The Joy of Christmas

Here are some pictures from our Christmas photo shoot. We had the most wonderful Santa come to our house to see the children. We have met some amazing people in Plainview, on of them is my neighbor behind the alley...she is one of my patients and offerred to send over her Santa to see my kids. Matthew loved it and had a great time. Cambell....well, she seems to agree with a few other bloggers that Santa must be one of the most terrifying figures on Earth! I had a blast getting to snap some pictures of the kids. We are working so hard and praying for guidance that we are able to teach our children the true reason for celebrating Christmas and try to focus ourselves and our children on the most wonderful gift, Christ.

They love each other so much.

Sweet babydoll.

Matthew was very impressed with Santa....

Cambell was terrified!

We have had wonderful holiday season. We spent some time in Muleshoe with Granny and Grandad while they had their Christmas celebration at their store. Matthew had a great time on the horse drawn wagon ride with Granny and Grandad! We also went to the Parade here in Plainview which was a lot of fun. It was during a very cold spell here so me and the kids bundled up in the back of the truck to watch the parade go by. Corey was working that night but got to get a peek at the kids looking out the window. Every float that came by got Cambell super excited and she would scream in her cute little voice, "OH OH OH OH AHHHH!!"

We took a break from the last minute Christmas shopping to go to the park last Sunday. Matthew loves the "geeks" that fly around and swim in the water.

So hard to get a good picture!

I think she already knows how cute she is!

Petting the horse with grandad.

Amazing parade! The kids loved it.

Let it Snow!!

We had our first snow of the season and it was absolutely gorgeous. It was my day to spend the afternoon with Matthew, which is really nice to get to devote all of your time to one child! We took a nap together, played in the first snow, ate oatmeal by the fire and ran to Walmart to buy some Christmas decorations. I had a fun day! Here are some pictures of the first snow and also of Thanksgiving. Corey and his parents and the kids drove to Amarillo to spend the day with Corey's Mema and the rest of the William's family. I was sick and opted out of a confined car ride to keep from exposing everyone to my germs. I was sad not to be with them at lunch. They had a lot of fun and played hard. That night Grandad and Granny came over and Grandad cooked eggs and bacon for everyone.

This was one of the most beautiful snows I've ever seen in West Texas....the flakes were huge and they were just dancing their way down to the ground it was so calm!

He wanted to catch one on his tongue or in his mouth but didn't like it when they landed on his face!

Matthew, Mema (Roger's Mom) and Cambell. We don't get to see our Mema near enough.

Matthew knows how to charm!

Cambell playing with Aunt Annette and Mema

Just Post It....

Who cares how cute the words are when Cambell is making this face!

I keep putting of posting b/c I haven't been able to come up with something cute and clever...so now we are months behind! The kids are growing and changing like kids do so quickly. Cambell is trying to walk and becoming more and more vocal everyday. She says, "oh-oh, Mama, Dada and MeMe (which I think is Matthew)." Tonight she was so cute and we were playing peek a boo with Matthew after bath...Cambell would cover up her right ear and then uncover it and start laughing! Matthew is so vocal. I am amazed that we can carry on a conversation with him and his vocabulary is growing daily. Tonight Mauxi was barking and he ran over to her and said, "Mauxi, you behave, stop barking, I'm going to put you outside, bad dog!" It was hilarious. He loves to stop in the middle of anything to pray. It is humbling to hear him give thanks for so many things that we take for granted, even the lights and windows and milk. Sweet babies. Life is good! Here are some catch up pictures.

Scary Matthew Lion..He had a great time trick-or-treating with Mommy, Daddy and Mammaw and Pappaw. Then we went to Granny and Grandads and ate all of the candy!

Sweet Ladybug! She had such a good spirit...no-one could tell she'd been running fever to 104 for 5 days! Little trooper. She finally got over it, but it was a long week with high fever despite tylenol and motrin and lots of love!

We should all be so quick to stop and say thanks.

Happy Girl.

She loves looking out the door. She also loves her Grandad.

Here is a fit in snapshots. #1...Making sure someone is watching....

#2...it is so awful she must plant her face in the carpet to scream....and repeat!

Okay...no one is watching....all better.

Riding his cow named Horse with a Halloween bucket on his head...how much fun!

He can make her laugh like no one else can!

This is her new favorite thing to do...she is dying to walk on her own!

Tonight he found Daddy's shoes and hunting hat and wanted to wear it all.

Playing with his daddy and the toys his daddy played with as a kid.

Trying to take a step. She is so determined!

He loves his sister.

Add Lotion to the Grocery List...

Matthew woke up this morning repeating, "I make a mess, I make a mess!"  Last week when he had the stomach bug that is what he would say everytime he would throw up, and he has also said it when he takes off a dirty diaper or dumps all of the toys out at once....so we weren't sure what to expect.   This is what we found!

Fair Time!

Corey and I decided to take the opportunity to take the kids to the fair.  I have been busy trying to get all of the last minute details of the clinic up and running.  We are working hard all day and staying late until midnight or later.  I decided to leave one afternoon so we could have some fun.  This was the first exposure my kids had the fair.  They both had fun...for the most part.  I will let the pictures do the talking!

Thirsty babies.  They love riding side by side in their stroller.  Matthew loves to make Cambell laugh by leaning over and putting his face in hers!

Me and Cambell on the carousel, we didn't make it long on the horse and had to move over the bench.

No that is not a scream of joy...that is a scream of terror.  "get me out of this plane!!!"  He was not at all happy to be in this airplane ride.

Petting area.  He wasn't too sure about it!

We also spend the preceding Saturday night in Muleshoe while Corey worked that night.  We had a great time hanging out with the grandparents like usual!  Matthew loves to go so the "BIG BIG BIIIG Airplanes out at Pappaw's airport."  He even got to drive the forklift!  I also including some pictures at the bottom of how crazy bath time is at night and how much we are enjoying our cool evening this fall.

That is true happiness on his face (Pappaw's too)

Matthew loves to push Cambell around in the Big Truck and she loves it just as much and will scream when you take her out of it!

Swinging...especially fun with Matthew pushing.

Bath time is so hard with the babies at just now 2 years and 9 months.  I don't know what I would do in the evenings by myself again.

Cambell has Matthew's hair and is pushing his face in the water  All with that cute little smile on her face!  Look out for Cambell!

Matthew and his Granny swinging!

Me and the kids and Pappaw driving the fork lift, aka "BIG tractor"

Matthew pushing the propeller on what really is a big airplane.  These are some of the planes my dad is working on that are fire bombers.  Matthew knows a lot of airplane anatomy including the propeller, wings, wheels, body, and the stabilizer.

Mammaw and Cambell enjoying a nice evening.