One Year Old (Tomorrow)

I can't believe this beautiful, happy boy is already a

year old.  He has been an incredible addition to our 

family and we love him so much. 

Happy Birthday Ezra!!!

Good-bye Mom, Hello Reality

Well, after spending almost 6 glorious weeks with me in the warm winter weather, my mom had to go back to Utah last week.  I really can't describe how wonderful it was to have her here.   

I was spoiled with having someone else help keep up with Ezra at church, a magically tidy house, all of my laundry washed, dried, folded AND put away in the same day....I could go on and on. But really it was just nice to have a friend here with me.  So, thanks a million Mom! The boys and I LOVED having you here.

 

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas....or TWO!

We were lucky enough to have 2 Christmases this year.  We're so grateful that Ephraim's parents came to visit in December before he left for Iraq.  We had an awesome time with them. We ate some great food and had a wonderful mini-Christmas while they were here.  Max and Ezra were spoiled with lots of great gifts and Ephraim and I were spoiled to have babysitters around so we could go on an amazing date.  The boys had a ball playing with Grandma and Grandpa and we can't wait to see them again!

We love Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Max was thrilled with his toys and underwear.

Ezra had a great first Christmas.

The boys and I spent Christmas number 2 in Utah with my family and Ephraim spent it in Kuwait with lots of sand.  Its always great to be with family and the boys loved getting to see their cousins.  This year for our traditional Christmas Eve Nativity Pageant Max started out as a shepherd but insisted on changing into Buzz Lightyear.  He followed the baby Jesus around and threatened to laserbeam anybody who messed with him.  Most reverent pageant ever: NO. Most hilarious: DEFINITELY.  We also got our fill of snow while in Utah and were happy to get back to the 60 degree Texas winter.  Although I'm almost 3 months late, I hope everyone had wonderful Christmases like we did. We're really grateful for the Savior and for the love and support of all of our family and friends.  

The Pageant Transformation

Festive Holiday photos.

A few snapshots of some cute cousins.

For all my Georgia pals

Mary and I had the chance to get together for lunch and it was awesome to see each other after almost 5 years! Adelle is (as you can see) ADORABLE and it was so nice to catch up and re-live some Shendandoah memories.  Here's hoping its not 5 years til we get together again. 

Beach + Barbecue + Gorgeous Tulips from my faraway Valentine =

One Fabulous Valentine's Weekend

Grandpa Cory and Grandpa Lillie took us to the beach for the weekend.  Everybody had a great time but Ezra had the most fun of all. He would have happily splashed in the water and eaten sand all day long if I would have let him. Thanks for the great time, Grandma and Grandpa! We really appreciate you coming to visit!!! And thanks to my incredible husband for the beautiful flowers (and for knowing me well enough to NEVER give me a stuffed animal). We can't wait to celebrate with you next Valentine's.

Yep, we're all missing Dad around here.  I guess the Daddy Doll will have to suffice for now.

10 Months Old

Our Ebby Boo is 10 months old now. I know you're all wondering- the nickname is from Max who originally said Baby Eh then Eh Baby then Ebby, now Ebby Boo. Ezra is getting to be quite a mischief maker and also quite a clingy momma's boy (can you blame him?).  He loves food, wrestling with Max, and laughing while he does naughty things like climbing the stairs or splashing around in the toilet.  Even though the last few weeks he's given me a real run for my money, with a face like that, I guess I'll keep him.

Long Over-Due Vacation Pics

I thought I should try to post about Thanksgiving before Valentine's is here. We had a great trip to Utah and had a wonderful time seeing family there and in Idaho.  The boys did great being in the car so long (thank you portable dvd player- perhaps the best purchase ever).  We got to meet cousin Ellie, celebrate Hayley's birthday, go to cousin Ella's blessing, and play with a slew of other fun cousins. We ate incredible food and even got to drive past the Idaho Potato Museum.  We have no complaints. On the way back we paused for some Four Corners shots and enjoyed passing through Albuquerque and seeing friends there.  Ephraim even got to pose in front one of his three high schools.  A great trip was had by all.

A big thank you to Elsha for the picture collage tips! 

Maybe I'll get the Christmas photos posted before St. Patrick's Day.

 

Ferrying across the Tigris

Ephraim and his platoon have been really busy in Iraq and he just sent me some cool photos. Here's a shot of him crossing the river on a ferry that was "quite questionable in its structural integrity".  I was glad to hear that turned out okay.  Its not every day you find yourself in the Fertile Crescent, right? At least he's getting some scenic photos.

He tells me great stories about how much the people, especially the kids, love the Americans and love practicing their English.  They've spent a lot of time at schools and the next picture is him and one of his guys at a school. Max is always intrigued with photos of Dad with his big gun.

Ephraim- if you actually read through all these words, WE LOVE YOU!

In case there was any question about whether my son resembles his father...

I like to believe that Ezra is the Lord's way of making sure I don't forget what my husband looks like while he's gone for a year.