Wonderful God

Anaya singing a CFNI worship song

Playing in the snow.....in DALLAS!

In February, Dallas had record snow. I was in San Antonio at the time so I missed most of it.

Anaya and Kyle got to go outside and play in the snow and Anaya made her first snowman!

Let's Go Who?!

Mavs vs. Pacers

My Christmas gift to Kyle was tickets to a Mavs game versus the Pacers. We took Anaya with us and we had so much fun! Anaya had cotton candy for the first time. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

We had pretty good seats and believe it or not, we were not the only Pacers fans in the building!

Anaya had so much fun at the game! Every now and then she break out saying "Lets Go Mavs!". It breaks Kyle's heart every time...

Oh so tired...

One minute, she's eating lunch and in the next minute she was out! She was really tired!

LIFE

In January, Kyle, Anaya and I joined thousands of pro-lifers for a silent protest/prayer siege against an abortion clinic that is opening in Houston. We have never done anything like this before but God really pressed upon our hearts to go (especially since we were presented with the option of abortion when we learned of Anaya's prenatal conditions). This abortion clinic will be the 2nd largest abortion clinic in the world and it was built right in the middle of 4 black/latino neighborhoods.

The silent march was on MLK day. We marched around one of the neighborhoods near the clinic. The red "LIFE" tape over our mouths represented the silent cries of the unborn babies.

The night before the silent march, we gathered at a church and prayed for our country, the women this abortion clinic is targeting and the thousands of babies and children that will need to be adopted. There were many powerful testimonies as well. One woman was told to abort her 5th child or she would go blind in labor. She chose LIFE and lost her sight. One woman was conceived when her mother was gang raped by 8 men. One pastor testified that his small country church (in Possum Trot, TX) of about 100 members has adopted more than 75 children. We are so glad we were a part of this experience.

A Very Elmo Christmas

Anaya got so much Elmo stuff for Christmas! I'm so glad we brought an extra suitcase. She got an Elmo DVD...

...an Elmo book with a music player...

...Sesame Street character toys...

...Tickle Me Elmo...

...a stuffed Elmo...

and a Elmo book. She also got an Elmo outfit and a Sesame Street playhouse. That's a whole lot of Elmo!!

Time with Family and Friends

Back at Bethel

We really miss our church family and we couldn't wait to get back to Bethel. Even though we had been gone for months, it felt like we never left!

I think Anaya missed Timothy a little too much...

The Hubbards and the Hyltons

We're going back to Indiana, Indiana here we come....

Me and Anaya in the DFW Airport! She was excited!

This was Anaya's first time on a plane and she did very well! When the plane started to take off she said "Weeeee!" and then 10 minutes later she was out! It was perfect.

Dab, Dab, Dab!

Dab, dab, dab!

Anaya and I got together with a couple of art teachers from my school to paint some Christmas ornaments. When I saw we were painting moons, I immediately thought of my mother in law. (she has a sun and moon theme throughout her house) I knew a hand-painted porcelain moon from Anaya would be the perfect Christmas gift! Unfortunately, I broke the ornament.......twice. (and those who really know me, are not surprised!) The first time I broke it, I was showing it to someone at work and it slipped out of my hand. The art teacher helped me find all the pieces and glue it back together. It was in no condition to travel to Indiana so, I had to wait until we got back before I could even take it home. When I was finally able to take it home, I dropped it while leaving work. The poor thing never made to my house in one piece. I was so disappointed!

Oli-Oli!

One night, Anaya was eating ravioli (which we call 'oli-oli') for dinner. I go to check on her and she was putting ravioli in her hair! She hasn't had ravioli since! And the worst part is, I had just given her a bath and washed her hair. I learned my lesson--never give her a bath BEFORE dinner!

Thanksgiving

I was very nervous about Thanksgiving this year. Since we were unable to travel to Indiana, I had to cook ALOT. Thankfully, our friends joined us and they cooked too. Everything turned out great and we even got to use real plates and silverware! (I was especially happy about that part)

The kids' table.

Our friend, Ricky, ready to carve the turkey his wife made

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, we met up with some of Kyle's family. Richard and Cheryl live in Longview, Texas (about 2 hours east of Dallas) and their son Kurt and his family were in town from Arkansas. Kyle's uncle Scott was also in town. We all met at the Galleria Mall (in Dallas) for lunch. We had a really great time. It was so nice to be around some family since we couldn't go back to Indy.

It was Anaya's first time meeting Kurt, Shanna and Eliana.

Anaya really liked Eliana.

Shanna, Eliana, Kurt, Richard and Cheryl.

Anaya and me in front of the christmas tree inside Galleria Mall.

This tree was huge! I took this picture from the top level and I still couldn't fit it all in!