Trunk or Treat 2011/Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

This year the Vego's dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. I was Glinda the Good Witch, Ross was the scarecrow, and Gracie was Dorothy (complete with sparkly red shoes). We attended our church's trunk or treat, which turned out to be a HUGE success and we all had a great time.

We also went to a grown up halloween party with all our friends at the Barrios house. It was so much fun- here are a few pics we borrowed from that night.

Callaway is one too!!! :)

the spread!

best friends and babies!!

these two are up to something for sure!

almost time for cake!

Now its time for Callaway's birthday! Suzanne, Sandra, and Trent did a great job getting ready for this party. It was a beautiful day outside, and Suzanne's decorations looked like something straight out of Southern Living magazine. We had a great time visiting with friends and of course, letting Gracie help Callaway with her gifts was fun too :) Here are a few shots from the day.

Times, they are a changin'

After laboring here at the Main Street church of Christ in Milan, TN for two years, we have made the decision that the time has come to move. Lord willing, we will be heading to work with the Millington church of Christ in Millington, TN by January 2012. We are super excited about what God has planned for us to do there, and cant wait to get to work with the Millington church! We have already met some wonderful people who check in on us frequently, and I cant wait to get to know them all better. We of course will be sad to leave all our friends here in Milan, but having approached this decision prayerfully, I know it is whats best for our little family. Stay tuned to the next chapter of our lives!

Vego Photography

We have started a new business venture!! Since Gracie came along, we have been taking a ton of pictures. Ross and I both started reading up on the subject, and after many people telling us we needed to start a business, we finally did! We are currently a very small "company" specializing in children and family photography, but we are glad to work on whatever project you have in mind! We also do senior portraits, newborn, maternity, and are looking for the perfect couple to be our guinea pigs on engagements, as well as a bride who is willing to let us do some bridal portraits! I hope to one day work my way up to doing weddings, but i want some practice before I tackle that one. :) If you are interested in our work, please take a look at our Photography page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vego-Photography/111010102327093

We are working on getting a website, and hopefully it will be live by January of 2012. Please email us for pricing information at vegophotography@yahoo.com.

Family trip to Spring River

At the end of August, we took a family trip to the Spring River. We had a nice, quiet relaxing week of sleeping, looking at deer, fishing, cooking, playing in the river, and exploring Mammoth Spring. It was so nice to get away from it all and enjoy each other's company. Pops came with us on this trip so we had an extra hand to help with Gracie and Mommy and Daddy got to have some together time. Here are a few pics of our adventures at Riverside Resort!

August 2011

Gracie took her first steps on her birthday, and this month she has really started walking!! It was slow going at first, but once she got the hang of it she took off and it hasnt slowed down since! August has been a very busy month- we had our Anniversary, Gracie's first birthday party, Senior send off, a trip to Atlanta/Peach Tree City for Ross to speak, took a trip to Southaven to take pictures for Vego Photography, took some maternity pictures for our friend Ashley, and took a trip to Mammoth Spring, AR for a little rest and relaxation! Whew! Just writing this makes me tired. :) We really did have a great month, and Gracie is growing like a weed. Here are a few things she is doing at a year:

She loves to eat corn!

She babbles all the time- sometimes I am not sure what she is saying but thats ok.

boy oh boy do we love bathtime!

she does great in bible class

she is a great shopper, and will nap in her stroller if she gets too tired.

we got a farm at IKEA in atlanta, and she loves to play with the animals and tells us what the cow says. She also loves to watch OSO, Spongebob, and baby einstein.

Atlanta #2!

first carousel ride!

gardening at the children's museum of Atlanta

playing trains with Daddy :)

just playing at the park!

Miss Gracie loves to swing!!

We took a little "Mini-vaca" to Atlanta after Gracie's birthday. It was a much needed break from the craziness of summer, and we had such a fun time playing with our friends Bo and Chelsea. Ross also got to speak at Peach Tree City church of Christ's summer series on Wednesday night, and it was great to hear him speak. Here are a few pics from the week.

Gracie's First Birthday

We had the best time at Gracie's first birthday party! She was surrounded by her family and friends and they all played and partied so well together! to kick off the party, we ate some yummy hamburgers and hot dogs, and some other goodies. Then we tore into the cake! Gracie did a great job with it, even though she ate mostly icing and only made a small dent in her cake. She loved it and literally cried when we took her away from it! Then we opened presents, and Gracie got so many goodies we are putting some back for random days and even saving some for Christmas! We are so blessed with awesome friends and family! After presents the kiddos got ready and went outside for the slip and slide and the swimming pool. Boy did they all have a blast! The boys did a great job taking turns on the slip and slide and all the girlies played in the pool and sweet Taylor even tried to dunk herself! We really did have a great time and we are so thankful to be surrounded by such awesome people! Thanks to all for coming and celebrating with us!

11 months

This month has brought a lot of changes our way! Gracie, as always, is very vocal. She is a very busy baby and is into literally everything. This month, she has really taken off with her standing up abilities, and loves to "walk" around the room (or the house for that matter) holding on to everything. By the end of month 11, she has started standing up on her own in the middle of the room, without holding on to anything, and has even taken a couple steps on her own! How exciting is this! She is going to be walking before we even know what to do. :) She has turned around in her car seat, and is very good at sharing with other babies and playing with kids bigger and smaller than she is. She is sweet, loves to give hugs and kisses, and is so helpful with laundry and she LOVES to play in the kitchen with mommy. She even "cleans" when mommy does! Its so cute. She will love her babies, and takes one to church with her most of the time. She still loves bath time, and loves to push things around the house (toys, stools, chairs, etc). Oh how I love this sweet baby girl! Watching her grow is truly amazing, and its a gift from God!! Thank you Lord for this baby of mine :)

Noto's Wedding

Gracie was in her first wedding on July 16, which was also her daddy's birthday! She was so precious in her little dress, and Wyatt pulled her down the aisle in a wagon with Marley. They did such a great job! Here are a few pics from the wedding.

2nd Annual 4th of July Barrios Bash

The Hot Mamas!

The whole gang

The kiddos

Just the Girls :)

Once again, we took it to the Barrios house for a party! This was the second year we have had the fourth party over there, and they sure know how to throw down! The kids had a blast playing in all the water stuff, and so did the parents! We ate good food, had some yummy drinks, and hung out til way past bedtime :)

Kirk Kirks 80th Birthday Celebration

back row l to r: Jordan Mills McMillen, Jenny Mills Vego, Kathy Hogan Mills, Bryan Hogan, Patricia Hogan Briscoe, Daniel Case, Shane Briscoe.

front row l to r: Anna Faith Case, Kasey Rodgers, Taylor McMillen, Kirk Kirk, Karma Rodgers, Gracie Vego
I dont know how many people are as lucky as I am to have my Grandmother. She is truly a wonderful woman, and we have really been keeping up with each other lately. She turned 80 a few weeks ago, and the whole family got together to celebrate. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone, especially our Texas relatives! We made a slide show for Kirk Kirk, and she teared up remembering all the wonderful years she has had on this earth. It was such a beautiful, and special occasion for all of us, and I would not have missed it for the world! We had four generations present. Wow!

The Swimming Pool!

Gracie got a swimming pool from Granddaddy Oscar! She has had the best time playing in it, and we have had some great opportunities for photos! Here are a few of our favorites.

She also likes to go swimming in the big pool. We are fortunate to have several pools to take her to, and its been really hot, so we have taken advantage!

The Zoo

This year we decided to purchase a Zoo membership so that we could visit the Memphis Zoo anytime we wanted! we have already taken four trips and Gracie has had the best time. She loves to ride in her stroller and watch the animals run around. We got to see the Giraffe feeding one afternoon and she just watched intently and it was so neat so see her take such an interest in animals this early on! She also likes the penguins, and the grizzly bears. They have a really cool new exhibit where you can walk over this large bridge and once you get to the top you can see the grizzly bears play, as well as wolves and elk. Its really neat, and we also like to hang out in the huge lodge with air conditioning. :) We have also taken trips there with Aunt Jo, Uncle Caleb, and Taylor, and Kappy as well as the whole Vego clan! This was truly a good investment and I know there will be many more trips to come.

Visiting Cousin Taylor!

We have had the opportunity to visit Jordan, Caleb, and cousin Taylor a lot since the girls have been born. Here are a few pics from our various visits. There will be plenty more of these to come! Its so nice for the girls to get to play with each other- they share pretty well and act right most of the time. its also quite nice for us mommies to be able to sit and talk and hang out- we are so blessed! Jordan even had to take care of us one trip when I got the stomach virus, which was no fun at all and I got lysol-ed about every ten minutes. :) oh memories! We also started taking walks around the block when it got warm enough, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves as much as the mommies did! I love my family, and am so glad we get to do this!

Easter 2011

happy easter!

having fun on our balcony at Opryland Hotel

posing :)

mom and I found these bloomers at a consignment sale the weekend I found out we were having a girl!

Gracie's first Easter was spent at Lads to Leaders. We did a lot of walking, and Gracie enjoyed watching all the kids running all over the place. We asked The easter bunny if he could come a week early so that he didnt have to hop all the way to nashville to find us, and he did. Here are a few pics of Gracie with her easter goodies, and a photo op we created for her to model one of her many easter outfits.