Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. We have had a fun and busy couple of days. Yesterday we got to visit with some friends we have not seen in a long time, Monica and Alan, and we got to meet baby Simon who is so adorable.

Christmas Eve night, we went to a candlelight service at church and then to my parents for dinner and family presents. The girls went to bed late, and Bret and I went to bed really late! It is amazing how long it takes to put together Santa's toys! I think almost every year, Bret and I are up until at least one in the morning, but it is all worth it the next morning when you see those delighted faces. The girls, of course, didn't make it past 6:30 before they had us up.

Today was another busy day. We had the whole family over to our house for breakfast, and then went to my parents house for a late lunch. Now I am finishing laundry and packing for our trip to San Antonio tomorrow.

Here is our Christmas card picture. A few people never got our card so let me know if you were one of them and I will send you another one. I have plenty more pictures to share, but my photoshop isn't working. As soon as I get it back up, I will post the pictures from Christmas and from our trip.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Bret is 31 today. I love birthdays and get very excited about making that day very special the birthday boy/girl. The girls love birthdays as much as I do especially when there favorite person is the birthday boy. Bret is such a good daddy, and it shows in how much his girls adore him. They really do think nothing could ever go wrong as long as he is here. It is so sweet to watch them with him. A few weeks ago, Macey asked me who I was married to. When I told her I was married to daddy, she said but I was going to marry him. We are so lucky to have him. Unfortunately, Bret did not feel well today so we couldn't do much. We celebrated by going to dinner with the rest of the family. Happy Birthday babe! We love you.

Work Christmas Party

Every year, my dad's company in El Paso has a big Christmas party. This is the first year we have been able to attend. My favorite part about their annual Christmas party is that the whole family is included. It is so much fun to take the girls with us! I had forgotten how much fun parties in El Paso can be. This year it was at a rented party hall. The party started with a visit from Santa. This Santa didn't look as real as some, but he was awesome with the kids!!! He read them the book Twas the Night Before Christmas, and then he let each of them sit in his lap. He asked them all about what they wanted and told them how good they had been. Shelby being the shy little thing that she is, kept getting back in line to sit in his lap. I think she did it at least four times. Their was also lots of food and lots of music. The girls loved dancing. Even Bret got out there and danced a little. Shelby spent four hours solid in the middle of the dance floor. She danced with anyone that would dance with her and by herself when she couldn't find a partner. At the end of the night, we were all exhausted. It took the girls about 30 seconds to fall asleep in the car on the way home.

School Christmas Parites

I have always been the girls room mom which means I get to plan all their holiday parties. It is a lot of fun and a lot of work. I do it because it allows me to get to know the teacher and other parents so much better than I would otherwise. At the girls school this year, they don't have room moms. They also don't really do parties so when I suggested to the teachers that I do one for the class they were thrilled. It was a lot more fun than it has been in past years because they had no expectations. Everything was very laid back. I didn't take my good camera because I was busy and had Shelby. Macey didn't feel well at her party so I didn't even get a picture of her.

Christmas Musical

I haven't been able to blog much because our Internet has been out off and on for two weeks. So I have several things to share. The girls had their Christmas musical on Tuesday night. It was so much fun watching them. They were on stage for about an hour singing songs and acting. The kindergarten through sixth grade were in it. Abby loves to sing so this was right up her alley. Macey loves to dance so she especially got into all the motions that went along with the songs. They were so cute up there. The musical was about Christmas not meaning anything without Jesus. It was very moving to watch these little kids sing their hearts out about Jesus. They have such faith. When I asked Abby about the songs she was singing, she said "Mommy, its the Great Commission. We are supposed to share Jesus with others." I can't believe how big they are, and I feel so blessed that they are in a Christian environment everyday. There music teacher did a fantastic job. Here are a few pictures from that night. I didn't take my big camera because I needed both hands to keep Shelby still and quiet through it all.

A love-hate relationship

Here is a picture of our furry babies. Sandy is the white Lhasa and is ten. The poor thing has had her world turned upside down with the birth of each of the girls, but nothing could prepare her for Huck. He is three years old and almost as hyper as he was when we got him. I thing I have mentioned before that he is one of the sweetest dogs alive! She pretends to hate him if any of us are watching, but I know that he is good for her. At least once a day she will run around the house and play with him. Last night we were all busy, and the house was cold. I caught them snuggling so I had to take a picture of it.

Snow

It snowed here this afternoon which was very exciting for the whole family. It has been years since Bret and I have seen snow. The girls have never seen it before so this was especially exciting for them. Abby and Macey are at school so I don't even know if they got to see it. Shelby couldn't quite figure out what it was. She just kept laughing while we walked around outside. I tried to get a couple pictures, but we got cold and had to go in after only a few minutes. The snow didn't even stick. I can't wait till we get snow that stays around for a while.

Happy Birthday Papa

We celebrated my dad's birthday on the 28 by going to the El Paso club for dinner. This was the girls first time there and they loved it! It is on the top floor of the Chase building and very formal. The girls were really excited about getting all dressed up. Shelby seemed to enjoy it more than the other two. She even loved the food which surprised me. This has always been a special place for our family because growing up, my dad took us there every year for our birthday. We had a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry our Thanksgiving pictures were delayed. We have had more illness in this family the last couple of months. Shelby and I had bronchitis for a month. Abby is still getting over pneumonia, and we have had a stomach bug passing through the family this week. Despite no one really feeling good, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be able to be with all of our family, mine and Bret's, at one time. We have so much to be thankful for! A beautiful house, loving family, and most important three healthy, happy girls. I could go on for days listing all our blessings. I hope everyone had a great day!

I also decided that today would be a good day to get a picture for our Christmas card. What a frustrating experience that was! I now have so much more respect for people who do this for a living, and for Kelsey who took great pictures of my girls in Houston!

Santa Claus is coming to town

This past weekend we took the girls to the mall to see Santa. We don't always do this, but there was no line so I thought why not. Plus, this Santa looked real. Abby is always very skeptical about things like Santa, the tooth fairy etc. However, after meeting and chatting with the Santa at the mall she decided that he was the real thing. Her reasoning was that his beard was real, and he gave good hugs. She said she had met other Santa's before that didn't hug her, and the real Santa would want a hug. I don't remember these meetings, but she rarely forgets anything. Our pictures are terrible. I bought a photo package so that they would let us take a picture with our camera. The pictures on our camera ended up being blury, but at least you can see that they were happy.

Twenty-nine and holding

Today was my sister Lizzy's 29th birthday. We had a family dinner at my parents house like we do for most birthdays. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the family. The girls always love being at my parents house. My mom has done a great job of making her house so much fun for kids. Plus, they enjoy having all the family around. This is what they missed out on the most when we lived in Houston. There weren't enough laid back nights with family. They are so lucky to have so many people in their lives that love them. Lizzy is an amazing aunt! I couldn't ask for anyone better. Happy Birthday Lizzy.

Some people are amazing

In the past week, I have been reminded of the importance of giving and just how selfish I can be. I have always though of myself as a somewhat giving person, and the desire of my heart has always been to teach my girls the importance of giving and ministering to others. That is what God has called us to do. This past Sunday, we had a guest speaker who really put into perspective what it means to truly give. He talked about God giving everything he had, his only son, in order to save us. I have heard this all my life, but for some reason that day it really hit me. God gave up everything he had. The speaker we listened to has been a missionary for the past 35 years. He had his wife sold a prosperous business to travel the world and share God with people. Right now they are working in China with a group of doctors who also made great sacrifices to provide children with life-saving operations. amazing


Yesterday, Abby and Macey's school was part of a CNN rally for their Heroes special that will air on Thanksgiving day. Make sure you watch because all three of our girls might be on TV! CNN is giving away $100,000 to the winner. Voting ended last night, but one of the top ten nominees was a lady from El Paso, Maria. She goes into Jaurez several times a week and feeds, clothes and educates the children there. Many of the kids she cares for are orphans. Maria is such a humble woman. She spoke at the rally and basically said she appreciated the nomination because the money would help the kids, but she is no hero. She said she is simply doing what God has called us all to do. Again, I was reminded of just how selfish I can be!! Jesus Chapel, the girls school, has been working with her for the past several years which is why they were part of the rally. It was so cool to be there and for the girls to get to be a part of something like that. Abby was fascinated by it all. Macey's exact words were B-O-R-I-N-G! I guess she is a little young. Shelby enjoyed it a lot, but she usually enjoys anything involving a crowd and the opportunity to scream. I wish I could have gotten some pictures, but there was no chance to take any.


After this week, I know that I need to be mindful of how blessed I am! My goal is to praise the Lord more of what he has given me, and to focus on what God can do through me rather than for me.

Gymnastic Rocks!

Shelby loves her new gymnastics class! Her old ballet class was only 30 min. long, and she never once made it through the whole thing. This class was an hour long so I was worried. However, she did fine. She never once tried to leave the class, and only knocked on the window a few times to say hi. She walked into the class talking and, an hour later, walked out of the class talking. Remind you of anyone? Abby and Macey have been going to gymnastics for a while now, and it is so nice to have them all in class at the same time. Now I get an hour every Friday to just sit. Plus, it is so much fun to watch them.

These are a couple pictures I took as we ran out the door to class. I have gotten lazy about reading my camera manuel, and I am also still figuring out photoshop. My goal next is to figure out how to make the backgrounds blurry. The picture would look so much better if you didn't see the ugly house behind the girls.

Thank you Jan

A couple days ago, our old neighbor Jan sent the girls some beautiful socks that she had made. She has made them several pair in the past, and the girls are always so proud of them! I have told Jan that she should sell them. They really are adorable. Yesterday, after the girls had gone to school, I was getting Shelby dressed, and I put those socks on her. She got so excited that she said I'm a princess and started dressing up in all her dress up clothes.

Right now her favorite things to wear are some tutus that I made her for dance class. Of course, she only wore one of them before I had to pull her out of the class. Classical ballet was definitely not Shelby's thing. While the rest of the class was practicing first position, Shelby was twirling around the room. Her teacher did not appreciate her free spirit so we are moving on to gymnastics to see if she likes that any better. Her first gymnastics class is today. Since she doesn't go to preschool yet, I feel like she needs something to do at least once a week. However, she is much more of a mommy's girl than the other two were at this age so that makes it challenging.

Here are some pictures of Shelby while she was dressing up and dancing. She hates having her picture taken, so I am grateful to Jan and her socks for giving me the opportunity to take a few pictures.

These are the socks that started it all. This picture doesn't do them justice.

Doesn't Sandy look thrilled to be dressing up?

Just like her daddy, she has to stick her tongue out when she is really concentrating.

Photography and Huck

For a while now, I have been wanting to learn the basics in photography. We spend so much money each year having the girls photographed, and I always feel like I could do just as good a job if I only I had a little training. My sweet hubby bought me the most amazing camera. It is a Cannon EOS 40D (at least that is what the box says). I really have no idea how to use it yet. I am slowly reading the handbook it came with. Our Halloween party was the first time I used it. I don't have photo shop yet either so the pictures are not touched up, but I can already see such a difference in the quality of our pictures. I love this camera!!!! Hopefully I will be able to take a class and learn a little more.



Tonight when I went to tuck Macey into bed, our boxer Huck was sound asleep in her bed. Macey immediately snuggled in beside him and feel asleep. It was so sweet seeing them there that I had to take a picture. I started looking through old pictures and saw so many sweet moments that the girls have had with Huck. He can be such a pain!!!! He chews things up, gets into the trash, steals the girls food and knocks them over when he gets excited. Despite all these things, he is the most lovable dog that ever lived. He adores the girls and is always ready to guard them when they play in the backyard. I think if Huck could change anything about himself, he would want to be smaller. He is always trying to fit in our laps. Here are a few pictures of Huck over the last couple of years.













The last picture is the one I took tonight. Obviously, I still have a lot to learn, but I was excited because I took it in a pitch black room.

Halloween

Last weekend we had a Halloween party at our house. Since we have not been in El Paso that long yet, we really didn't know what to do with the girls. I am not spooky about Halloween, but I also don't like taking my girls to strange houses asking for candy. Our idea was to have a really great family party. I really didn't think anyone would come, but we ended up having 35 people at our house that night. I was a little worried, but it ended up being a great night. The kids jumped in a bounce house, bobbed for apples and just ran around the backyard. The adults, mostly the men, played guitar hero. Bret loves this game, and he is pretty good at it! We had a lot of good food too. It was a lot of work, but it ended up being a really great night. What made it worth it was how much fun the girls had. It is very rare that I let them run in and out of the house like wild women eating as much candy as they want. They took full advantage!

Everyone keeps asking me if Bret was miserable, but he was just in character!