Happy Halloween 2012!!

Mulan, Dartha Vader, Spiderman

We had a great time trick or treating in our usual local neighborhood. The kids got plenty of great candy and had a blast! Happy Halloween!!!



Punkin' time

3 pumpkins with their pumpkin

We waited pretty late this year to carve our pumpkin. But, we finally bought 1 family pumpkin (as opposed to 3 or 5) at Publix and were tickled that it was a pretty big one. Rach and Brad decided on the face design, I sketched it, and Nick and I took turns carving it. Trent thought it was cool but wanted nothing to do with carving, de-pulping or designing it. We can't wait till Halloween!! Only 3 days to go!



2012 Dad of the Year: Nick Milligan

 Nick and his babes

 the kid's favorite pool game

 Reach for the sky, Brad!

 look at my stud and my stinker

my beautiful sweet girl



Happy (late) Father's Day to my sweet husband, who is a fabulous dad to our kiddos! We tried to make his weekend special with a Father's Day breakfast, swimming and a little present. We are truly so thankful for Nick and what a loving, kind, wonderful father he is!! He has held the "Dad of the Year" Award since 2004! We love you, babe!!

PS- the "Dad of the Year" award was held by Gary Duke from 1977-2000, when I finally moved out! Love you so much, dad! You are such an awesome dad!!

Blessed beyond Measure

I am truly blessed beyond measure. I certainly don't deserve these precious children but I am so thankful for each of them. Nick and the kids made Mother's Day so special with a homemade french toast breakfast and a new gardening hat and pair of gloves (which I had been really wanting!). The kids, as always, make everything so sweet with their enthusiasm and desire to make something special. They are so proud of themselves when they make breakfast or buy a present or whatever. I'm so glad that I get to be part of so many of these precious moments. I love that I know each of them inside and out and get to help them through each day. I love that I get to homeschool them. I am thankful that I have a beautiful, sweet, caring, responsible daughter, and two precious, sweet, kind, loving sons. My heart is full and I am blessed beyond measure.

Easter Outtakes- 2012

 I'm blind!

 It's a little bright out here!

 Hello down there!

(shots from this angle are always super flattering!!!)

As much as we like our neighbor and appreciate him taking the time to come take Easter pics for us, I couldn't help but laugh at these! Hardy-har-har!! :)

And, they're off...

The kids had a great time hunting for eggs on Easter at Nana and Pop's house. Somehow, I managed to get a picture of all 3 of my kids as they took off to find some eggs. It was so much fun!

Happy Easter! Love, The Milligans

Our neighbor, John, was kind enough to take our family picture this year. We had a wonderful Easter with goodies from the Easter bunny, the story of our risen savior at church, dinner with both sets of precious grandparents and all cousins, and an awesome egg hunt! We were pooped but so blessed after such a busy day!

Happy Easter! Love, The Milligans

Cousins at Christmas

This year, Deborah and Joe hosted the Milligan side of the family for Christmas. Between Joe and his 2 sisters, they have 6 kids who had 11 grandchildren. The family gatherings are fun and the kids have a great time playing. From left to right: Evan, Elle, Sophie, Carter, Trent, Bradley, Rachel, Jordan, Shelby and Lauren. (Not pictured: Johnathan and Stephanie)

What do you do 4 days before Christmas???

All smiles--all fun!

Before mud got in some eyes.

You can tell who was dominating this mud fight.

Poor Trenty--with mud in his eye and his first hosedown...he was very unhappy here.


Bradley--with his first chunk of mud in his eye...he was very upset here.

Before the mud in his eye, Brad was happy to toss some at Rach.

still having fun...

Rach...at the end...still looking better than her brothers and NO mud in her eyes.

Guess who threw the mud in her brother's eyes???!!!

If the weather's been rainy, warm and humid, you head outside to walk around in your rain boots to stomp in puddles ....... at least, that was the PLAN. However, the kids found a small muddy area and decided to throw mud at each other. They thought it was a blast for awhile. Until Bradley and Trent got some thrown in their eyes. Then it was tears and wails and screams when they had to get hosed off before going in to get a warm bath. They said it was worth it, even if they had to be hosed off in December.

Farewell 2011!

Fun in the snow!
this snow was thick and slick and stuck around for several days!

Trenty poo turned 2!!

Our sweet family on Easter

Rachel turned 7!

Trent was ready to use the potty!!

We had a GREAT time at PCBeach with gege and papa!!

We had a wonderful garden that gave us more veggies than we even knew what to do with!!

Bradley turned 5!

We swam LOTS with our friends all summer!!

Trenty got a new big boy bed!!

Rachel and Bradley started their year again at Learning Grove.

We have experienced our best homeschooling year yet!!

We carved pumpkins for Halloween!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our precious family!!!

2011 was filled with lots of happy memories--the happiest of which was Nick getting a job at Foundation Technologies. We are also very thankful for our good health, physical abilities and the many precious friends and family that we are surrounded by! We're praying that 2012 is full of even more happy memories and good health!

Merry Christmas!!

Santa Visit at Mall of GA

The Milligans had a GREAT Christmas this year! The kids all got lots of goodies and it was such an exciting month!

Happy Halloween- 2011!

Ready to trick-or-treat! First stop: Mr. John's house
Gooooooo Dawgs!!!
The cutest football player I've ever seen!

our brave hero- Spiderman!

our pretty little Pocahontas and her animal friend

And, that's the end! We have all the treats we need!

What a fun time we had trick or treating this year! Rachel was our lovely Pocahontas, complete with her raccoon friend, "Racky". Bradley changed (in the 11th hour) from Darth Vader to Spider Man and Trent also changed (in the seconds before we got in the car to go trick or treating) from an adorable lion to a UGA football player. (He loved carrying a football around all night!) We went to see our neighbor, John, who bought some great goodies for the kids, and then went to our traditional neighborhood up the road. We ended with a quick trick or treat at Gege and Papa's. We had given Nana and Pop a preview the day before when everyone wore the original costumes. (N&P- ya'll are the only ones who have pics of the lion and Darth!) The kids never seem to get tired of dressing up and had a really good time!