The Ellis' Lake House

The lake house is always a great venue for a family gathering. This summer, we took advantage of a great weekend with the Hudson family and got all kids together to play. Nana had some swim time with all her grandkids and Papa managed a few boat rides.

Eufala Lake 2007

Every summer the Doctor family goes to Eufala lake for a vacation/family reunion. The kids do lots of swimming and the adults do lots of sweating (and eating good food). Dakota is a big fan of Gammy and Papa's sea-doo and Elle is an even bigger fan of the 5th wheel trailer.

Favorite Aunt Jayne (she makes us say that)

and Bryan spent some time with the kids and even let Jason and I borrow their bikes for a spin around the park. That's frightening...really.

Fun in the sun!

Florida Vacation - June 2007

This is one of the most hilarious family photos ever. Dakota didn't like the sun in his eyes. This photo was taken with the ocean view from our hotel as the backdrop. Jason's family pictured here are Mom (Sandy), Dad (Herman), Auntie Kara (Sister), Auntie Sissy (Shara) and of course us.

2007

Mother's Day 2007

For my mom's present, I arraged for a photo shoot of my dad at Woodward Park. Most shots were of him alone or him with his K9 pals but this shot was taken with his grandkids. It's a rare opportunity to see him and both kids being so still!

Camden's Bachelorette

After several years of courtship, a perfect couple got engaged and later married on June 9, 2007. Camden and Matt are great friends of ours and I couldn't have been happier than to have hosted her bachelorette weekend at my parent's lake house. Camden, Leslie, Krystal and myself enjoyed lots of time on the boat, in the sun, shootin' guns. Yes, you read correctly.

Papa Mike built a shooting range and gave us lessons with 5+ weapons. What a weekend! This was the same weekend that Leslie announced her pregnancy and we reiminised about Krystal's bachelorette lake weekend as well.

Jason

Jason Ray Doctor was born at 1:52 p.m. on fall afternoon, was 21.5 inches long and weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces. Today, he is a High School History teacher, baseball coach and assistant athletic director at Booker T. Washington H.S. His favorite hobbies are fishing, baseball, golf, and giving mommy a hard time.

5 months old

Candice

Candice Leigh (Ellis) Doctor was born at 8:38 a.m. on hot summer morning, was 22 inches long and weighed 7.4 pounds. Her favorite hobbies are reading, walking, shopping, and taking care of daddy.

6 months old

Family Pets

We also have a 4-legged family. Buster is healthy and strong but we said goodbye to his brother Bandit in Summer, 2008. Buddy is the latest boxer member of the family and he's quasi adopted by Nana & Papa. He enjoys going to the lake with them and their doggy door gives him more freedom than our kennel did so we mostly see him during weekend visitation. We also have two doggies in doggie heaven, Missy and Emmit.

Buster and Bandit

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Emmit

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Buddy

Miscellaneous Pics from Spring/Summer 2007

Krystal and Me at Barry's Bowling Party

Doc and Sean at Elle's Birthday Party

TG and Hank...chillin

The Brannons and The Boomershines

Matt Bearden's Birthday Party - 3 bars later

Camden and Me at bar #2.

Camden and Matt at bar #1.

Tonya and Mom at Hank's Baby Shower

Dilene and Me at Women of Faith Conference

Like Father Like Son

Jason's buddy Sean came over for a boys night. As you can see, the Bud Light was the favorite amongst the guests.

Krystal's 31st Birthday

For Krystal's birthday, Barry arranged for a fabulous surprise. Me and two other of her best friends arrived at her house to wisk her away for a girl's spa day! We drank wine and Barry catered food for us. We had Front Door Spa all to ourselves. It was a fabulous experience with lots of girl talk!

Doctor Christmas 2006

Christmas is always a fabulous time of year. Now that we have kids, there is even more laughter and excitement surrounding the holiday. Most of all, it's a time for family gatherings. Christmas at the Odgen house is always very interesting...full of paper wad fights and the occasional prank gift that is most often an animal carcass. Good times had by all!

Herman was gifted with his first print by Native American artist Matthew Bearden.

And Shara is giving loving to Dakota and Elle's Christmas gift...Buddy.

Christmas 2006

This year, we hosted my mom's side of the family in our home. It's always a relatively small gathering but warm and comfortable as can be. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Kid's Christmas Surprise

Jason hadn't stopped talking about getting a new dog ever since my mom and dad adopted Emmit. I'd been resistent because I liked not having the extra responsibility. Yes, I was being selfish. But he found a boxer breeder and made me go look. We took the kids (huge mistake). We didn't buy one then but Jason went back for a small male with big feet and hid him in the garage until night time. After we came home from opening presents with the Doctor family, there he was! Our little Buddy.

9th Annual Doctor Family Christmas Party 2006

Every year we host a Christmas party for ourselves and our friends and every year it's a ton of fun. 2006 brought a few new guests along and several of the regular were in attendance. It's always an unforgetable reunion and celebration.

2005

2004

Elle

Elle Jace Doctor was born in June 2004 at 9:45 a.m., was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Elle's favorite activities include puzzles, singing & playing in the water.