the mckees came to visit

just for the afternoon, the mckees minus two came and hung out with us! it was so good to see these sweet faces.

these two are buddies!

jackson was so excited to get to play with geb!

a pmf Christmas

all booted up...ready for a hike in the woods.

leanne and rex brought a gingerbread train for the kids to decorate!

i love to watch the kids open presents.

who doesn't love a 5 lb. bag of haribo gummies?

granny in perfect form, as always.

we played several games of "corn hole" (courtesy of 'gee and mac').

love this pic of reese with grandpa mac!

it was a great time at the pmf...good food, fun games, family time and presents! thanks to mom and mark for hosting us!

Christmas lights

the pictures don't quite show how lit up our house was at night, but colin did a great job with the lights this year.

he went to great heights so that people could see the star from far away.

saturday afternoon project part 2 - Christmas cookies

sampling of the batter/showing off aprons

let the cutting begin

jack ate as much dough as he used to make cookies

the final product.

saturday afternoon project part 1 - the firepit

colin and jackson digging the pit

jackson hauled the dirt away in the dumptruck.

baxter kept attacking colin's hand as he was leveling the dirt.

the finished product. now all we need is some smores!

nuttin better

green acres is the place to be

farm livin is the life for me

land spreadin' out so far and wide

keep manhattan just gimme that countryside.

we slammed about 20 fish this afternoon!

thanks for hanging with me today shane!

going once...going twice...sold!

what do you do in a small town for fun? go to the cattle auction! jackson and i met a couple of friends at the sale barn yesterday to see a bunch of cows and bulls go to the highest bidder. jack told me before we arrived, "when you see some cows's eyes...yell... 'cow's eyes'."

jackson insisted on wearing his cowboy hat and boots while his buddy opted for the santa hat.

when the auction started, jack assumed the above position for almost the entire time we were there (an hour). he was completely absorbed in all that was going on, yelling "that's a big cow" many times throughout the sale. i accidently bid on one heifer, but someone else outbid me!

when mackenzie takes my camera

mackster has been stealing my camera frequently to take pics of sunsets and other random things (cow poo included). here are a few of my favs.

this sunset was breathtaking!

this one made me smile.

this one makes me want to hurl.

paw paw's in town

paw paw came in town for a brief visit this week. we went hiking and had a picnic in the state park while the girls were in school, then later watched the kids choir performance and saw the nativity story movie. the visit was short, but sweet.

thanks for coming paw paw!

we're soaring...flying

uncle rex and aunt leanne are the coolest!! they rented a plane and flew down to clifton to take our family up for a ride. the kiddos were so excited. we flew over our house, the town, the state park, and the kid's school.

the girls went first

can you see the excitement?

view of our house from the plane

jack loved it! he talked about "uncle rex's plane" all day long

pre-flight checklist

the boys' turn

it was a day we will remember forever. thanks aunt candy and unclelicious!!!

my first fire

we got home from church last night and the kiddos wanted to build a fire. they were even willing to brave the cold to go out and get some wood. colin wasn't home, but i ventured out on my own. the result was success! my first fire...

live nativity

one of the fabulous things about being in a small town is the community supporting the local church. fbc had full support of the town to read the story of Jesus' birth and reinact it in the park downtown. afterwards we sang Christmas carols.

mackenzie and reese were heavenly hosts.


jackson was toddler Jesus (when the wiseman came).

in the age of having to be politically correct all the time, it is nice to be in a place where we can celebrate Jesus without apology.

my little charmer

this little guy is such a ladies man. he doesn't like to leave the house without his hair spiked up and wearing his dad's cologne.

thanksgiving

we headed down to p.a. on wednesday to spend thanksgiving at oma's house. we had some yummy food, played some games, watched the aggies beat t.u. and did some craft projects. thanks oma for your hospitality!!