It's Christmastime

What a year it has been and I am so excited that it is Christmastime. A time to rejoice to celebrate the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and to visit with Family. What more could one request?

Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving up at my Dad's. We ate Turkey, played with Friends (well at least Abigail made a little friend and they played together), had pictures taken and visited the zoo lights. It was beautiful and Abigail loved it, especially the merry go round at the end. She slept well that night.




When we got back we made a Christmas tree and decorated the house. I just want to share a picture of the tree we made. It was soo much fun to make that together.



This may be my last post for the year but will try to pick it back up in the new year. Have a Merry Christmas and see you all soon.

Miss you...

Jimmy - You have truly been an inspiration to many of us. I know that this blog typically is about Abigail, but what better way to share how truly thankful I am for such a wonderful man in my life. Jim has been in my life for 27 years, 21 as my Step Dad. He helped raise me, make sure that I did not goof off, and helped me see that there are more important things in life then just getting the job done. He showed me how important family is and how much I cherish that! My Dad ( Jim ) loved us so much and took the time to encourage us, to care for us and to LOVE us. I know that he loved me and especially loved my Mom, but my heart aches because he is no longer here with us.

There are so many stories of how much fun we had or how much trouble we got in. Yes I know that I made him mad on more than one occassion, but the most memorable is when I told him that he was not my dad and that he could not tell me what to do. Well I then locked myself in my room and proceeded to hide and being a cheap door, he broke right through it and scared me to death. I know that it was not funny then, but looking back it makes me smile. Funny to me now is that at the time I really meant that he was not my dad and that he could not tell me what to do, but now I know the truth, you do not have to be the biological father to be a dad and I am very fortunate to have two. My real dad is great and I love him lots, but right now I miss my dad!

For those who do not know, Jim fought a really tough case of esophagus cancer and lost his battle on October 20th after just 8 weeks of knowing that he was even sick. I was able to fly in and spend a half hour with him before he passed away. I thank God for that half hour and know that he helped Jimmy stay alive for me to even have that time. Thank you Jesus!

I love you and miss you very much Jimmy!!!

Catching up...

So life flies by and my Mom keeps telling me that I really need to be adding more pictures and show the progress on the house. Some things are easy to show and others, well... I am NOT crawling under the house to take a picture of the plumbing completed, or crawling up into the attic to take a picture of wiring. They are not complete, but lots of progress has been made and I am happy to say that I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, maybe not as soon as I would like but a light none the less... The roof is done, it was finished before the rains started, literally the day before. Just a couple of pictures of the roof in progress, in comparison to the old roof - WAY Better (not good english but oh well) and a view from the front with our house numbers wiped out.






Then we took Abigail to pick out a pumpkin and they had trike racing, a wheat pyramid, a wheat box, a wheat slide, a grass maze, fresh strawberries (they have strawberries 10 months of the year) and a pumpkin patch - IT was awesome and she had a blast.




We started letting Abigail paint. She has been great with it and has stayed on the drop cloth where I let her paint. It is so much fun.




The last picture is her friend Abigail Joy from daycare - the only two little ones there and they share the same first and middle names, very funny.

Time to play...

While Dad is away for the weekend, I thought it would be fun to let Abigail play in the puddles. It started accidentally when my friend Kendra was leaving last night and I told Abigail that I would let her play today. So I took the camera and we went outside. She had a blast and did not want to come in, but she was completely drenched by the time she was done and I thought we had better get inside before she comes down with another cold... So here are a few pictures to enjoy!

Happy Birthday Ryan

Abigails cousin Ryan's birthday today - Happy Birthday Ryan!

Papa Jim these pictures really are for you. I finally took the time to take some pictures of Abigail and will post a couple as I determine which ones I like... Love you bunches and see you soon...

Life hits hard...

Just an update. I am sorry that we have been MIA but life sometimes hits hard and we just try to keep up. We that is exactly what has been going on here. The addition is still moving forward, the roof is almost completely done. If the rain lets up today may be the day it is finished. Then back to the plumbing and electrical work.

In other news, my Dad (Jim) has been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus and has started his chemo treatments. He has those for six weeks then a two week break and then starting another regime. Abigail and I get to visit at the end of next month during the two week break, which will be nice. It will just be nice to see him in person. So many times I hear that he is doing well and that he feels fine, but just to see him will be nice.

With the addition, work, life I just have not kept up on pictures of Abigail. I will try to be a little better at that, as she is just getting so cute, in everything that she does.

Blessings,
Sara

Oh where oh where have we been...

Gosh, It has been way to long since I have posted last and this post just goes to prove it. First off, we checked out Bob and Larry - the Veggi Tales - at the malle a few weeks back, and those vegitables are a lot bigger in life than we expected. It took Abigail by surprise and although they kinda scared her, she kept wanting to go back.


Then sometime later, we took Abigail to the coast for a weekend and went to the Aquarium for the first time. It was so much fun to see her running around, trying to look at everything and not miss anything, but then again two seconds is about how long it would last at some of the stops. She loved the possibility of touching some of the animals, but when it was finally her turn she decided that it wasn't as fun as she thought it should be... Oh, and the sharks scared her! I think it was more the divers cleaning the glass that scared her, but that was enough of that.





We also had a great time at the beach, it really could have been a little warmer, especially since it was 100 back home, 60 is not warm, seriously! But, when at the beach, what do you need to do, but spend some time in the water, of course. We did, and it was still cold.



When we were at the coast we bought a little pot and pan set and also a small basket full of vegetables and other grocery type stuff. Well when we got home, instead of buying a stove set I made up this little stove and she loves it!



Papa Bob came by for a visit the other night - we went out for dinner and then came back home for a few minutes. Had to catch a picture of the two of them. I just love this one.


Oh, and the big news for us is that Abigail has moved into a Toddler bed. She loves it! It seems to be more of a toy than a bed, but she is doing great. She slept fine in her bed after she fell asleep in our bed the first night and then last night she went to bed and slept all night in her own bed and today is her first nap in her new bed. She is such an awesome little girl. We are extremely Blessed!


Sorry this has been so long. I will hopefully post more often to keep them shorter. Thanks for checking!

Fair time...

I keep meaning to post something here, but this summer has been very busy as you can tell from a lack of my posting anything. We took Abigail camping for the 4th of July down at the dunes and then have not really done anything else except the addition and still lack pictures to prove that it is moving forward. I will get some soon, I promise. Anyway, we took Abigail to the fair this week and I thought I would post a picture or two...

She loved the petting zoo. We even splurged this year and bought her some food to feed the little animals, although no pictures of that.


First time on a carnival type ride. We took it easy with the merry-go-round.



Lastly we had to try out the Fire fighters area. Abigail had fun trying her best at being a little fire fighter but alas she did not want to carry the fire hose through the tube. The picture in the jacket was well worth our time playing in their area!

Having a BLAST!

Well Abigail is having a great time playing with her cousins, going for boat rides and having her first sleep over... I am enjoying every minute of this trip, although missing Terry and wish that he could be a part of this. It has been great spending time with my family, even my sister ;-)

I thought you would enjoy seeing Abigail on her first boat ride, trying out some roller skating and spending time with 'her boys' as she calls them.

Just starting out carefully between Grannie and Papa...


Here she thought she would try her hand at driving the boat...


Just enjoying our time out on the water.







A turtle hanging out on one of the many branches popping up above the water level.


She thought she might try a little roller skating at one of the boys 5 birthday parties this week. They seem to have a few too many friends with birthdays all at the same time. We got to tag along when we wanted too.




The boys spent the night for Abigails first sleepover...


We took another boat ride out to a small waterfall, this time with the boys. It was so much fun.

May Flies...

SO we are learning that as the mayflies fly so do little girls. OK not really but it sure is nice to have some time to see how she does as the mayflies swarm. We are on vacation with my parents and are having a great time. Just want to share some pictures, mostly for Terry as he is still home taking care of the house. I miss you dearly and love you much Terry! Thought you might enjoy these...

checking out the birds, with Grannies help finding them in the telescope.



Fishing with Papa and the mayflies. I tried as hard as I could to get a really great picture of the mayflies swarming and landing on us, but it is really hard to do. I have some great pictures of the limbs of these great big trees being weighted down by them, but thought it would be better if I remained with the primary subject - Abigail!






At home with Connor, Papa, Ryan...



Here we are showing off our feet. Abigail did great with having her toes painted!


Checking out Papa's boat, still parked in the garage.