Santa Pics

Well, we have officially put up the cornucopias and are welcoming in the Christmas season!  First stop, Bass Pro Shop for some Santa pics.  They always do a fabulous job setting the scene and their Santa is tops!

 The kids even wrote letters to Jolly Old St. Nick... 

 Then Nate mailed them directly to the North Pole

 They also had several games to play with, of course Daddy and Nate were taken by the train! 
(I love how it is Christmas on the inside and palm trees on the outside...that is my kind of  "Winter Wonderland"!)

And of course, nothing says Christmas like shooting something (?!?!?)

When we got home the tree went up.  Nathaniel was eager to help with decorations so it was pretty bottom heavy. However, Marissa was eager to help with un-decorating once she got up from her nap so the breakable ornaments have been moved to higher, safer areas! 

May the joy of the season be yours...not the madness that is all too often associated with it. 

Thankful for the Meadors

Aside from getting to spend time with family this holiday season, we are also thankful to catch up with old friends.  The Meadors came to town and we joined Jenni's side of the family for some fun yesterday evening.  Nathaniel had a blast running around with all the little boys and as you can see, Marissa was a pretty happy camper too!

Grayson giving Nathaniel a ride

Happy Girl!

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a nice time with Daddy's side of the family this year....and ate waaaaay too much!

And in honor to celebrate this gluttonous occasion, Marissa decided to break out tooth number 9, an upper left molar.  That girl knows what it is about, unfortunately it made her a bit fussy for all the festivities.  Although you can't tell from this picture:

So happy to show off the sweater Granny made her

 Overall it was a great day!  Hope you paused to be thankful for all you have been blessed with too.

Cowboy Weekend

It was one busy weekend around these here parts....

Saturday at 9:00 we kicked things off with our annual support-Kacy-fundraiser pics.  It was a different photographer than we had the past two years, but she goes to church with us and is a real sweetheart.

Then at 11:00 Daddy went to deliver Thanksgiving dinner supplies to needy families while Mommy and the kids went to Sheriff Travis' 4th birthday party.  It was a cowboy theme and the kids had a great time.

Here's Nate with the birthday boy

 

Then at 3:00 we headed to New Caney to a mini Yancy family gathering.  In keeping with the cowboy theme of the day, the kids got up and close and personal with our cousin's longhorns.  Actually Lola (of course we had to take her with us) got in the pen, I was pretty sure she was a goner, but she managed to survive.

Today we went to church then headed to Houston to take Great-Grandpa out for his birthday lunch. It has been a non-stop weekend!

We Be Jammin'

Daddy was away for a few days at a conference.  We spent a lot of time jamming out. 

Who knew I had two budding musicians on my hands?

Perhaps it was music only a mother could love, but it was music to my ears. 

Noelle's First Birthday

I love gangs of kids...they really are unstoppable. 

We got together for our friend, Noelle's first birthday.

We got to spend some time playing with the Hall boys, which is always fun!  However, I am not sure which is more troublesome....this:

Or this:

But I do know I love seeing these two smile and have a good time, which they certainly did!

And lastly, but most importantly, we want to introduce you to our new friend Addison.  She just got put on the heart transplant list last Thursday.  She is about 3 months older than Marissa and has a bit of a journey ahead of her.  Please join us in praying that things can go as smoothly as possible for little Addison and her family. 

Brown Bear, Pink Bear

Before Nathaniel was born a coworker crocheted a sweet little teddy bear for him. I immediately fell in love with it and was amazed by the love, care, time and thoughtfulness she put into the sweet gift.  Last Thursday I had a gift bag on my desk with a pink bear in it. I could not believe Arantza had made not one but two of these precious gifts for my kiddos.  I went over to thank her and she sheepishly grinned and said "better late than never".  I am overwhelmed by her generosity and did not even think of it as being "late".  However when I got home and showed Marissa, she also immediately fell in love and squealed with delight.  I would have to say the timing was perfect.  It was much more fun to see her reaction at 15 months than if she had this precious gift from the day she was born.

Just look at that face, that is pure delight (not to mention one of my new favorite pictures).

She has been inseparable from this little pink bear. 

Not to be outdone by his little sister, the next day, Nathaniel went up and brought down brown bear. He formally introduced Brown Bear to Pink Bear!

It was pretty upsetting when I made Nathaniel give Pink Bear back to his sister; hence, the pouty face.

Two loved little kids have two loved little bears.  Thanks Arantza, we will always treasure these!

Thankful

Dear God,
Thank you for these precious kids.  For their smiles, for their laughter, for their love.  Through them I learn so much. I learn about joy that knows no limits and that sometimes my patience does. I learn laughter is contagious and sometimes tears are too.  I learn that actions speak louder than words but hearing the words "I love you" will always melt my heart.  I learn that sharing is not easy but applause at such accomplishments goes a long way. I learn that being clean, well rested, and groomed is not quite as important as I once thought but bedtime rituals, sneaking in snuggles, and kisses to mend ouchies are more important than I could have ever imagined.  I learn about forgiveness and grace on a daily basis....and I hope they will too when they realize this is the only picture I have from the day of their Thanksgiving day performance......oops! 

Lola Love

Just incase you were wondering, there's a whole lotta Lola Love happening every day at the Yancy house!

Even Bruno loves him some Lola!