handsful

Our bigs (and their friend…our semi-adopted daughter…Kylie) dressed and ready for the parade.

The Mooresville Christmas parade was yesterday afternoon…and, all 4 of our big kids were in it.  Since my parents were planning on spending Thanksgiving with us anyway, they came a day early to watch the parade.

My mom was amazed at how llloonngg it was.  It lasted nearly 2 hours.  Our population is about 33,000…and I think about half of those were in the parade ;)

A few pics of the day…

Our local Shriner’s were the pre-parade entertainment this year…they have a special place in our hearts, since Dylan came into our family.  Dylan had his amputation surgery at Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, SC, and he’s gotten two prosthesis’ so far…free of charge.  He will continue being a Shriner’s kid, with all of his care and prosthesis’ covered, until he’s 18.  Amazing.

One of Dylan’s best friends, Hollyn, was in the parade for the Shriner’s…this is the best shot we got of her :)  She’s the gal in green.  Hollyn and her family were a huge blessing to us as we prepared to adopt Dylan, having gone through the same surgery, same hospital, and same prosthesis need with Hollyn.

Having fun, kids?  They got more candy thrown at them at the parade than they collected on Halloween.

First up for us was the boys, in their AFFR group.  I’ve mentioned before that all the kids take tumbling/fitness/dance classes at Acrofitness here in town.  The boys class is Free Running…kinda like a spiderman, climbing and jumping, and tumbling with a little break dancing thrown in for good measure.  Both boys can already do back handsprings (on the mats, not concrete yet!), and they’ve only been doing classes for 2 months.

No, this is NOT the boys.  But, impressive, eh?

Why just the boys in the parade for Acro?  The required pants, shirt, beanie, and shoelaces were a little pricey.  And, the other kids classes didn’t have special performances lined up either.

Here they come…

There’s Payton…of course, we didn’t catch them doing anything.  That would have required good timing.  But, the rolling scaffolding was used to climb on, through, over, and jump off of.  It’s the kinda stuff they’re learning and they love it.  Gets them active, which I love.

Only picture we managed of Ethan!  Hey, we tried.  I like the feet beside him!  And, notice that Payton is the only guy NOT wearing his beanie.  He’s a rule-breaker and rebel like his dad.

Finally, the Testify Youth Choir showed up.

Abbey is in the Santa Hat, beside her friend Aaron in the purple tie-dyed shirt.  And, Randy is on the right in gray.  He just had to run up and ambush them…he got hugs from all.

What are you lookin’ at?

He’s happy now, his bling is back on (had to remove it all for the parade!)

I know what I SHOULD type here, but I just can’t say it yet…it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!  :)