Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

When I started this blog in January 2010, my goal was to post once a month. Even though I didn't quite reach the goal, I did enjoy blogging about the events of 2010 in the Sowards household. This post contains some of the highlights from August through December. In the first photo, the boys are obviously having mixed feelings about the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. We are very blessed to have some of the best teachers ever. Conner is in Mrs. Tucker's 5th grade class and Brady is in Mrs. Chavers' 3rd grade class.

Brady ready to help me make Piggie Pie with his class

Conner's class making Pilgrim hats from fudge stripe cookies and Reese's cups

Both of the boys also played soccer again this year and had a great time! They both made their respective all-star teams and played on the same day in two DIFFERENT towns. Hubble got to watch Conner in Andalusia and I got to travel with Brady to Eufala. After an exciting season, we decided to sit out for basketball this year. We have enjoyed getting to be home more at night, but are looking forward to baseball!

In November, I was very excited to see some dear, sweet friends. Kim Halstead's sister had a surprise 40th birthday party and invited me to Perry, GA to attend. I was able to catch up with Kim along with Shelly Snead (both friends from Auburn), Shelly's mom - Nelda (who lived in Auburn when we were all in school), and I got to meet Shelly's newly adopted daughter, Savannah! We all agreed that we should not wait nearly as long before we get together again!

This picture taken on Thanksgiving Day shows just how outnumbered I am around our house. Even our dog, Toby, is a boy! But just two days after this picture was made, I was the only one still smiling.....WAR EAGLE!

The children's choir at Carolina Baptist Church had its annual Christmas program on

December 5. The musical was called "The Birthday of a King" and all of the children were dressed as angels and shepherds except, of course, for Mary and Joseph. It was a simple, but refreshing way to begin the Christmas season.

Conner celebrated his 11th birthday on December 6. We invited family over after the Christmas program for soup, sandwiches and birthday cake! It's hard to believe how fast the past 11 years have gone by. Conner designed his Tron cake and asked to go see the movie for part of his birthday gift.

CHRISTMAS 2010

The next several pictures show our family and the many celebrations we enjoyed during this year's Christmas season:

Conner and Brady are ready for Santa!

Conner and Brady were asked to be in the wedding of a sweet couple - Courtney Paul and Kevin Johnson - on December 11. They were especially excited that Kevin has been drafted by the California Angels and that maybe this picture could one day be the proof that they knew him "back when!"

We celebrated Christmas at Grandmother's house on December 23rd. The picture above shows 8 of her 11 great-grandchildren. The picture below captures her as she told us over and over how blessed she was to have us all there. I feel very blessed to have celebrated with her. I know there are not a lot of people who can say they've celebrated Christmas with their grandmother at her home for 39 years in a row!!!

Hubble's brother Russell, Angela and Brynne

My "little brother" Micah, Kelley and their girls Allie and Amy

My "big brother" Brad, Becky, Peyton and Emory

My sister Sunny and her three girls: Katy, Aubry and Lydia

(and their newest family member - "Charlie" - the dog)

Hubble's brother Michael, Tabitha and their boys: Jackson and Dylan

Papa Pete, Mama Gin and their "crew"

Daddy Jim, Nana and their "bunch"

We also travelled to Nashville to see Hubble's daddy along with Jeanne, Ashley, Trevor and Delaney - but I forgot to take my camera.

I also noticed as I posted these pictures that somehow Blake managed to dodge the camera!

And this last picture shows why I am never ready for Christmas to end: I love having my tree up and my mantle decorated....Christmas makes my home feel so warm and cozy!

So.....until next year.....

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6.

May God bless you and your family in 2011!

Summer 2010

So, we've all asked the question lately, "Where did the summer go?" I hope this post will answer that question as far as the Sowards family is concerned. We have had a wonderful summer, full of activities and FUN! And although we would enjoy a few more weeks of summer, we are getting excited about going back to school.

Here are Conner and Brady with their awards at the end of the school year.

Conner's Class - Ready for summer!




Brady's Class - Excited to be out of school!

The week after school was out, we took a day trip down to Destin with lots of friends from AES.

Brady, Conner, Coleman and Colby

We finished our 4th year of AWANA at Carolina Baptist Church. It has been such a blessing not only to our church but also to our family. Our boys have already learned more scripture than either of their parents...although we have learned more than I would have imagined just listening to them quote theirs. Each year at the AWANA awards program, a boy and a girl from each club is chosen as "Clubber of the Year." We were so proud when both Conner and Brady received the award for their respective clubs!!


Brady, Allie, Amy and Conner

A special event of the summer was the celebration of the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Hubble's Granddaddy and Granny Harrell. Here is a picture of many, but not all of the Harrell clan.

One of our fun outings this summer was a trip to the Montgomery Biscuits game. Along with our friends, the Kelleys, we loaded up our kids and didn't tell them where we were going. They didn't know until we pulled up to the parking lot at the stadium. They were thrilled! It was a great game - the Biscuits won in extra innnings!!!

Mason and Conner

Landon and Brady

Brady and Conner both played baseball this year and finished up in the month of June. Brady played once again for the Sandgnats and had a wonderful time.

Gooooooo, Sandgnats!

Although Conner's team, the Phillies, struggled throughout the season, they learned a lot and actually ended up winning their last two games. In fact, in the next to the last game they ended up beating the #1 team in the league. Go Phillies!! Here are some pics from Conner's last game, which he played against the Pleasant Home team, the Rays.

The second week of summer was spent at VBS. This year's theme was High Seas Expedition.

One Sunday afternoon in June, Hubble and the boys and I travelled to the Boardwalk in Ft. Walton Beach. We had found out about a free concert by Kenny Loggins that was being held to attract tourism that was being affected by the oil spill. Since Hubble and I have always been big Kenny Loggins fans, we were excited to see and hear him.

In July, we took a family vacation with the Kelley family to Panama City Beach. We stayed at Sunnyside and had a wonderful time. We spent lots of time at the pool and on the beach. We went to Big Kahunas, went to see Karate Kid, celebrated Hubble's 36th birthday and enjoyed our family time together!

The Jacobs family took its 11th annual trip to Lake Martin July 16-18. We stayed at Burke Cove, a change from the place we had been for the past 10 years. We had a great time and are already looking forward to next year.

We are so thankful for my Grandmother, who makes it possible to take this trip each summer.

This year we had fun watching all of the children (and some of the adults) jump from Chicken Rock and what we named as Chicken Little Rock.



This tube contains all of Grandmother's 11 great-grandchildren, minus 2 - Peyton and Lydia.




This summer we also made many trips to Destin to the Rave theater to see their free movie. We saw "Ice Age 3," "Astroboy," "Planet 51," and "Hotel for Dogs." We went out for lunch and would then head down to the beach for some fun in the sun. Despite all the talk of the oil spill, we never missed a beat and never really saw any oil to speak of.


Playing on the splash pad and playground at Destin Commons

Conner, Brady, Katy, Emory and Aubry


We finished up our official week of summer with lots of swimming. Here are a couple of pics from the Carolina Baptist Church Kids End of Summer Splash!