Karen's Birthday

Justin spoiled me with a "Japanese Hibachi" date!

Christmas Day

First Abigail investigated her stocking.

Then she dove into opening presents.



Abigail enjoyed trying on her new Sleeping Beauty dress.

"Little Santa" giving her gift to Gramma...

Best Cousins (Abigail, Nicea & Cecelia) -

Our growing family:

Snow Princess

Delighted beyond words with all the snow in Chicago, Abigail explored all she could in the white fluffy wonderland.

Visit with Friends

Ray, Cindy and Robert (friends from Wyoming) came to visit us at Mom's house in the Chicago area. (They were on their way to see family in Wisconsin.) BIG shout-out of thanks to them for going out of their way to spend time with us - we miss them so much!

During their 2-day visit, we enjoyed Chicago pizza, Chinese food, driving around downtown Chicago, shopping...


Abigail was enthralled with all of Robert's gadgets.

Opening Presents

Grammy's house:



Abigail with Grammy and Jimmy (step-grandpa):

Aunt Jana's house:




Also while visiting Arkansas, the cousins had a blast at Chuck E. Cheese and playing outside in 60 degree weather.

Thanksgiving

What a spread, thanks to Grammy in Arkansas! We ate heartily and relaxed with family.

Abigail's cousin, Max (also 3 1/2):

Cousin Karli (5 1/2):


Once again Justin's sister Jana (pictured above) and I are both expecting, due within weeks of each other!

New Haircut

Proving to Mom and Dad she's a big girl now, Abigail experience her first haircut without tears in her eyes. She actually seemed to enjoy the process!


The cut on Abigail's nose/lip is from an incident with a laundry basket. She decided it would be a good idea to climb in it while dressed in her "Larry the Cucumber" costume, resulting in falling and catching an edge on the basket. Funny thing is, when her Sunday school teacher saw her marred face and asked if she had a cat at home, Abigail responded, "Yes." There seems to be a disconnect between desire and reality!

Visiting Santa

This is the first year that instead of running with tears in the opposite direction, Abigail actually sat on Santa's lap and had a little chat.




"Thank you for the coloring book!"

This is where Santa told me how he remembered me when I was a child and how proud he is of the way I turned out; he added that he recalled I loved books and Justin loved cars. :) Hee hee - cute.

Afterwards we did a little shopping at the mall...


...and ate at a Mexican restaurant.