Prayer hands

Thad has been putting his hands in the "prayer" position lately. He started it about a week ago and now when I take his picture and I tell him to smile he puts his hands like this. He even does it in his sleep!

This picture was back in Russell during Christmas. We were at church and he climbed up in the window seal and folded his hands like he was going to pray.

We have a very sweet boy on our hands!

End of another year.....Blessing 52

This is my last blessing post for this year! I can't believe I made all 52 blessings. It was hard sometimes making sure I had a post for each week of the year.

It's also hard to believe it is the end of 2009. I'm still not sure where this year went. It seems like we were just celebrating Thad's first birthday and now he will be two in January. It was a good year and we have alot to be thankful for. This year brought many blessings including no major health concerns for Thad! He had a few colds, ear infections but nothing major.

I have this entire week off and its been so fun being at home with Thad. He has changed so much in these past two weeks! He is saying more words, repeats everything I say, and is understanding things we say to him. He is a big helper and loves to help around the house. Of course he does his share of scattering toys and making a mess but at least he attempts to help pick it up!

We are excited to go into 2010 and see what exciting new adventures it has planned for us. We hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year!

Blessing 51-Christmas

We spent Christmas in Russell this year. We left Saturday the 19th and spent a week there. We suprised my mom and came early. She thought we were coming the following Tuesday but we snuck out a little early. My dad helped with the plotting and we spent a night out at their cabin at Cedar Bluff Lake. We snuck in while she was taking a nap and was shocked to see us and thought she was dreaming!

Our trip started off a little rocky. Saturday night Thad wasn't feeling well and had a fever. I was freaking out being that far away from Dr.'s and of course I forget his thermometer. After tylenol and sleep he felt much better in the morning but then Sunday night was the same thing. We took him to the Dr. in Russell and he had a double ear infection! She gave him antiobiotics and by Tuesday he was back to his old self again. It always scares me going back to the small towns in Russell, not having a pediatrician in the same town. He was fine and I was much better too once I saw him feeling better.

We got to meet Avery for the first time. She is my brother Mike and his girlfriend Alicia's new baby. She is just a month old and cute as can be! She is a little snuggler and you can tell she gets held alot. We got to babysit a few nights and cuddled her the whole night! Thad was very fascinated with the baby. He kept saying "hi baby" and wanting me to put her on the floor. I didn't trust him enough to get too close to her but we did snap this picture real quick!

He just kept smiling at her and telling her hi.

We hung around Russell for the week and got together Christmas day- my parents, sister Michelle, Doug, Shayna, Hannah and Macie, my brother Mike and his girlfriend Alicia, Dawson, Jaelynne (Alicia's daughter) and their new baby girl Avery. We had a big feast and opened presents. Santa brought Thad a Little Tykes basketball goal. He also got a truck, building blocks, pajama's, pop up books, his first bible, a wiggle worm and so much more! He had fun this year opening all his presents. Everytime we said Santa's name or he saw a picture of him he would say "Ho, Ho, Ho" It was fun to see him get so excited opening up a gift and wanting to play with it right away.

It's always fun to get all the grandkids together. They have a good time and Thad keeps up with them all. They like to play downstairs with all the toys and make their own games up.

We also got a family picture together. So you can put names with faces here is the order. Back row- Adam, me, Michelle, Hannah, Doug, Shayna, Macie. Front row-Luci, Thad, Steve, Mike, Dawson, Alicia, Avery and Jaelynne.

Here is the wiggle worm Grandma Kathy (Adam's mom) and Papa Wayne got for Thad. You sit on it and bounce and it moves like a inch worm.

On Saturday we went to the Budke Christmas in Hays and got together with my mom's side of the family. It's always a fun time and has been a tradition for many years. We rent a big hall and have a big feast with more presents and of course lots of goodies to eat.

It's always nice to get together with family and remember what Christmas is all about. Yes it's fun to open presents but we know the real reason Christmas exists and are thankful for Jesus and all he has done for us. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Bye Bye Car Payments!!! (Blessing 50)

We bought our van in July of 2008. It was our goal to pay it off in a year and we came very close. After we passed the year mark we made a new goal to pay it off by the end of 2009. We just made our last car payment this week and now we have NO car payments. It's a relief to know we don't owe the bank anymore and it's one less bill each month!

I'm still loving the van, even though people are shocked sometimes when I tell them I drive a mini van! We are still on Dave Ramsey's plan to be debt free. One step closer to being debt free and now we can move onto our student loans.

BYE BYE VAN PAYMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa and Thad

We went to see Santa and Thad did very good. He was a little nervous at first so I held him and we all took a picture with Santa. After we were done he felt a little more comfortable so he wanted to give Santa "knuckles" and a high five. He sat on Santa's lap real quick and he snapped the picture. He looks very serious in the picture and was calling my name the whole time. He did very good and didn't even cry! At the end he was telling Santa good bye and gave him a tug on his beard!

Blessing 49

It is a Winter Wonderland in Colorado! The ground is covered in snow and days like this it makes me appreciate my nice warm house! It is so cold outside and the wind doesn't help. I got a snow day today so Thad and I hung out where it was nice and warm. We have one of those fake fire place's which blows out warm air and gives the illusion of a fire going. We cranked it on and sat in front of the fire most of the day. We watched some cartoons, ate cookies and drank milk. We had a nice day at home and now waiting on Adam to come home. (We are also still in our pajamas!!!)

It's a blessing to have a warm place to be when it's so cold outside. We are thankful to have a house to come to everyday. We pray for those who are homeless and don't have a place to call home.