables. (Maybe just one)

I'm so excited that the Christmas season is here! We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Tampa with my sister-in-law and her family, and also found out that I'm going to be an aunt again. How fun to have another baby in the family! When we came back home, we got our Christmas decorations out and started filling our home with signs of the season. Here are a few pictures of the things we have completed so far. I forgot how much work it is, but it's well worth it in the end.

Leslie's tree...

Next is our family Christmas tree. It has the ornaments we've accumulated through the past 16 years. Some are from the girls when they were little, some are from an ornament exchange group that I was in years ago, and some are from The Franklin Mercantile, a local shop that specializes in unique, handmade ornaments that can be personalized. It's so fun to reminisce as we place them on the tree.

Don't you love the fireplace full of poinsettias instead of wood??? (we miss our fires!)

These are on top of the kitchen cabinets...

This time of year makes me especially thankful for family and friends, and also the real meaning of Christmas, our Saviour's birth. We have a lot of activities coming up with the adult choir and children's choir at church. Molly's Sunday School class also has plans to make fruit baskets for some of the widows in the church. Her class did the same thing last year and were so well received and blessed that they want to do it again. Hopefully we'll be able to experience many wonderful memories this Christmas, and keep in mind the true reason that we celebrate.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!