Neeley Family Blog

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year.  We once again went to John's brother's house.  They always host Thanksgiving and my parents host Christmas Eve for the family.  We all had the day off together, which does not happen very often these days.  Brad and I decided to go to mass in the morning.  The kids were all very good during mass and I was super impressed with Brayden knowing what to do and when to do it....guess that catholic schooling is working ;). We had a lazy afternoon and headed to dinner at about 2:30.  It was a feast! Turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, my famous cornbread, rolls, green bean casserole, fruit and veggie platters.  Oh man, I am getting hungry again just thinking about it.  It was delish! While I did not take any pics of the food, my sister managed to snap a couple pics of the boys and our family which now makes up over half of the people at Thanksgiving dinner.  Hope you all had a joyous Thanksgiving!

Well folks I have hit a new milestone myself...30! Yep, 3 DECADES as Brad's dear friend Tommy puts it.  I truely feel good hitting this milestone.  I am not upset about getting older, at least not yet ;).  I feel like this year is going to be great! I had been hinting to Brad to see if there was a party planned or some big surprise.  He kept assuring me that he had nothing planned.  First clue.  My family was pretty mum about the whole birthday thing too as we got 2 weeks away no one had really said anything about it. We usually talk about what you want, if we are getting together, and what is going on.  Second Clue.  We made plans to get together on Friday night and Brad said we would do something just the 5 of us on Wednesday, my actual birthday.  He was letting the boys pick what they would like to do.  Third Clue. SURPRISE!!!! He and my family and friends suprised me by planning a party at Big Al's.  It is a bowling...

OK, OK, so it has been since Brock was 6 weeks old since we have done a family picture.  I wanted to do some when Brylee was a baby, but we just never got to it.  This last weekend we finally did! We bought a certificate to Picture People months back.  With the holidays soon arriving I decided to get working on it so that I can actually get Christmas cards out this year.  Yes, I am putting it in writing! There will be a Neeley Newsletter this year.  I scheduled the photos so that nap time would be over and everyone would be perky and at their best.  We arrived on time to the photo store! This deserves a round of applause all on its own. :) I got outfits that coordinated so that our photos would look good.  But as they walked us back to the room, Brylee changed her mind.  She decided she did not like this idea and would not let go of Brad or I.  And when I took her binky away...oh man! There were fits, kicks and down right refusing to take...

Well, it has been one year since my father passed away.  I can hardly believe it.  Time goes by so quickly!  I have had lots of memories floating through my mind of him today.  I also decided to make a trip to the cemetery and take some flowers.  I have not been back there since he was buried a year ago.  I had gone to St.Paul (the town he is buried in and where my grandmother lives) once during the year for the Rodeo, but not get a chance to walk over to the cemetery.  I will say I did alright going out there.  I had all the kids with me.  They did not have school since it also happens to be Veteran's Day.  I did not get emotional.  I was answering a lot of questions from the boys about what a cemetery is, where the people are, how they know their names, and of course the question of where they go after they die.  All valid questions from a 4 and 6 year old.  We went to the spot in the cemetery.  My dad is buried w...

The boys' school had their annual auction recently.  The theme for this year was the Roaring 20's.  Since we are first year parents at the school I decided to jump in as much as I could and help out.  I signed up for to work banking the night of the auction and signed Brad up to work the "Speak Easy" as a Blackjack dealer.  I also signed up to be the Father/Son Laser Tag Coordinator. (This event is coming later ((April)) but I had to do a little prep work at the beginning to get things ready for the auction.  The night of the auction Brad and I dressed up in our 20's garb, sent the kids to my parent's house and headed out for the night.  They encouraged 20's themed dress of course.  I bought a few things off eBay ahead of time to complete our looks.  Brad wore a tux shirt with black suspenders and a black tie.  He also had an arm band and a hat for the "Speak Easy."  He was not feeling well at all that night so we did not get any ...

The Disney adventures continued when Toy Story 3 on Ice came to town recently.  We got a flier months ago and promised the boys that we would take them.  We have seen a few other Disney on Ice shows and the kids always love them.  Brad and I used to go when we were dating.  The boys were excited.  We headed to dinner at Red Robin downtown first and then over to the show.  When the lights went down and the show began, I looked over to see the kids wide-eyed and smiling.  I love watching their faces when they are so excited about something, more than actually watching the show.  I managed to snap a few photos. Waiting for the show to start!  Grandma Carol got to join us while she was in town.  Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy made an appearance too.  The toy soldiers.  Some of the rest of the gang.  Buzz!!!  Woody, Jessie, Bullseye The kids really enjoyed it and us adults liked it too.  There was a rea...

Grandma Carol came to visit us at the end of the Month of October.  The boys had a couple days off from school which provided the perfect opportunity for a visit!  Everyday that she was here, the kids packed as many games and activities in as they could.  We walked to the "Park" (the nearby elementary school playground a couple times.  They did arts and crafts.  And played lots of games.  One of the crisp Fall days, Brayden asked what they could do and I mentioned them going outside to play or raking the leaves for me ;). They actually decided to do it! And the boys got super excited when I suggested they rake them into a BIG pile first and jump in them! This was a first time experience for them. These are some super cute photos:  GET READY, GET SET...  JUMP!!!  Or ROLL :)  Do you see 2 little boys!?! So fun!  Thank you Grandma Carol for the visit and keeping everyone entertained for a few days!!!