We Wish You a Merry Christmas

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. We have had a great time with Luke's family. Luke and I were behind with our Christmas preparations this year due to his last semester of graduate work, so this week started out a little rocky but has since calmed down. We got back from Alabama/Georgia late Monday night, and spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday finishing our Christmas shopping and decorating our house (I know, sad but true!). Wednesday night we attended the candlelight Christmas Eve service out our church and went to his mom's house afterward. These two pictures were taken in front of the fireplace. That is an enlarged replica of the brand they used when they lived on "the hill" above us in the picture. Mark took these pictures and I was quite pleased!This is our second Christmas to have a real tree. In 2006, Luke actually went out and cut down our tree. You have to get a permit but it only costs $5. He picked a really tall tree and actually had to cut off about 4 feet once he got it home so it would fit in our house. Well this year, he did not have the time to go out and cut one down so we decided to get one from the lot. Well, in keeping with tradition he picked out another tall tree. This time however he only had to cut off a few inches from the top. His mom says that he picks out trees just like his dad did!

Luke and I were glad when Zane slept in until almost 8 Christmas morning! Here he is checking out the tree...and opening presents- which mainly consisted of him pulling out tissue paper and playing with that, or tearing off a little wrapping paper and playing with that, and then us chasing him around to get him to come open his other presents...

Since Zane loves playing with our cell phones, we decided he needed his own. He seemed to enjoy it.












He loves balls so Luke picked out a nice set of 4 that are soft enough to play with in the house. They were a big hit as well. Here he is with the football.

Zane's cousin Gideon called to wish us a Merry Christmas in classic 2 year old style. He wanted to talk to Zane so I put the phone on speaker phone and Zane actually "talked" to him. Mainly I'm posting this picture to document that I was there on Christmas morning, since I am taking most of the pictures.

I love this picture of Zane- this is the new face he likes to make.
Ah, the wonder of Christmas!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Well, after not having Zane's picture taken with Santa last year, I was determined to get it done this year. It almost didn't happen again, but we managed to get to the mall yesterday for a little visit with Kris Kringle. And as expected, Zane cried. Not right away, but he did cry. I love the progression in the pictures. At first things don't seem too bad, but by the end, Zane was clearly done.

For some reason, this next picture is the one they printed, I'm not sure why.

I love how you can see Luke's arm in this picture coming to rescue Zane from the bearded man!
Not real sure who this kid is, for some reason we had several pictures of him on our CD!
Well, we hope that y'all have a Merry Christmas. Things are finally slowing down around here with Luke's recent graduation- yahoo! I'm hoping to be a little more consistent with my blogging. It has been too long since my last post. As my sister-in-law said, I blog every month and a half whether I need to or not!

Zane's One Year Pictures

Well, we had these taken a little late. I guess if you want to get technical, they are his 13 month pictures- better late than never, right? I am so thankful for our friend Jen - she has taken pictures for us several times now and she is so talented. I love them all. The ones at the end of the slide show are after Zane crammed 2 handfuls of crackers in his mouth- I love those full cheeks!

10.10.08

Zane celebrated turning 13 months by taking his first unassisted steps. He had been cruising around the furniture for months, and would take a step here or there, but this was the first letting go and taking several on his own. Thankfully, I had the camera near by and was able to get a few videos to document the monumental event. Luke was out of town, but you can hear me talking on the phone with him.

What a difference a year can make...

I just wanted to post a few more pictures of Zane with my parents. I can't believe how much Zane has changed in a year. My parents had visited last year when Zane was 2 weeks old. Here are a few pics from then and now(now being almost 2 months ago when my parents were here!)
My dad holding Zane then...and now...
My mom reading to Zane then...
and now...

My Parents' Visit

Well, I went to bed early and slept for a few hours and now I'm awake so I thought I'd work a little on the blog. I'll never stay caught up if I never actually blog! So, here are a few more pictures from my parents' visit back in September. We had a great time with them. It was there first road trip up here and it was nice to have them here for longer than a long weekend. We were glad that they could be here to help us celebrate Zane's birthday. We did a little sight seeing, but mainly enjoyed just hanging out. It was perfect weather while they were here, so we were able to enjoy several beautiful walks. Zane had so much fun with them too, and learned to play catch with my dad, which quickly became a favorite activity. He also developed a love for the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear while they were here, and they had the chance to read it to him several times.

Thanks so much for coming Mama and Daddy. We had so much fun and enjoyed having you here. We look forward to getting to see you in December. We love you both!

Playing Catch with Papa

Random photos

I was just going through all of our pictures in effort to get caught up with my blogging and I came across a few from August that never made the blog. I love this yoga pose that Zane went through a phase of doing.

This next photo is of Zane enjoying one of his favorites...black beans and rice from one of our favorite spots here in Kalispell, Bajio. We love going there once a week, because he enjoys the food and atmosphere. They play festive music and he will dance the whole time. I think this photo is actually when we had it to go one time!

At the end of August, we had the pleasure of seeing Luke's Aunt Bena and cousin Debra. They were visiting from AZ and staying with Luke's mom and aunt. It was great to get to see them- we miss you Arizona family! We were spoiled to get to live close to them for a couple of years when we lived in Phoenix. While they were here, we met them a couple times for dinner.

Our family

Barb, Joan, Debra, and Bena

These next two shots were just too cute to pass up!

Stay tuned for more pics from my parents' visit, my sister's visit, as well as our trip to the Pumpkin Patch....

The Bear Park

After we left Hungry Horse, we headed north to one of our favorite spots. We had tried taking my parents on their other visits, but it was always closed. Luke and I have been many times in the past. We went to the Great Bear Adventure. You can drive through the park and watch the black bears livin' it up. They used to have grizzly bears also but had to take them out last year. It is amazing to be so close to the bears. And, it seems that they are well cared for- maybe a little too well- I think they each could stand to lose a few pounds. Anyway, Zane really enjoyed seeing them, especially since one of his favorite books these days is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. He would point at the bear and say, "bear." (or at least that's what it sounded like- hey, I'll give him credit!)

Zane taking it all in

I had to get a picture of the sign on the way out...

Hungry Horse Dam

When my parents were here over a month ago, one day we went for a drive. I took them to Hungry Horse Dam. It is about 30 minutes from where we live, and the view from the top is quite impressive. On our way to the dam, we passed by a small lake, and on the way back down, we had to stop and take some pictures. The water was so still and perfectly reflected the mountains, trees and sky.

The view from the dam

The dam

The lake

First Playgroup

On Wednesday, September 24, I hosted the first playgroup at our home. Several friends and neighbors had talked of having a playgroup, but nothing was ever started. So, after being inspired my Texas friends who have held a playgroup on Wednesday mornings for over 5 years, I decided to take the initiative to ask friends and neighbors to join in the fun and schedule a weekly play date. Here is a group shot from the first meeting- it is missing two little girls, who left before I remembered to take a picture.

Aiden, Talia, Brady, Maddie, Sophie, David, and Zane

Zane's Dedication

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." - 1 Samuel 1:27-28

On Sunday, September 21, we had Zane dedicated at church. Our good friends Roby and Krista also had their son and Zane's friend Aiden dedicated. The pastor read a charge to us and prayed over us. Luke read Jeremiah 29:11-"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We are so grateful to have a wonderful church family to come along beside us as we seek to raise Zane in a way that will honor the Lord. Zane, our prayer for you is that you will come to know the Lord at a young age, and follow Him your whole life. We love you and are so thankful that God has given you to us.

Play Ball!

This past Saturday we celebrated Zane's 1st birthday with a baseball themed party, complete with hot dogs, peanuts and baseball decorated cupcakes. We had a great time with family and friends. At first, Zane was traumatized by the balloons on his highchair, so they eventually had to be removed. Thankfully, since the party, he has made peace with the balloons and even enjoys playing with them now (thanks to Papa and Grandma).

Here are some pictures from the special day. I am especially proud of how the cupcakes turned out, my first attempt at decorating any type of cake, not too shabby if I do say so myself (it did not come about without it's share of headaches, however, as I had to experiment with 3 different types of red icing and decorating tools until I found the right one. There were a few rejects that did not make the cut for the party!)

Thanks also for all your sweet comments and birthday wishes for our boy. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family! We love you all!