Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was so much fun! Mom and Dad drove down to visit us for the week. We were SO glad that they were able to come. The time went by much too quickly, but we savored every day together. Hampton loved playing with his MawMaw and PawPaw and enjoyed getting lots of attention (and sympathy, when needed) from them. We went on an outing to Fort Lauderdale to get some pictures of banyan trees, which are native to this area and are quite unique. Mom did some painting by the water, just off Las Olas Boulevard. It is so pretty down there!

Christmas morning was so much fun. Hampton tired of opening gifts once he found a favorite toy or two to play with. We shared our day with our friends the Evers family - Richard, Becky, Hannah, and Aubrey. They opened their presents here, and we all enjoyed a HUGE (did I say "huge"?) steak dinner together. After everyone snoozed a little, we settled in for a lazy afternoon. As you can see, the presents were plentiful, but most of all - the blessings of being surrounded by family and friends outweighed all of the gifts. We are looking forward to a great new year!

P.S. Hampton is walking now!!! I'm going to try to post a video soon of his walking. Even though he took his first steps on Nov. 19, he is walking all alone and everywhere now! YEA!

"My Play Date" by Hampton

I have a friend named Isabella that lives next door to me. Her mommy came to our house this week to hang out with my mommy, so we played together. She is only a few months younger than I am, and I think she's so sweet...even if she did poke me in the eye! Mommy says she didn't mean to. Mommy took these pictures of us while we were playing with the sit-n-spin. We had fun!

Early December in Dallas

I'm a bit behind on my blog posts, but I want to post some pictures from our visit to Dallas the first week of this month. Clint had to go to Dallas on a business trip, so Hampton and I tagged along. We had to get creative with what to do with our days since Clint was working all day. Our biggest and BEST outing was to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. It was SO beautiful. The weather was a bit chilly that day due to the wind, so Hampton is bundled up in most of the pictures. We would stroll a while then stop and let him explore the natural surroundings. We both loved it! If you ever find yourself in Dallas, you must visit this place! Also, Hampton had fun playing in the curtains of the hotel suite we stayed in. He loved looking out the window to see if Daddy was coming home! The last night we were there, we joined Clint at The Grille on the Alley for a very nice dinner with his co-workers. I was a bit nervous taking Hampton to such a nice restaurant, but for the most part, he was a perfect little gentleman! The last pictures were taken in the mall (and outside). The decorations were breathtaking!

Thanksgiving in DeFuniak Springs, FL

It's finally time to post another blog from our travels a couple of weeks ago. This has been a busy week, so I apologize for the delay. After spending a week in Alabama, we all packed up and drove to North Florida the day before Thanksgiving. This was a new thing for us because in past years, everyone has always come to our house for Thanksgiving. But we are no longer centrally-located, for sure! Clint made the long drive north, so we were glad to see Daddy when we got there!

Hampton had fun exploring the new environments and seeing all of this cousins, his Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Wes, his grandparents Nana and PawPaw, and Mamaw - his great grandmother. We saw a lot of extended family as well on Thanksgiving Day at the big dinner at the community center. We celebrated Clint's birthday while were there too.

One of our biggest projects, as you can see above, was getting Hampton's handprints and footprints for some picture frames I am giving as Christmas presents. It was interesting to say the least!! It was supposed to be "mess-free," but Hampton's hands and feet were already bigger than the mess-free ink pads! So we had to put the ink on his hands and feet. As you can see, apparently his face started itching while he had ink on his hands! It went from bad to worse, so we had to take pictures of him! We had lots of fun!

I'll post more pictures later from our week in Dallas.

Adrienne

A few pictures from our stay in Montgomery

A note from Hampton....

As you can see, I had a great time in Montgomery! I loved seeing everyone and playing with my MawMaw & PawPaw and their dog, Dakota. The Joiners, my MawMaw & PawPaw's next door neighbors, brought their granddaughter over to see me. Don't tell anyone...but I kissed her! I loved getting dressed up to go to church at Calvary. I had so much FUN in Montgomery!!!

Catching up on the last month...

It has been a LONG time since I posted a blog entry, but we have been busy. We have been out of town for about 3 weeks. We enjoyed visiting with all of the family! Hampton loved spending time with his grandparents and cousins. I have to admit, though, that it is good to be home. I look forward to decorating for Christmas (hopefully!), doing a little baking, and finishing my Christmas shopping this week. I hope my goals aren't too lofty!

We started our journeys on November 18th in Montgomery. We stayed with my parents and loved catching up with "old" friends. Hampton had a BLAST with his MawMaw and PawPaw and Uncle Gerald (aka Unka Jerl). He took his first steps on his MawMaw's birthday (Nov 19th)! He still prefers crawling, but he's OH-SO-CLOSE to walking full-time! He can walk with someone who is holding only one of his hands. His balance is getting much better. He did many fun things that week, including riding the lawn mower and feeding deer with PawPaw and meeting MawMaw at her job for lunch and getting pictures with Santa at Bass Pro Shops.

The day before Thanksgiving, we drove to North Florida to meet Clint and his family. Hampton had fun exploring his Mamaw's new house (this is his great grandmother) and playing with his cousins - Justin, Griffin, and Graysen. Of course, hanging out with his Nana and PawPaws while Mommy, Aunt Ninny and MawMaw went shopping on Black Friday was fun too!

We spent most of Saturday and ALL DAY Sunday in the car driving home. We crashed in bed that night, got up the next morning to re-pack, then we flew out to Dallas. Clint had a business trip, so Hampton and I tagged along for the ride. While Clint worked, we spent our days trying to recover and relax. But we did some fun things too - like visiting the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. It was so beautiful!

OK...stay tuned for pictures of our travels...I took a lot!

More to come,
Adrienne