Cookie Day

Every year we do Cookie Day with the Dupree's.  Since I started dating Josh back in 2003, I've been going to Cookie Day, so it's a yearly tradition and a lot of fun!  

 My sweet 4 year old

 Joan & Little Emily making date nut balls

 Granddaddy!  He's going to be 90 this January :)

 Benjamin!  He's 2 now and our boys love playing with him

 Cathy baking some cookies :)  

 Sweet Saylor girl in her Santa outfit

 Crazy Roman!  Josh is a mountain man now...I like it :)

 My sweet baby girl

 My mom stopped by so we took a break and had coffee and cookies :) Joan, my mom & Cathy

 Melissa, little Em and Mike

 Decorating

 Cookie Day makes you sleepy...

 Granddaddy & his girls 

 Hot tub time!

 Roman was showing off his flexibility so everyone joined in :)

 So proud of his cookie decorating!

 Sweet smile!  Roman's decorating consisted of pouring all of the sprinkles on his cookie :)

 Sam with Kaylee & Benjamin

 Pizza for dinner...this is a very healthy day

 Cathy and Jimmy, who's cooperating nicely for a picture!

 Melissa with her girls and Aidan

 Flexible baby!  Doing a heel-stretch :)

 4 Generations.  Granddaddy (Cathy's daddy), Mike, Josh & Saylor

 Eating some of his cookies

 Saylor LOVES Herschel, and he really loves her.  He's such a sweet and gentle dog.  He may be huge, but he lets the kids do anything to him and doesn't flinch. At night, he'll bust open Saylor's door and lay in her room...it's so sweet :)

 Melissa & Benjamin during his breathing treatments

 Where's Roman's cookie? :)

 Brotherly love

 Saylor really enjoyed tearing the ornaments off the tree :)

Cookie Day was fun, but very different and bittersweet this year.  Since I've known Josh, every Sunday we'd go over to Grandmama & Granddaddy's house and eat lunch after church.  I think of them as my grandparents (especially because mine are in Oregon and I've already lost 3 of them), and I love going over there...it's become a comfort zone for me.  This year was hard for Grandmama and her health started to decline.  This December she went home.  She's now without pain and without tears, basking in the Glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It's been really hard to transition without her, and Sundays are weird without her sitting at the table with us, or sitting in the living room as we all talk and hang out.  She was a beautiful soul with a giving heart.  There are tons of great memories of her (for me they started in 2003, but for the rest of the Dupree's they started long before that).  We all miss her a ton, but I have peace knowing that:

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.  Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two.  My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." Philippians 1:21-23

 Cathy & Grandmama holding Saylor, sitting on her couch in the living room (Feb 2012)

Granddaddy & Grandmama with Saylor