Wordless Wednesday

 

A Month of Christmas: O Christmas Tree

"O Christmas Tree"

Right when we returned home from Colorado, Isaac and I set up this little tree in the playroom upstairs.  Even though it was daylight when we finished, Isaac wanted me to turn off all the lights in the house so that we could see the tree lit up by itself.  I turned off the last light, and Isaac said, "Mommy, it's so beautiful!"  

I love seeing Christmas through his eyes!

On Friday evening, we decorated our "big tree," which is how Isaac refers to it.  One of my favorite traditions from growing up was receiving a new ornament each year from my parents.  Often, the ornament had something to do with an activity we'd done or vacation we'd taken year.  When David and I were married, my mom boxed them all up and gave them to us as a gift.  Giving an ornament each year is a tradition we have continued in our family. This year, Isaac's ornament was a cowboy since "playing horsies" is his favorite thing to do after riding a horse in Colorado. :)  Isaac loves his new ornament and would much rather play with it than hang it on the tree.  (Emma's first ornament is still in progress!)  

Our Christmas Tree~2012

 Earlier that day, Isaac and I had made candy-cane dipped marshmallows to put in our hot chocolate (idea from this pin).  

I'm pretty sure his favorite part--besides eating them--was crushing the candy canes with our meat tenderizer.  :)

After we decorated the tree, we watched "The Very First Noel" and drank our hot chocolate. 

My friend Meghan shared that this is her family's tradition each year after decorating the tree...and I think we've made it our new tradition, too!

Emma was taking her evening nap while all this was happening, but I managed to get a few pictures of her with the tree yesterday.  :)

My mom bought this sweet outfit last year when we were planning on adopting another baby girl...I just love that Emma can now wear this it.  (And, while I'm blogging about our Christmas tree, I have to share this tutorial that helped me make Emma's little Christmas tree bow.  If I can make it, anybody can!)  

I'm pretty sure my days are numbered when it comes to Emma sitting sweetly for picture after picture...because she'd much rather be moving now!  

Dad's 60th Birthday!

On Saturday night, we had a family dinner at our house celebrating my dad's 60th birthday!  My uncle grilled an incredible tenderloin, and we had delicious cake from Sweet Memories in Keller.  

I didn't get a lot of pictures, but this picture from when we were all singing "Happy Birthday" makes me laugh!  Amanda is sweetly folding her hands, Isaac is licking frosting off his fingers (because he had already swiped some off the cake), and Emma is reaching for some frosting, too.  Through it all, my dad smiles and laughs.  

And that is SO my dad.  No matter how chaotic, stressful, or hard life is, my dad smiles and keeps on.  It's one of the characteristics I love the very most about my dad...he has always set such an amazing example of perseverance and contentment.  I can honestly say that I have never heard my dad complain once in his life--even through all his heart issues and procedures.  It's also incredible to me that my dad doesn't complain when running a business is challenging and work is slow in coming.  When months go by without his company winning any new bids, my dad always says, "The Lord will provide."  I know many people say that, but my dad truly believes and lives it.  

I couldn't count how many times I called my dad crying when my heart was hurting for a baby so much.  No matter how busy my dad was, he always made (and still makes) time to listen to me.  He would end every conversation with saying, "The Lord knows."  He'd also remind me how precious my babies would be when they were here...that I would love them deeply for the extra time David & I spent waiting.  He definitely was right.  I still cherish the phone calls my dad & I have while he is on the road.  But now, my dad loves to hear story after story of what Isaac and Emma are doing.   (Of course, knowing me, there are still a few tears sometimes.)  

Truly, one of the greatest blessings God ever gave me in my entire life was allowing me to be my dad's daughter.  

(I had to go back a few years to find a picture of just my dad and me!)

Happy 60th, Daddy!  You are very loved.

Thanksgiving in Steamboat~2012

Helping Nana cook

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Colorado!  I flew to Denver the Saturday before Thanksgiving with Isaac and Emma.  My sister-in-law, Kristy, also flew into Denver on Saturday with her two boys, Griffin and Sawyer.  Nana and Papa picked us all up at the airport in Denver, and we headed up to Steamboat for a great week.  The Rinn "boys" (Dave, Jon, & Michael) joined us all on Wednesday evening.  Needless to say, this made for a lot of fun cousin time, especially for Griffin and Isaac...Emma and Sawyer just mostly looked at each other.  ;)

Here are a few favorite pictures! 

Waiting at the airport early on Saturday morning..."Emma, look at all the airplanes!"

Emma and Sawyer hanging out  :)

Griffin and Isaac playing...

...and making projects...

...and reading books...

...and more books...

...and even more books!!

One morning, we took Griffin & Isaac to "House of Bounce" in Steamboat.  They had a blast (and burned off a lot of energy.)

    

There wasn't much snow at all.  Isaac found this mound that hadn't yet melted near Papa & Nana's deck, and he played in it for a looooong time.  (He's definitely a Texan to be that excited about a small pile of snow!)

Playing outside with Nana

Roasting s'mores with Papa at the firepit

Playing with Uncle Mike!

My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook--Thanksgiving dinner was amazing!!

Papa getting ready to carve the turkey!

Thanksgiving dinner!  (I think everyone was more interested in the delicious food than smiling for the camera!)  ;)

Yum!  Isaac said the pie was "tasty!"

The "adult kids" gave Tim & Susie a family photo shoot as an early Christmas gift.  Here's a sneak peek at our pictures...apparently, it's a little difficult doing a photo shoot with two babies & two 3 year old boys.  :)  Even so, we still got some cute shots!

  

Thank you, Papa and Nana, for such a fun week!  
We can't wait to all get together again!

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too!

Our Halloween~2012

October 31st is a very, very special day in our family--3 years ago on Halloween, Isaac joined our family forever!  Recently, we have talked a lot with Isaac about his adoption.  Yesterday morning, I snuck into his room as he was waking up and said, "Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Isaac"--and, before I could continue the story, Isaac said, "I know, Mommy--you were so sad that you didn't have a baby that you cried and cried and then GOD GAVE YOU BABY ISAAC!"  (Of course, Isaac was yelling that last part.) :) 

Yes, he knows the story of why Halloween is so special in our family!

Last Saturday night, we had a fall family night and carved our pumpkin.  I also made my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for us to eat.  :)

Isaac has a smile on his face, but he really didn't like putting his hand in the pumpkin too much.  He wanted his "sticky and slimy" hand washed off right away.  (Yes, he's his dad's child who does not like messes or stickiness!)

Our pumpkin! 
Isaac and Dave carved it into a "Baby Emma" pumpkin with 2 little bottom teeth and a bow on the stem.  :)

Have I mentioned how much I love these three?

We also read this book, which we recently bought for Isaac and Emma.  It's definitely at the top of my list for favorite fall books.   (I think both Isaac and I have every letter memorized.)  :)

On Sunday evening, we put Isaac & Emma in their costumes and went to visit my grandma at Watermere.

 We were the only people in the dining room, so we set up 3 chairs as "barrels" so that Isaac could show Granna how he and Bilbo, his stick pony, barrel race. 

I'm sure I'm biased, but I think this vest and chaps are just the cutest on Isaac!  He took being a cowboy very seriously--even to the point of asking where his spurs were!

Papa & Nana sent Emma this darling zebra costume from Colorado.  The night before Halloween, I found a Taylor University cheerleader costume that my mom had bought at Taylor four years ago!  (She also bought this adorable Taylor letter jacket that Isaac's worn.)  I had completely forgotten about this cheerleader costume, so I'm glad I found it while Emma could still wear it.  I'm pretty sure it would've been too small for Emma next Halloween.  :)

 Emma's first Halloween!

Isn't her little ponytail the cutest? 

Ready for trick or treating! 

We were out trick or treating with some of Isaac and Emma's little friends for nearly an hour, and Isaac "rode" his stick horse the entire time.  He wouldn't let us carry it or set it in the stroller--this cowboy's a trooper!  Isaac stayed pretty close to us the whole time we were out.  He kept talking about how dark it was, and he also asked, "Isn't it night-night time?"  :)  Isaac definitely had a blast, though.  Isaac usually said "thank you" at each door before he remembered to say "trick or treat." :)  

 

It was really warm yesterday--Isaac was so hot and sweaty from his sheepskin chaps and vest.  We finally got him to take them off so that he could cool down when we got home.  You can't see the candle shining through our carved pumpkin in this picture, but it was really pretty on our front step. 

What a fun night! 

Happy Halloween!  We hope you had a fun time, too!