Two Winks

Hannah looks so little in this picture. She was 2 1/2 and I was 7 months pregnant with Lucy. Our picture next week will look much different--thank goodness. I joke often about Chris coming home to a wife who was very pregnant and had braces.
 Chris left on June 4 and has been gone 186 days, but who's really counting. When I think back to the summer it seems like it was sooo long ago but then on the other hand it seems like it was just summertime. God has provided me with old friends and new friends who have sustained me throughout this deployment. I am so grateful for each of you. I get told often how well I go through a deployment or how strong I am. I don't agree but I know that God provides me with everything that I need to get through the difficult months. We are super excited to be making welcome home posters this week, cleaning up the house and getting ready for Chris to be home.
 Can't wait to post new pictures soon!
 

I am so thankful for family and we really enjoyed having my sister and her family with us on Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures from the week:

Turkey Trot 2012--Hal smoked me.

Uncle Hal and Hannah

Great weather for playing outside

First Gingerbread House

Final Product

Movie night

Sweet Sophie

What were we thinking?

Hugs!

Hannah and Lucy both started school this week. Hannah will be in preschool and Lucy is in a two year old class. They both go Tuesday and Thursday and it is a great break for me. They were very excited for their first day of school.

This is what I found when I went in to get Lucy the other morning. She had totally stripped of her zipper footed pj's. You can see them on the floor. She had only unzipped them a little bit of the way so I am imagining she really had to work to get them off. Silly girl!

 Thank you to Chris for being such a great daddy. I probably appreciate him even more since he has been gone for 2 weeks. We missed getting to celebrate with him in person but were so glad to be able to Skype with him yesterday. He is a great daddy and his girls love and miss him a ton!

We have really enjoyed being at the pool for the past month or so. Hannah finally worked on jumping off the diving board and side of the pool yesterday. Big thanks to Miss Holly--for treading lots of water in the deep end--and Miss Courtney for holding Hannah off the diving board to Miss Holly. Quite the process. Holly had her jumping off the side of the pool by the time we left.

 Today we went to another pool and Hannah got the hang of running and jumping into the pool. Here is a video.

And here are some random pictures from my phone:

Lucy likes to run on treadmill too.

Mallory graduates from HSU

First set of stitches and hopefully last.

Hair cut day

Hannah got a braid when she got her hair cut

Hair cut complete

Cheesy grin at doctor

Finally turned sister around. I am sad but she is excited.

Chris spent part of his weekend, after writing a 12 page paper, building the girls a slide onto their playset. This was taken before the ladder and side on the top were built. It turned out really good and the girls LOVE it. It is going to make outside playing even better.

I can't believe we have almost lived in Abilene a year and today was the last day of school. Hannah has had a wonderful year at First Friends and I am so thankful for her great teachers, Mrs. Dixie and Mrs. Krista. She has learned how to write her name and sign the whole alphabet. She knows countless bible stories and several words in Spanish. We are looking forward to our last year of preschool in Mrs. Emily's class (Holly's sister) next year.

Here are some pictures I took of Hannah before school.

Last day of School 2011-2012

First day of school 2011-2012

Patriotic Program at School

London, Hannah and Jared