A very white Christmas!

In the midst of all the celebrations this year, there is a deep sadness in my soul. This Angel of Remembrance is on our tree because we remember that there are two very special little girls who should have been celebrating their first Christmas with us this year. Instead they are singing with the Angel Choir, worshipping our King. Avery and Sophie, we miss you.... a lot!

And still it snows outside....

Yesterday we enjoyed several flocks of birds who thought perhaps this bird house might provide some food for them..sparrows, chickadees, dark-eyed Juncos and even a Rufous-sided Towhee visited our Backyard.
Today there is just snow, snow and more snow!
No birds taking baths today!

Merry Christmas!

It's December 24th and it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! Right down to the snow falling outside for what they are predicting will be our whitest Christmas on record(not sure how you get to be the 'whitest') We have enjoyed a couple of Christmas Dinners already this week.....first with our family and then yesterday with my parents and sister and her family. I took this picture of the 'young Becks' yesterday before all the rest of the company arrived! Aidan was laughing at his "Pa" who was making faces at him behind me!


I love this picture of Jaxon smiling. His smiles have been hard to come by but just this week it's been fun to see him smile when he sees me. He was enjoying just playing on the floor with his toys while we were getting our Christmas Dinner on the table on Sunday.

Although we were missing Jody, Darin and Caily, we were so thankful that Heather and Matt made the effort to drive down for the second weekend in a row so that we could celebrate Christmas together with them and Jamie, Megan and the boys. Thanks so much for the memories!

Aidan loves his 'Unkie' most of all.....and do they ever have lots of fun together! Just look at the faces on these two boys!

Although we have missed the worst of the last 3 snowfalls this past week, this morning we woke up to this....over 8 inches of snow and it is still coming down! Our church has just cancelled it's services, Jamie and Megan and the boys left early today for Seattle so that they would be down there in time for their flights to Michigan tomorrow, so we will be having a very quiet Christmas Eve. I realized that it will be the first time in the 35 Christmases since Dave and I started dating that we will be alone together on Christmas Eve! Good thing we like each other!

So to all of you, a very Merry Christmas indeed! Let is snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Things I'll Miss....

This weekend we said goodbye to Sheba, our 14 1/2 year old dog. Although it was a decision we had been putting off for months, we all knew her time had come. I won't miss the hair everywhere, nor cleaning up after her these past months, but there are still things that I am really going to miss.

***her enthusiastic welcome after we had been away at work all day
***her excitement about going on a walk anytime I took out the leash
***her attempts to make herself comfortable on my lap while I tried to work on my laptop(she made it work!)
***the long hours she spent with me in the recliner after my surgery last fall
***someone to share my pizza crusts with(I never have liked the crusts!)
***her fierce barking if ever any male came to our door when Dave was away
***her welcome and goodbyes to any and all company, whether a coffee date, our Life Group members or house guests, she was there to welcome them when they came thru the door and there to say goodbye, often standing between Dave and I when they left

Goodbye Old Friend....you are missed!

I've been tagged!

Anneliese over at http://foreverythingaseason.blogspot.com/ tagged me to do a picture post.

You're supposed to do the following:

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer
2. Open the 4th picture and post it on your blog.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

So here is my 4th picture in the 4th picture folder on my computer. This picture was taken two years ago in the summer for our Church Directory. But the wonderful people that took it gave us a digital copy so that we could use it for our prayer cards and any other ministry uses. As a result I had an entire folder full of pictures of the two of us! Not bad looking for a pair of grandparents!

So now I am supposed to tag four more people and most of the people whose blogs I read are already tagged. So here are the four that I think are still available for tagging.
Megs
Laurie at http://mcmahonmanifesto.blogspot.com/
Nancy at http://petes-draggin.blogspot.com/
Karen at http://www.earle-expedition.blogspot.com/

Unexpected Company

Today it was Megan's turn to be without power so she packed up the boys and came over! What a nice surprise....Aidan was excited to try out his snow clothes that they got to be prepared for Christmas in Michigan. Megan and Aidan were twins!

Once inside, Aidan was mesmerized by the giant snowflakes falling outside.

After lunch Megs decided to head for home again and by then it was really snowing hard. Aidan was surprised by the wind and snow at first I think! But such fun....

I loved his next pose....enjoying all the snowflakes!!

We had almost 5 inches of snow so it is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Things you can't do when the power is out....

**Work on the computer after your battery wears down
**Do the laundry
**Look for boxes for wrapping gifts in the very black storage room(the flashlight just wasn't working well for me)
**Make yourself something warm to drink when you start to get cold
**Order more pictures to put in your Christmas Letter
**Carry the chordless phone around in case someone phones(since it wouldn't ring anyway!)
**Turn the lights on in dark rooms( I tried at least three times....oh for a brain!)

This morning I was all set for a productive day of work at the computer while watching Aidan play beside me. But alas the power went out just before he was supposed to come. So sad......I called Megs not to bring him since he would undoubtedly get cold without the furnace working and spent the next 4 hours trying to find things that I could do in when the power was out.

Fortunately it did come back on this afternoon and I was able to thaw out and get some work done on the computer along with the laundry. Missed out on my day with Aidan though which was disappointing. Something to look forward to next week!

Celebrations

Today we had a day of celebration here on the ranch! It was Dave's birthday so we enjoyed taking time throughout the day to enjoy spending it here with our Texas kids(a first). We also celebrated Christmas together so there were lots of presents getting wrapped. :-) (they are going to South Carolina next week so since there was no tree to put the presents under we made do with the snowman on the coffee table instead!)

Caily taking a time out with her animals....she just loves all things soft...
Playing with the wrapping paper rolls was just too much fun. Whenever Caily could grab one today she took it to Dave to play with. What a sweetheart.
In between it was back to playing with her puppy and her stroller.
Reading with Grandpa is always fun...when I asked her to smile for the camera she waved instead.
We all clapped when she walked into the Dining Room from the kitchen so she proceeded to do it again..and again...and again.....we were all laughing so hard. What an entertainer!
Darin and Caily enjoying the musical nativity that goes round and round...she was pointing out all the animals that she could name as they went by. I just thought this was such a cute picture.

After Dave opened his birthday gifts, it was Caily's turn to open gifts from her aunts and uncles...she loved her box with shoes and a new pair of Jeans from Matt and Heather(she loves shoes....wonder who she is related too?)

Next it was a Little People musical train from Jamie and Megs....Caily was so excited about the animals, train and the fact that it is musical. She loves music and is forever making all of her toys make music, often at the same time!

Showing Daddy how the animals fit in the train....it's so much fun watching the wonder of discovery through the eyes of a toddler.

Well it's way past my bedtime but I thought you might all enjoy a peek into our day today down here in Texas.

Making Memories

It's hard to believe that our time here in Texas is already more than half over. But instead of thinking about how little time we have left, I want to savour the memories we are making and share a few of them with you tonight before calling it a day.

Caily's Grandpa, or 'Bapa' as she calls him, is a very special man in her life! She misses him when he is outside working with Darin and walks thru the house calling him. Once he is inside, she is happy to sit and read books with him.
It was cold here on Monday and Caily needed her hat on because of the cold wind. I love this picture of her and Dave walking out to the barn with Jake and Sky in the lead ahead of them.
Caily has cut a couple of the teeth she was working on(two more left to go) so every day we are seeing more smiles(more of the real Caily they tell us). Here she smiles for the camera for me while enjoying Mommy's lap.
She is an entertainer, and is more than happy to ham it up for the camera...like she was while sitting on her little chair and enjoying some potato chips.
Tuesday was much warmer outside, so no hats or jackets required....she loves walking along this retaining wall behind the house and does an amazing job of balancing herself as she goes.
Caily loves the horses, and anytime she hears a horse, will stop everything to say, 'horse?'. Here they stop to say hi to Theresa...
Today us girls went shopping and no shopping trip in Texas is complete without lunch at Chik-Fil-A. Jody took this picture of Caily and Mimi enjoying a cuddle.
I asked Caily to smile for me and this is what I got! You have to love this cheesy smile!
Some more smiles along the way....
I love this picture with the horse in the background...Caily loves it outside!

Caily and Mommy ..... I love how the sun rays are shining behind them.