Happy Homecoming Day to You, Sweet R!

Happy Homecoming Day, R! On this day 14 years ago we brought home

 a precious, beautiful, snuggly baby girl.

 You changed our lives for the better that wonderful day.

 And we are thankful for every single day with you. 

You are a good example to your siblings and a joy to our family.

 We thank the good Lord for sending you to us. 

It was fun to celebrate YOU today with your favorite treat made to order ~

 plain white cupcakes with no frosting!  

Of course S wanted you to have a candle,

 so we lit the candle and sang our little song in your honor.

 Thanks for letting everyone help you blow.

I loved the special treat of meeting our dear girl friends at the movies

 to see Beauty and the Beast 3D. 

I love being with you and spending time together. 

Happy Homecoming, R! 

We love you. 

We are proud of you. 

And we delight in you. 

Happy Homecoming, Sweet S!

Today we celebrate YOU, sweet S! We enjoyed beautiful January weather for your special day and you played hard with your brothers and sister outdoors most of the day. After supper we celebrated with sweet pink cupcakes with star sprinkles. And since you believe every celebration needs a candle and a song, we sang "Happy Homecoming to You" and you blew out your big star candle! You are adorable.

You came home with us from Ethiopia three years ago today, and every single day with you has been such a blessing. You are precious. You are loved. You are ours, and we praise God for your life! 

Happy Homecoming sweet girl!

So tickled about the song and candle!

Ready to blow it out

And one more time, just for fun!

You are such a little lady

Yummy!

I love those beautiful eyes

After celebrating it was time to play with your dollhouse

Will you play with me, Sissy?

Sweet Sisters

Christmas 2011

I'm just now getting caught up, so here is a look back at Christmas 2011 at Pecan Bluff. So thankful for so much!

Christmas Eve
HA, HW, R, and S

Now, isn't this adorable?
The boys had the idea to build S a little table for her dolls.
They did it all by themselves and painted it pink.
 I am so proud of my little elves!
 And I am very thankful that their Daddy
 takes time to show them how to build things. 

Santa leaves apples and oranges in all the stockings and they are always a favorite.

R made lots of knitted toboggans for gifts. I'm so proud of  her!

"Wonder what's inside?"

"Thanks for the cap, R. I love it!"

The new gown her Big Sissy picked out.

Trying out the new tea party table.

Best buddies, looking forward to a game together later.

My sweet big girl. I still call her my baby, but that's just between you and me.

Winter Color

I snapped these shots during the past couple of weeks around our yard and pastures. I love the colors that winter brings around here!

Giving Thanks ~ More Family

We had a fun time visiting my sweet grandmother (we all call her Mom) at the center where she lives. The kids played music, sang, and hugged on the residents there. I'm very thankful they are comfortable around older people, and I am thankful our whole family was able to spend our Thanksgiving afternoon visiting this special lady who is so precious to me.

HW and HA played their whole song list, while Mom tapped her foot
 to the music and clapped after each song.

S made her rounds and loved on each resident. They love to see her coming!

Mike was helping S get tuned up to sing for Mom. She sang a solo of
 "I Wandered Today to the Hill, Maggie" and Mom remembered it!

Mom and me and S

S singing her song

The next day we enjoyed time with lots more family at Gram and DDon's house. The food was great, the conversation was good, and it was such a blessing to be together. We love you all! We have so much for which to be thankful.

The kids' table

The big kids' table

The three amigos

Cousin J getting some love from S

When the fun was finally all over, this is where I found S.

Giving Thanks ~ Family

We are so thankful for all the people who love us and our children. There is a whole lot of love going on in our big ol' family, and we thank the good Lord for the blessing of each and every person.

We really enjoyed celebrating our early Christmas with Granny and Grandpa, Marla, Mandy, and Drew. As always, there was lots of good food (delicious tamales, compliments of Granny!) good fellowship, and good fun.  The house was full of laughter and love. We love you all.

"Thank you for helping me be a cowgirl, Granny!"

HW, S, Grandpa, HA

Since the boys are into Legos, Granny has become an expert.

Isn't this a beautiful Ethiopian doll for my beautiful dolly?

HA

HW and S

I love HA and R's faces ~ they were so excited for S when she opened her gift.

One of R's cute handcrafted gifts for Aunt Marla

HW

"See how cute I am, Grandpa?"

Fun!