Christmas Snapshots

Mollie and Kelli

William and his new scooter


We love Uncle Frank's playhouse!

Thomas and R2D2

Logan, aka "Darth Vadar's brother"

Tripp taking a ride

Playtime in the driveway

Riding on her new Disney Princess 4-wheeler!

Look at what Santa brought me!

"Come here, Twipp, I'm gonna kiss you"!

"smack"

Making cookies for Santa

and making a birthday cake for Baby Jesus!

Good-bye 2009!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever!" - Psalm 107:1

Greetings to all our friends and families on this last night of 2009! Fireworks are buzzing and snapping outside our windows tonight as Curt and I take a few minutes to reflect back over the past twelve months and are both reminded of God's faithfulness to our family. We have so much to be thankful for that it may be 2010 before we are through with this blog post! (By the way, this is boring and insignificant, but we couldn't believe this is our 81st post in the last year! We have printed all of these blog entries for our kids baby books as an easy way to save memories of our day to day lives.)

2009 was a really big year for little Tripp. He turned one and learned to walk, in that order, had his baby dedication at FBCJ, grew some precious thick blonde curls, and said his first word, "da-da"! He is still not talking alot but jabbers a good bit and has mastered his most important words, "cheese", and "eat", along with a random "du"(duck), and "B"(Barney). Yes, THAT Barney, the purple dinosaur from 1992. Tripp has an infatuation with Barney!

Parenting our little Tripp has been so different than our toddler year experience with Mollie. The difference between boys and girls amazes us, and we wouldn't have it any other way! Tripp loves to explore and run, prefers the outside ("ow-si"), puts his hands in toilets every chance he gets, and prefers that all our belongings be OUTSIDE of our cabinets and drawers. Tripp, at his last Childrens Medical Group weigh-in, was only a mere .4 ounces lighter than his big sister! I'm sure he will be her BIG brother before long, if not already.

Mollie has also had a big year! She has changed so much and continues to bring us laughter as her vocabulary develops. She made us laugh so hard at her second birthday party when she opened her presents and said a few times, "oh my goonness"! Her hair has gotten pretty long and she loves the way it feels on her back. She delays bathtime as long as possible because she likes to jump around in front of the long mirror so she can see her hair "bounce"! She loves to write and color, and still lays all her baby dolls down for naptime. Mollie has learned to use the potty this year and does her best at school where all the other children are also pottying. We're still working on doing the same at home! Mollie loves to "talk" on her cell phone to "Keddi" (Kelli, Curt's sister, formerly known as Lili). She really wants to be just like Kelli when she grows up so it's really cute to watch her mimic her.

Okay, so what did Curt and I enjoy this year.....well, for starters, it snowed (a dusting of flurries) TWICE this year, February and December. That was an unexpected treat! And even more unexpected, we have Dan Mullen to thank for a win at the Egg Bowl this year! Hey, in everything give thanks....! Also, Curt turned 40 this year, and we celebrated with a cruise to Mexico! We rode a really fast speed boat to a private island where the Corona commercials are filmed, Passion Island, and spent the day swimming in the bluest water and relaxing in hammocks. (Oh, we SOOO have to do that again!) We also rode waverunners (yes, plural, we each had our own) in the Destin Bay, and had one of the best/stupidest experiences of our lives, depending on which one of us you ask. My wrists are still jammed from the strength of the waves. What a year! We've had some really fun times together.

More than anything else, I am so thankful for Curt and for the love I see in his eyes for me and these children. Every little girl grows up dreaming about her future husband and children, and Curt has exceeded my dreams. I know how blessed I am to have Curt as my husband and the father of my children. And how lucky Mollie is to have him as her daddy, shoes that will have to be filled one day by her future husband.

So as this year comes to an end, and a new one begins, we hope that 2010 brings lots of good health and good times for all of our cherished friends and families! We love you!

Mollie's "Banibity" (Nativity)

"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed.....". This is Mollie's newest favorite song. Seriously. She wants to stand in front of her "banibity" (nativity) and sing this song....over and over! It's so funny to watch her play with all the wise men, animals, Joseph and Mary, Baby Jesus, etc... This Nativity is from my childhood, so somehow when I pulled it out this year the wise men had all lost their heads. I don't even think Mollie notices, she just rolls their heads around on the table! haha. It's really fun to teach her about the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. On a funnier note, Mollie also likes to put Joseph in time-out, or fuss at the wise men like she's their teacher.

Mollie also has this banibity in her bedroom. Her new routine is to cradle her arms and call for us to come sing "Away in a Manger" with her before she goes to bed each night. We get really tickled because she's so serious about it.

Oh, and if you're wondering about what Tripp thinks about the nativity, he thinks Mollie's fascination with it has freed up a lot of time for him to push her pink stroller! Go Tripp!

Naughty and Nice

Tripp and Mollie got to meet Santa! They were a little overwhelmed....Tripp even trembled a little bit, but they were fascinated by him. Mollie told Santa that she wants a "baby goll and a twuck" (baby doll and a truck), and Tripp's body language pretty much told Santa that he just wanted out of there! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Yes, it is really cold this weekend around our house! Kelli had a teacher's meeting in Jackson on Friday so she and her boys and parents decided to stay with us a few days and do some Christmas shopping. What great timing they had because while they were here, we got a rare treat......snowfall!

Curtis and Kaye kept the children at home while Curt, Kelli, and I went shopping. And then it began to snow! We were as excited as little children going in and out of the stores in the snow. We made a short video of William and Carson after we got home. You'll see it at the end of the pictures. They played outside as long as we would let them, until their hands were frozen and their cheeks were wind-chapped! It was a fun night!

The snow was still on the ground the next morning, but quickly melted as the sun began to shine. Can't wait til the next snowfall!

Old Fannin Road

William and Carson enjoying the snow!