Happy Holidays 2009

This Christmas our children gave us the greatest gift of all... a family Christmas with all of us together for the first time in at least five years! Joe & Sierra, Wendy, Shelly & Matt: We know, from past experience, how difficult and stressful it can be to travel great distances in inclement weather with small children just to please the grandparents... and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. This meant the world to us. We love you all, our precious gifts from God!

Bottom: Wendy with Murphy, Shelly, Erik, Dane, Matt. Standing: Papa with Pepper, Joe & Serenity, Robbie, Nana holding Abby, and Sierra holding Alex.

Random Christmas 2009

Wendy arrived on December 19th... Shelly, Matt and their boys on December 22nd. Joe, Sierra and the kids on the 23rd. We had a wonderful time... all the grandbabies were so well behaved and got along together marvelously! And we capped off the holiday week with lots of snow in central Illinois. Robbie and Joe shoveled the driveway. Robbie is such a HUGE helper to Nana and Papa!

Robbie was one of Santa's helpers on Christmas Eve, passing out gifts with his assistant, Serenity.

This was Wednesday evening. Sissy likes her new little cousin Erik.

More random stuff from Wednesday evening. Shelly donned one of the Viking helmets to bake cookies. She and Abby have formed their own Viking army...

Joe and Matt shooting pool Wednesday night, while the Vikings were upstairs plotting a coup.

I think Matt is trying to figure out how fire works...

Some of my cooperative fam "staging" a moment because I was trying to capture candids!!! They love to make fun of me! Smart alecs!!

Matt in his natural milieu...

Erik having his bath in the master bathroom sink...

Papa and Erik with Storyteller Bear. Both Eric and Abby liked watching the animated bear and listening to him read "The Night Before Christmas."

One of the gifts Dane got from Nana and Papa was his own digital camera. Now he's really a chip off the old block!

One of Sissy's gifts was a crown to go with all her Barbie stuff. She said, "Of course I got a crown, because I really am a princess, after all."

Abby was adorable opening her presents. At two, she's the perfect age to be enchanted by all the magic of Christmas Eve.

"Now who was I supposed to give this package to???"

Like I said, these photos are really in random order... here are Abby, Sissy and Dane sharing a bath before the Christmas Eve festivities began...

Matt was able to capture this perfect, precious moment when Alex grabbed hold of Pepper and hugged her to him. It was priceless... Alex was gentle with the puppy, as though he understood she is tiny, and she acted as though she almost understood that he is different from the others. Brought huge tears to my eyes!

Uncle Joe taught Dane how to shoot pool. It was cute to hear him ask, "Choe, you play balls with me now?"

More cute dog with kid pictures. Pepper was crazy about Erik and he was pretty interested in her, too!

Tuesday night... Papa with Dane and Erik just after they had arrived at our house.

And Nana with Erik...

Erik and Pepper again.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Hooten

Bob's mother is 87 years old today, December 27, 2009. Here she is not quite a week ago, holding her youngest great-grandchild, Erik, after meeting him for the first time. She has two more greats on the way!!! Here's to many, many more birthdays, Mom! Love you!

Halloween 2009

Joe brought Robbie, Serenity and Abby to Nana & Papa's for Halloween. Jack-O-Lantern carving and trick-or-treating in Decatur has become a tradition for Joe & Sierra's family, and one that we thoroughly enjoy!

Jack-O-Lanterns were carved the night they arrived. We were especially proud of Robbie, who carved his own pumpkin, without assistance from anyone. Since he was going to be Batman this year, he decided on a bat for his Jack-O-Lantern, and it was a pretty difficult pattern.

Abby's pumpkin was a kitty cat.
Sissy's was a goofy smiley guy.

Here is Robbie's bat. He said he didn't care how long it was going to take him, he was doing it all by himself and he was going to do it right. He did an excellent job for a 7-year old!

Here are Batman and Eyeore on Halloween evening.

Batman, Eyeore and Tweety Bird.

Closeups of the cute little Tweety Bird, Batman and happy Eyeore...

Waiting in line for the zoo to open. This year we did "Boo at the Zoo" for trick-or-treat. They had several treat stations, a talking Jack-O-Lantern who talked to each child about their costumes, carousel rides and a "spooky" train ride.

It's Almost a Bathroom!

Finally, this week visible, tangible progress is being made on the master bathroom project. So much of the work up to now has been prep work that simply made dirt and dust and seemed like a supreme inconvenience! I know the inconvenience of the past weeks will be well worth the finished product... but it was so nice to come home today and see so much done!

Pictured below are the new vanity top and medicine cabinet, both of which were custom-made.

In this photo you can see the new spa tub. Mark McCarter, the tile installer, is also the son of some friends. He has his own tile installation business and is the one who installed our kitchen floor a few years ago. He's started the shower floor, and in this picture is beginning the main floor area. The tub surround and all the walls will be tiled as well.

Covered Bridge Festival

Last weekend Bob and I (and Pepper) drove over to Rockville, IN (Park County) during the annual Covered Bridge Festival. We spent some time in the town, exploring the vendor booths and food stands, then followed one of the covered bridge tour routes to see some of the bridges. It was a nice break from the bathroom remodel and all the weekend chores at home!