Ketchup

what did the tomato say to the tomato behind him?

Ketchup!

I am that tomato tonight. I'm playing ketchup. (which is a little more sticky than playing dressup.)
For halloween, Dev, Calvin, and Bogey were dead set on being super heroes. And since I didn't want to stress myself out sewing super hero costumes, I was lazy and bought them at the store.


but they loved them and that's what really counts, right?

I thought for a long time about what costume to put on Iggy. After all, this was his first halloween, and he is still tiny, so I wanted it to be something cute-but also comfortable and warm for him. I finally got this idea, and he looked SO cute!

(don't you think?)

So I figured, why stop here? and I made some for me and The Hubby, too.

Maybe next year, I'll post a tutorial, eh?

I also preserved all this:

(apples from our friends' tree, box of peaches, tomatoes, carrots, and green onions from our garden) Our garden didn't do very well this year for three reasons: 1) our drip system hoses got clogged, 2) the stupid stinkin' javelina's got into it and ate/destroyed almost everything, and 3) I was too busy having a baby to do anything about 1) and 2). But i am still happy with what we did get.



these carrots are in love (and we should probably give them some privacy ;)


Dev is filling her position as second mom most completely (and also loving it.)





Iggy was given a Name and a Blessing. (if you're lost about what that means, go here )

I love his little white tux! Each of my boys wore it for their baby blessing.




and he learned how to smile (and now he's reaching for things, and drooling like crazy, and laughing, too.)


On Christmas Eve, we got to go on a carriage ride. The ranch where The Hubby works sponsored it, so we got to ride for free! It was lots of fun. Bogey and Dev especially liked it.


He even let Bogey drive. This was the highlight of Bogey's year.

We stole a Christmas tradition from our friends, the Burch's (hi guys!), and had our gingerbread building contest for our Christmas Eve party.

This is mine and Bogey's rendition of the boys' room. Notice the bunkbeds and the messy floor.


And Calvin and The Hubby went for a traditional gingerbread house. Notice, though, the bottle cap snowman. Calvin was particularly proud of that.


But the winner, and third time champion was Dev. She chose to do a bird house this year. See the bird inside sitting on the nest? There were even little jelly bean eggs in there. She worked long and hard on it, and I love her creativity!

Christmas Eve is also the night of our Christmas Pageant. This year, Mary was thrilled to have a real live baby Jesus, Joseph used his sword for a staff, the donkey was also the angel, and the narrator was also the camera man. Also, when the angel appeared to Bogey the shepard and said, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." Bogey adlibbed, "ok, hey thanks, mr. angel. C'mon guys, lets go see this baby." *picking up a stuffed cow and a dragging a rolling squeaky puppy* Well, I thought it was funny anyway.




Christmas morning we were too busy opening presents to take pictures, but here is one of our little Jelly Bean's (Iggy aka Jelly Bean) favorite presents (mine too!)

and the aftermath of the Christmas hurricane. Can you spot Iggy? It's like Where's Waldo, but more fun!

AND, the absolute, hands-down highlight of the year (the decade, really. Second only to my wedding day), was the day I watched my best friend accomplish his goals and finish what we came here to do.

Words can't describe how proud I am of him. He did such a good job his last semester. He learned and changed so much. I love him!

I'm not even going to fain modesty here. It was really, really hard to get through school. He couldn't have done it without me (nor I without him). We worked together, sacrificed, worried, prayed, lost sleep, argued, laughed, and cried together over this goal we've been working on. And when they called his name and handed him that diploma, I took the picture but didn't see through my tears that the camera was blurry. (we're ordering the professionals anyway). Words don't describe the relief, the happiness, the absolute sense of resolution of that moment. It was an amazing thing to be able to turn back and see the mountain we've climbed.

People have said, "when you get to the top and turn around, you'll see that it really wasn't that bad." I didn't find that to be the case. Instead, I found myself at the top, turning around to see what I've just climbed and thinking, "wow, that was really, really hard." then the revelation I wasn't expecting, "Look how much stronger I am."

And just like that, with graduation behind us, we were offered a job in Kansas. We feel it is best for our family, even though it is so far from home. That is sad, but we feel very good about it, and we're excited for the next adventure.

(Just Follow the Yellow Brick Road!)

Stay tuned!