Happy New Years Eve

I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Years Eve and spending today/tonight with family and friends. We are enjoying a long weekend in Lufkin with Kevin's parents. Last night we got to have a double date with Willie and Jennifer while Allison stayed home with her grandparents. Kevin and Gary shot 12 ducks this morning, then we all took Allison to the Lufkin zoo and now headed back to the house to watch the rest of the Aggie game. Hope y'all are having fun and see you next year!

New Dog House

A couple weeks ago Kevin spent the weekend building Sophie and Haley a new doghouse.  We left the old one back in Spring when we moved.  This one is definitely bigger and better - the dogs each have their own space and Kevin used extra stone from our fireplace renovation on the outside.  The roof is hinged so we (meaning Kevin) no longer have to climb inside to put new hay in.  Hopefully the dogs will like it.  It's positioned on the porch to try and avoid the wind - not an easy thing here.  We had to take down our wind chimes only a couple days after we hung them up - they were loud and never stopped!

Haley posing with her new house

The roof opens!

Christmas Stocking - Then and Now

Here's a picture of Allison with her stocking one year ago for her first Christmas, and one from yesterday.  Its amazing what a difference a year makes.  It has been such a wonderful year for us - watching her grow, moving to a wonderful home in a new city, and finding a church home.  

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and feels as blessed as we do this year.  Here are a few photos of our home decked out for the holidays for the friends and family who weren't able to come and visit this year.  We hope you make it to our house next year.  

Our front door

Kevin put up the lights himself

Kevin and I both have stockings made by our grandmothers.  Kevin's mom and sister helped me make Allison's.

Country Christmas

We are hanging out in the Stockyards checking out the decorations and currently having a drink at the White Elephant. Here is a video of Allison showing off her dance moves on the stage.

Presents!

I caught someone trying to open a Christmas present early. Luckily it was one for her and she didn't get very far!

Before now Allison had only been interested in the ornaments on the tree and not really noticed the presents underneath - aside from pulling off a couple bows.

Allison and the ornament

Bobcats and Coyotes and Turkeys - Oh My

Yesterday morning we took a sunrise walk to the pond in our subdivision to see the ducks before breakfast. We also saw a group of geese flying low overhead and honking - we thought they were going to land in front of us. Kevin went to go stand closer to the pond for a picture and startled a bobcat who was sleeping less than 10 feet from where he and Allison were standing.

This morning on our way to church we saw a coyote run across the road, and a couple wild turkeys as we were driving back home. So much for suburban sprawl!

Balance beam

3 weeks ago she wouldn't go near the beams at Little Gym. Now it's one of her favorite things. Not the most graceful dismount but she kept her balance.

Morning routine

First we brush our teeth. Then we attack the bed head. Allison can brush her own teeth but it requires holding all 3 toothbrushes. I may have trained her a little too well. Maybe I should send this to my dentist - he would be so proud!

Photo Card

Christmas Mistletoe Christmas

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Dancing with daddy

Allison is 15 months old today. You can see how happy she is in this video twirling around the living room with her daddy. Note the baseball cap Kevin hung on the tree instead of putting it away earlier.

We've had a fun afternoon. A couple friends from church came by to help us make some homemade treat baskets for the church nursery staff. In between watching the kids play (reason ornaments not up yet) we made hot cocoa mix, granola and Oreo truffles. Our house smells amazing.

Eskimo Kiss

Allison and my dad saying goodbye before he heads back to Houston. The dogs are already moping, they love when my dad visits.

Sleepy girl

Yesterday we had a full morning. Holly and Brooklyn came over for an early playdate then Allison and I braved the rain to get groceries. I guess she played harder than I thought, she fell asleep a few minutes before we hit checkout. Luckily we had puppy with us which made a great pillow. Allison napped the whole way home and for 2 hours after that and was ready for playgroup yesterday afternoon with her friends Abby and Gus. We also got to meet Gus's new little sister, sweet baby Carson.

Hope everyone had a great Monday and stay warm!

Our Crazy Big Saturday

Kevin is on his way to his first Little Gym class with Allison, them we are meeting up for pictures with Santa at BNSF. Tonight our Sunday school Christmas party is at our house. Pictures coming soon. Hope you are having a fun December too!

Thursday night adventure

Allison in front of the fountains at Southlake Towncenter. We came out to walk around and look at the lights. Happy December everyone!