Home Sweet Home

Got back home around 1pm today. 

Cleaned up the bus, unloaded and put stuff away 

and then began the never ending pile of laundry to wash.

But it's ok, the machines do most of the work. The trick is to stay on it.

Our camping trip was loads of fun. 

The weather was cool, especially in the evenings.

Everyone seemed to have a good time. 

We were so happy that Hannah could come early and stay a few days with us. 

She had so much fun and she is such a good little girl!

We took her to all the playgrounds...her favorite thing to do.

There were four different ones and we had to visit them all.

Ethan enjoyed the playground, too!

In fact, there wasn't much of anything about camping that Ethan didn't like

Back at the bus his mommy and daddy made him a neat little area to play and sleep

(we very quickly covered that outlet with safety plugs)

What's really great about camping here at Christmas time, 

is the way everyone decorates their campsite.

Here were some of our favorites

This was our campsite in the daytime

And this is what it looked like at night

They even have a sing-a-long campfire with Chip and Dale 

and then you can watch a Disney movie.

Here Hannah and Papa were roasting marshmallows

And this is what a princess looks like at the end of a busy day of camping fun

I'll post more tomorrow.

Oh How We Need God

We are away on our annual Christmas camping trip. 

We are having a fun and relaxing time. 

Manny & I arrived Wednesday afternoon and part of our family joined us Thursday evening - Hannah, and Ethan with his mommy and daddy. 

Hannah's mommy, daddy, and sister Sarah are suppose to join us tomorrow.

And then today we hear the news of the HORRIBLE tragedy at an Elementary school in CT. This world is full of evil. 

 I believe in the one true God and I also believe in the existance of true evil. 

The Bible tells us it is so. 

One day the evil one will be put to an end FOREVER but until that day 

he is very, very busy on this earth.

 Let us pray for all those affected by today's heartbreaking tragedy.

Productive Day

Very productive day today...

finished up my last two locket party orders before Christmas last night 

and placed my order with the company today.
Lord-willing, everything is suppose to be in in plenty of time for Christmas.

I even got my dining room table back...YAY!!!

Tomorrow (Lord-willing) we'll be heading out for our 

Annual Christmas Camping Trip

We've been doing this for many years now, 

although we missed last year because of a certain someone's arrival

It was quite alright though, we didn't mind :0)

So Boo Bear was here today and we had lots of fun.

He sure does enjoy saltine crackers 

Look at those cute little white teeth!

Well, I'll try to post little bits if I can from my phone while I'm gone the next few days, 

but I sure am looking forward to some R & R 

and then we we get back I hope to get into full Christmas mode.

It will be here before we know it.

Are you enjoying this beautiful season?

You know what they say...

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"

A Day Full of Emotion Part 2

So my morning (yesterday) was full of excitement and emotion 

over Hannah's performance and especially her shorter hair...

but we made sure she knew how much we approved 

and told her that she was still the girl we loved very, VERY much.

Then later in the day we had a celebration for Ethan

 his VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY!

The theme was of course Yo Gabba Gabba his favorite program.

He was as sweet as ever and didn't seem to realize that the celebration was for him.

He was happy when dinner time came and he swallowed each mouthful of his dinner 

with delight as he usually does, but then came a special treat

he got to try out his birthday cake.

His mommy and daddy had asked me to make the piece that he would eat

His mommy took off his nice clothes so he could make a mess 

but he really didn't at all. 

He didn't seem to know what the fuss was all about until his mommy 

coaxed him to taste some

 ...then he got the idea.

He didn't quite know what to make of it all 

 Then his cousins sang "Happy Birthday" to him

 He got a BIG kick out of that!

 But he continued to eat the cake

 Here is Cousin Sarah...she was having her own party on her blankie. 

She likes to do her own thing, ha ha.

Then it came time for his first haircut 

but he wasn't fond of this cape (so it came off fast)

and the haircutting began...(bye-bye curls)

Daddy and Uncle are looking on

 And here's our big boy

  

Then he got a picture with Grandma Helen and Grandma Dee

And then one with Grandma Dee & Papa

Happy Birthday sweet Ethan Mark!

Please don't grow up on us too fast. 

♥We love you...God Bless you♥

A Day FULL of Emotion

Where do I begin...

I knew today would be exciting because it was the annual Children's Christmas Presentation at church, 

and later in the evening we would be celebrating Ethan's first birthday. 

Today was also my dad's birthday but he's celebrating in Heaven now.
So, we get to church and get a seat...right behind our son, daughter-in-law, and Sarah.
Before the performance starts, people are mingling and chatting.
A friend comes up to us and we start to talk and then we realize the performance is about to begin
but just before my friend leaves to go back to her seat she says to me, 
"so what do you think about Hannah?" to which I replied, "what do you mean?" 
and she continues, "what do you think about Hannah's hair?" 
and my mouth dropped open because what she said could only mean one thing. 
So I sat down and began to cry.
I looked at Manny and he looked at me. 

The play began...it was wonderful, as usual! Hannah had two different parts
she mostly sang in the first service and she spoke and sang in the second
but during the first service she came up to the front of the stage to do a solo
and that's when we saw her and I cried some more!
I'm not sure why it hit me so hard. I knew she couldn't grow her hair forever
and she'd been wanting to get it cut for some time now...
She just looked so grown up, and I felt that horrible pain in the pit of my stomach 
just as I did when our boys hit a milestone in their lives. 
But all these things are a part of life, we can't keep our children children forever.
They will eventually grow up and the cycle of life continues.
What matters most is what's on the inside, what's in the heart. 
That's where true beauty comes from anyway.
I'm not saying that Hannah's not beautiful anymore - quite the contrary, 
and Hannah was not just beautiful because of her beautiful hair.
Still, it was a BIG step for her (and I suppose for Grandma Dee, too.)

So this was Hannah the night before

and this was Hannah today 

She looks ADORABLE in her new hairdo and I just had to tell her.

 ♥I love you Hannah ♥

Ok, so I'll continue with Part 2 tomorrow:
Ethan Turns ONE!

A Lovely Evening with Ethan

Tonight we had a special treat - we got to watch Ethan at his house 

so his mommy and daddy could go to a Christmas dinner for Mommy's work.

We thought it would be best for him to be able to go to sleep in his own bed. 

We got to play for a few hours and Ethan showed Papa his tricks

like standing up and hanging onto the couch

and Ethan showed Papa all his toys

And then it was dinner time and let me tell you...this boy LOVES to eat!

 We sat by their beautiful Christmas tree and watched Christmas movies

While Ethan's canine brother a.k.a. Friend and Protector kept a watchful eye

But then exhaustion set in, lol

Ethan was tired too, ha ha. 

I gave him his bath and put him to bed,

 but didn't get a chance to catch a picture of those moments.

Before long, Ethan's mommy and daddy had come home.

They had a lovely evening and so did we ♥