N'awlins....

Roger and I got to have a husband/wife weekend this past week and we headed to THE BIG EASY! Since it was the week of my 32nd birthday and Cowboys vs. Saints were in town on a Saturday night it was the perfect excuse to go! We got into town Friday afternoon and check into our little boutique hotel...it was so cute then we headed to the MOST amazing restaurant we have ever eaten, it literally was Top 3 meals of my life....check it out Cajun Soul Food, i had a myer lemon salad with fried Hog jaw....FAB! We had fried alligator and hushpuppy boudan, yum with turnip and black eyed pea gumbo! If your ever in NO we highly recommend it! Its in the warehouse district www.cochonrestaurant.com :) We met up on Frenchman street with Terry and Whit for some liv jazz later that night. Saturday was breakfast in bed, shopping in the market and on Royal and then bloody mary's ,margaritas, and oysters with the cousins. Saturday night we hit up Lucy's and then Tommy's Wine Bar for th Big Game! COWBOYS WIN!!! What a way to end our trip with a victory and the Saints fans were very gracious and we all mingled in harmony, hehe :) Sunday was a little sleeping in and back to our sweet boys ...

My mom and Gigi kept the boys and they had a blast! They hit up McD's a couple times went to see all the town Christmas lights and Mimi got roped into a few trips to Dollar General to toy shop :

We are so excited about Christmas this year and Airey is just counting down until Santa's..... arrival

ho ho ho....

The Cole Patrol have had so much fun doing so many holiday things this season from decorating the tree, seeing santa, teaching the boys about giving and baby Jesus and the REAL meaning of Christmas. It has a whole new meaning this year....Airey is so into it! He is excited about celebrating Baby Jesus birthday and his own in a few weeks too :) Pops got the whole family into the Can food Drive at Kroger this week and Airey loved giving all the food to santa and making sure all families had food to eat on Christmas. We have also enjoyed riding at night to see Christmas lights and Campbell just shouts...ooooooohhhh.....ooooohhhhh....We visited the journey to the North Pole where the kids made reindeer food for Rudolf and adorable ornaments! He loves seeing Fedex airplanes at night, he thinks they are santa's sleigh flying over to check on him and Campbell and the red blinking light is Rudolf's nose :) They love our tree and to our surprise they haven't broken a single ornament and just love looking at it! It Airey's job each morning to turn on the lights and we do the "drumroll" ( a personal shout out to Christmas Vacation!)

Another LARGE event in our home this past week.....Two weeks ago we told Airey that he had to be using the potty for Santa to visit and be on the "Nice" list and he went full force! We quit wearing diaper about 10 days ago and we have an accident here and there but He wakes up dry and hasn't had an accident at naps or anything. He has problems when he is playing and still hates to stop to potty so we learned to put him on the potty about every hour and half and we can avoid accidents all together! Yipeeee! Having just 1 in diapers is the best Christmas gift a mommy could ask for :)

Ho ho ho and happy holidays!!!

Campbell with his John Deer Tool Box off the fix something!

Airey's 1st ever homemade Christmas Ornament

Th Whole Cole Gang!

yummy ice cream!

The Cole/Thomas Cousins

a very thankful year...

Well as many of you know Papa Pete sends out his annual Christmas letter updating those far and wide about his ever expanding family and the generations he has created. This year Roger was asked to sum up our 2009, It was such a great summary of why we are so thankful this season, i wanted to pass it along...

Sarah Ella, Roger Jr., Airey and Campbell have had a very eventful
2009. Campbell started walking in November and is into everything
within reach for a 15 month old. He loves playing with his older
brother and constantly tries to keep pace in every activity. He is a
daredevil, mostly acting first and thinking later! Airey, who will be
3 in January, is all boy and loves football, soccer and basketball
with a little cars and 4-wheelin thrown in on the side. He continues
to expand his vocabulary and carries on full-fledged conversations
with anyone that will listen to him. Sarah Ella has her hands full as
a full time mom and part time entrepreneur. She has her own
stationary business and distressed frame business which keeps her busy
during the few moments she has to spare with two toddlers. She loves
to cook and entertain for family and friends and has put together her
annual Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas parties this past
year. Roger Jr. is going on 4 years with FedEx in the pricing
department and enjoys golfing and running whenever he has time. He
ran his second marathon in Nashville this past April and has taken on
a new hobby, fly fishing, after Roger Sr. and Mary decided to get
their fabulous vacation home on the Little Red River.

What a great year and we look forward to 2010 with great optimism and I'm sure it will be full of memories as 2009 was....Hope you all had a blessed thanksgiving. Much Love.

The Coles

Mimi and GiGi came in town for a brunch I hosted the day after thanksgiving for mine and Roger's family and The Glenn's and their brood....We even had Uncle Terry and his fiance Whitney with us! A great time we had and afterwards GiGi and Mimi took us all to see Santa and out to shop and eat....as you can see Campbell was not a big fan of the Ol'Clause but Airey stepped right up to tell santa he wanted a motorcycle and leaf blower for Christmas. On a side note Santa asked GiGi what her "little Lady wanted for Chritmas" and asked her to "sit on his Lap", LOL....Hope Mrs. Clause doesn't find out...whoopsie....he had the hots for GiGi, haha!

Airey at Bass Pro Winterwonderland mailing his letter to Santa

Campbell coloring and Airey enjoying the Choo-Choo set!