One Year Ago

Its been a year since I lost my Dad. One year. I can't believe it. This Christmas was hard. Dad wasn't there to hold  hands with while we prayed over our Christmas dinner. He wasn't there to hide behind the tree and ring the bell as the boys looked to the sky to see if they could spot Santa on his sleigh. He wasn't there to hold my daughter and hug her tight on her first Christmas. He wasn't there, and that was, and will always be hard. My Daddy wasn't there, but my Heavenly Father was, and we felt His presence. I don't know where we would be or how we would cope without our faith and hope in the Lord. As these years pass by, I know that things will get easier. I will never forget how special he was, and I will never fail to tell my children how much he loved them. We miss you our Daddy and Poppa! We will be together again.

Our Christmas in Pictures

Our Family Picture

My Christmas Blessings

Hudson and Matt building a snowman at Mare Mare's

Pre-school Christmas Party

Matt telling Santa what he wants for Christmas (I love the way he has his hands on his hips :)

Getting ready to tube on Christmas Eve

Getting ready for Santa

All bundled up to sprinkle reindeer food on the grass for Santa's reindeer

Reading a Christmas story with Mare Mare

This cracks me up!!! I will threaten Matt with this picture when he turns into that teenager with an attitude!

Matt was a really good boy this year!

Mallary loved the wrapping paper most of all!

Daddy's Boots

Pulling Up and Ponytails

Two exciting things have happened in the last couple of weeks: Mallary is pulling up, and I managed to gather a few hairs of hers into a ponytail! I think it's a total of about 3 hairs, but still...I managed. When she started crawling I was pretty shocked, but I was REALLY shocked to see her pulling up. I think she wants so badly to do the things her big brother does, so she is bound and determined to make it happen. I love this stage!   

Funny Christmas Pictures

                                                 

I love the expression on Matt's face in this one....he really likes to give a "cheesy" smile!

Trying to get Christmas card pictures done this year was quite the challenge! The ones with all three kiddos are for my mom. We did manage to get some cute family ones...BARELY! These just make me laugh...

Polar Express

This year we decided to take the kids on the Polar Express ride in Lubbock. Matt watches the movie all throughout the year because it is one of his favorites. We went with my mom, sister, my nephew Max, a couple of my aunts and their girls Gracie and Allison. Everyone had such a wonderful time...especially the kiddos! I loved watching Matt during the ride. He was full of awe and wonder. It was magical, and I hope to make this a family tradition of ours. Mallary will really enjoy it next year!

A HUGE milestone

Recently we have started the whole "self soothing" method with Mallary and it has worked beautifully! We started it with Matt at 4 months and it worked great for him as well. I know some people out there think that this method is cruel, but let me tell you, those people obviously have not been sleep deprived! With Matt it took a little less than a week, but with Mallary it took about a day...literally. She cried for a total of 15 minutes the first time and the next time she maybe cried for a minute or two. Ever since then, we can just lay her down and she is content and off to sleep in no time. This method is truly an answer to prayer for us. I am just so thrilled to have a happy, healthy, sleeping baby!

Lil' Farmer

If you ask Matt what he's been up to lately, he'll tell you "farmin'". It's true. That's all he does and talks about. He will tell you the names of every piece of equipment imaginable. He looks through Mark's farm journal magazines just like a grown man would. When we get in the car to go somewhere, he can spot a tractor/combine a mile away and will proceed to tell you what that farmer is doing, whether it be plowing, planting, etc. It is just precious, and makes Mark so proud! I'm just going to take a guess as to what he'll be when he grows up....a farmer. That's just my guess :D