Birthday bash at the Grimmett's!

My brother-in-law Labin and my mom; I'll let you draw your own conclusions!:) (He sat in birthday cake left over from my neice Myla!)

Isn't this picture a great way to start off this longer than usual blog post?! We went to my parents house in Stamps, AR this weekend to celebrate my oldest sister and my nephew's birthdays. Stamps is about an hour from Texarkana; their house is actually in a place called Buckner, but it's so small we just say we're from Stamps! Anyway, this is where my sisters and I grew up. We were raised on a poultry and cattle farm; 6 chicken houses and around 150 head of cattle. (There's approx. 120,000 chickens in all:) No, I'm not kidding.) My Dad built our house during my Mom's senior year of high school; ahhhh..... isn't that sweet? Well, I got off track, sorry. This is one of my brother-in-laws named Mikie. He's been around for, oh, about 15 years; he married Misty (the oldest and the one who turned 31 on Saturday). As you can see, we never have dull moments when the clan gets together! Way to balance Mikie!

This is Misty, the B-day Girl. There's two and one-half years between us. She dated Mikie for about 5 years before they married; and I'm happy to say that I had a major role in helping them find one another. We were at a youth conference in Little Rock right after Christmas one year and I spotted one of Mikie's brothers there named Kasey. We semi "liked" each other back then (as much as you could like somebody in the 9Th grade:)) and developed a plan to "hook" our siblings up! My sister wanted nothing to do with boys at that time, and needless to say, she was UPSET with me when I called her out in the hallway of our hotel room to "show" her something........which happened to be her future husband. And the rest is history. I have to add that it was not love at first sight for Misty. Her exact words to me afterwards when we returned home, was that all that "country boy" talked about was his dog (Cupcake) and his favorite quilt! AND she stated that he looked like a bulldog! That still cracks me up!
Her name as an aunt to Faith is Ditty; that's how my baby sister, Mallory, said her name when we were growing up. She loves my baby girl! And, Misty, if you read this, "You are an exceptional Mom and a fantastic sister! Happy Birthday again."
We played 4 square for a while that afternoon; we're all pretty competitive, so it wasn't just a sweet little game for the whole family!:) We kept having to dodge Micah (the B-Day nephew) who was riding his little racer with a kite attached to the back of it! A couple people almost got decapitated!
Dad went to soothe Faith while she was going down for the night and ended up getting a little sleepy-eyed himself. It was probably due to all of that spiking he did during our 4 square game!
I have no idea what the boys were doing here; probably looking for the remote control airplane that flew into a lot of trees that day. Sorry Dad.
This is Faith with a bandanna around her head to protect her ears from the wind; I know I'm anal. But I forgot her hat! This is the netting that goes over her stroller; you know, to keep out wasps, bees, well, you get the picture.
Faith is asleep in the car seat in the back of my Mom's mini cooper. Do you notice that Zorro (our dog) is close by? He kept an eye on her the entire time she was napping there. He's such a loyal and sweet dog.
Jeff's reaching out and giving him a pat on the head for protecting our baby girl. Every now and then he would walk up and sniff the car seat kind of like, "Are you ok in there?" Then he would back up to where he could see her again and just watch her. It was pretty cool.
This is my Dad, Butch. Yes, that's his name; well, actually his real name is Billy, but when he was around 5 or 6 he got a haircut called "the butch", and I guess it stuck. Most people think it's his given name. And next is Labin or La-la (pronounced Lay-Lay); that's what the kids call him. He and my baby sister Mallory (beside him) just got married last July on 7-7-07, the "perfect" day. They dated for quite a while, but we were glad to see him become an official member of the fam. The airplane is undergoing some repairs in this pic, but then again, it pretty much underwent repairs all day. Hey, have any of you ever tried to fly one of those things?:) I can gladly report though, that the girls were sooooo much better than the guys; especially with take-offs!
This is Nana (Joy is her name), my Mom. She came up with the bandanna idea. Isn't Faith a doll?
Ok, Mallory is definitely the most expressive sister. Here she has on Micah's Superman cape and she wore it for a while.
She said she wanted to make a serious super hero face; so, here it is. The kids call her Boo, but I call her Pooter; There are seven years between she and I; she acquired that name from me when she was quite young. I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to why. Pooter, I told you these pics would make the blog!:)
Misty and Micah are trying out their balance on the ramp.
Maybe Misty and Mallory will have better luck together! Oh, do you notice all of the M's in our family? Misty, Meagan, Mallory to begin with; then Misty's family= Mikie, Micah, Myla (whom you will see shortly; she's Misty's youngest) Well, I told Mom that Jeff broke that trend and she said, "But you can keep it going with your children!". No way, that is entirely too many M's and entirely too confusing!
Faith decided to chew on my camera string. I just love those huge blue eyes!

There's Myla Grace! She's 3 years old and has a great personality; she is a hoot, and it probably has everything to do with that orange hair! She is such a good helper!
Here's Ditty making bug eyes at the baby. My sisters and I all have similar big blue eyes, so I am thrilled that Faith is carrying on that trait!
Pooter decided to give it a try next!
Here's the B-day boy opening his gifts. Of course, Myla (little sis) is dying to help!
Mikie or "Uncle M" is getting some snuggle time in.
Myla got a new pair of flip flops so she wouldn't feel quite so left out of the celebration!

Ditty got clothes and shoes; that's what I like to get on my birthday too! Don't ask me. I have no idea what Mallory is doing here; I told you she's expressive.
This was Misty's birthday cake. My Mom is a fantastic, out of this world cook. So, this cake pretty much disappeared in a hurry.
More snuggle time!
"Can we please open our gifts now, Mea-Mea?" That's my name at home and for the kids. Mallory (my youngest sister) couldn't pronounce my name when she was a baby, so she called me Mea-Mea and still does today.
Hot dog! More presents!
And more presents!
This is Micah's cake. He has severe food allergies, not to mention a lot of other kinds as well. Wheat, nuts, milk, soy, eggs, dogs, cats, grass, heat, etc; so my sister has gotten extremely creative in food preparation! She somehow comes up with recipes for him so he can enjoy things like a birthday cake! My hat goes off to her a million times over.

"Where's my own personal cake?" This was sooo funny because Faith was in my Mom's arms directly across from Misty when she blew her candles out. So all the smoke went in her direction, and she
did this cute little cough as if to say, "Hey, watch it!" I think they both are excited about digging into these cakes!

Micah brought my sister some of Nana's flowers and said, "Happy birthday Big Mama!" I can't remember the story right now behind the whole "Big Mama" thing, but I can guarantee you it's not because of her size, as you can see.
And then he was such a gentleman, and kissed her hand!
However, Misty is deathly afraid of frogs, partly because I chased her with them a lot when we were kids. But we spotted a toad frog and you can see the devious look on Micah's face! Misty went running into the house, so she spoiled the fun!
Everybody turns to watch Faith eat! She got a lot of attention on Saturday!
A family portrait!
Labin and Mallory with the kids! Are there any in the near future for these guys? If Mallory has her way, it will be around 10 years; right Mal?:)
Sweet Myla! Misty and Mikie were trying to figure out an "M" name for this child before she got here and they heard the name "Myla" on a CSI show. I have to be honest, I wasn't sure of it at first, but I love it now. And if you knew Myla Grace, you would 100% agree that the name fits her to a tee!
Yes, she's the best daughter. No, really, she is. Look at her refilling the ice trays!

I'm about to decide that Mikie wants another kid. I sure do have several pics of him and Faith cuddling!
Ok, long story made short. My Grandma Gay (my Dad's mom) used to own a ceramic shop just over the hill from us. Well, we spent a lot of time up there as kids; talk about a cool place when you're little. Making molds from mud (well, that's what I called it then), cleaning and cutting the peices after they were cooked, and best part=painting! Misty got a little over zealous one summer and painted a rock that was shaped like a cat's head. Please don't think my family is "NUTTS" after this blog. My Grandmother painted one eye so Misty could have an example to follow; if you could see this thing up close, she didn't follow instructions very well. This cat has some messed up eyes (or at least one messed up eye). The funny thing is that my Mom keeps this painted "cat head" in her flower bed! Maybe it has sentimental value or something. Dad is like, "When are we going to eat?"
Micah = the cool cat! At least Faith thinks so.

This might be one of my favorite pictures ever! Say cheese!
Aren't they a cute couple? Especially holding a baby.......Ha ha.
This is Misty and I doing the "circus trick". That's is our made up name for it; it was invented many years ago, probably out of boredom by she and I. We practice it every now and then just to make sure we still have down pat! I know it sounds crazy, but at least we have a good time together!!!! Check out my Mom on the couch=some things never change....."Girls, plllllllease be careful!"
We're still a little shakey here.......
Taking a small break and telling Jeff to stop laughing.....
Looks like we're not the only ones having a good time. LaLa made Micah a couple of paper airplanes; they were a huge hit!
Perfection finally......
A little shakey again.....hey, but on a serious note, I think more people should find time to be themselves and share some laughs!! It may appear goofy to other people, but you sure do make a ton of hysterical memories!!!:)