Christmas Eve

Today we had Christmas with our children and GRANDchildren. Trista, Jeremy, Jacob and Lauren will be flying to Michigan in the morning to spend Christmas with Jeremy's family and Brandon, Ashley, Braden, and Madilyn will be spending Christmas in Bristow with Ashley's family. Jerrod will be with Jennifer's family tomorrow in Mannford so Mike and I will probably sleep in and then go and spend the day with Barbie and her children and GRANDchildren. We all had a wonderful time at Jeremy and Trista's house. I helped her get her laundry caught up and get things ready to be packed for their trip. They have a layover in Chicago and I just hope that it doesn't turn into a long one. As of this morning the airport in Chicago and been shut down because of bad weather. A long layover wouldn't be much fun with two young kids.
This is a picture of Lauren and Abby. We have ALOT of Abby videos. Abby is from Sesame Street, just in case you didn't know. I took the presents to their house last night so that I wouldn't have so much to unload today and couldn't resist "Pwease MeMe, I want my pwesent."
This is a picture of my precious Grand-daughters, Lauren and Madilyn. Lauren thinks that she is a big girl since she got to feed Madilyn. Aren't they beautiful!!!

Braden and Jacob are truly enjoying their video game that MeMe and PaPa bought each of them. At one point they both came out of the bedroom asking for a piece of cake and when I had asked them if they were through playing with their new game they both said, "No, but Daddy and "B" (that is what they call Brandon) wants to play the game.
Uncle Jerrod received the honor of handing out the presents again this year, minus the Santa outfit. We are not able to convince Lauren that Santa is a nice man and that she doesn't have to be scared of him. We had a wonderful day with our family, Mom & Dad, Barbie, and Jeremy's Mom & Dad and his brother Jeff.

Hill Family Christmas Part 2

Okay, you are not going to believe what my daughter did!!!! When she got home from the "Hill Family Christmas" she was looking at the pictures that were taken that day. I was not able to take many pictures because Lauren was attached to my hip because of Santa. Well, Sunday morning before church she DELETED ALL of the pictures taken the day before because she THOUGHT she had downloaded them on her computer. Well guess what she DIDN'T so now I am e-mailing everyone trying to get pictures. We had taken pictures of the families, the grandson's, grandaughter's, in-laws, etc. Pictures of everyone in their sombraros that Grandad and Bonita had given as gifts. Someone suggested that we go Christmas caroling in our new hats but we convinced them that it was too cold. THANK GOD.

This is a picture of Brandon, Ashley, Braden and our newest angel Madilyn. It was taken on Christmas Eve at Trista and Jeremy's house. Braden was with his dad when we had the Hill Christmas so I wanted to let everyone see this picture of Brandon and his family. I am so proud of both Brandon and Ashley. She passed her nursing test and is employed at St. Francis working on the critical care floor. Brandon was promoted and is now the Junior Manager or second in charge of the Surveillance Operation at the casino. God has truly blessed them this year in all areas of their life.

So here is a picture of Lauren and Madyson Sunday morning at church. Aren't they BEAUTIFUL??? Don't worry I will be updating more Christmas stories later.

Hill Family Christmas

We had our Hill Family Christmas yesterday. Our niece Amy and her husband Carl invited us to their house for our Christmas celebration this year. EVERYONE was accounted for and present this year. Tye, Janina, and Addison had to come the farthest. They came from Hawaii where Tye is currently stationed. I think we should have all gone to Hawaii, I bet it would have been much warmer there. We had a wonderful time. This year we had 3 new babies born, the first picture is my little angel Madilyn, she is the daughter of Brandon and Ashley, Sophie, the second picture is the daughter of Lori Beth and Daniel, the third picture is Addison, which is the daughter of Tye and Janina. Who knows how many new ones we could have next year!!! Jacob did tell Santa that he wanted a baby brother and the last time he told Santa something like that he got what he wanted, a baby sister.


Below is a picture of the new ones we had two Christmas's ago. Boy have they grown. This is Chloe, she is the daughter of Lori Beth and Daniel and the big sister of Sophie, Preston, is the son of Amy and Carl and he has a big brother named Ian and my little angel Lauren which is the daughter of Trista and Jeremy and she has a big brother names Jacob. Lauren is terrified of Santa. If you ask her to please have her picture taken with Santa she says, "MMMM, NO!" Today at church my nephew Justin was dressed like Santa and was handing out the gifts to the children and I even told her that it was Justin but there was NO WAY she was going to get anywhere near him. Sorry Santa. I am sure it is nothing personal. As you can tell by the look on her face she is not interested this year, maybe next year.

Cold Outside but Warm in MeMe's Bafwoom

Another day spent with Lauren and Jacob since school was out. I think today it was just because of the wind chill although the streets are still slick in the neighborhood. Got everyone fed with sausage patties, doughnuts and orange juice and it was time for the morning bath. By the way the doughnuts and orange juice is what Trista picks up on the way to MeMe's house, I do have more nutritional things to fix them. LOL I was trying to get a good picture of Jacob smiling but the only time he was smiling was when he was splashing the water in his sister's face and I didn't want to get my camera wet.

I had a dentist appt. today to get my teeth cleaned so before I left I got Lauren to sleep on my bed and Jacob was coughing his head off so I gave him some Dimetap (because his PaPa took all of his Benedryl) thinking I was killing two birds with one stone. One for the cough the other to make him sleepy and take a nap. Well guess what? Dimetap makes him climb the walls and ceiling. Mike said that Lauren woke up about 15 minutes after I left (whatever) so when I got back about 2 hours later he was a little frustrated. :(

I did get to video Lauren singing her songs today. "Row, Row, Row Your Boat, ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." On a couple of them we got to hear them twice cause she would say, "One more time MeMe." It turned out really good. Jacob and Lauren also sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" but the Dimetap kept him from standing still. I will go to Wal Mart tomorrow to restock on the Benedryl, hide it from PaPa, and will never again buy Dimetap. I sure hope that we are back in school tomorrow. Even if I don't have the GRANDbabies Mike is driving me crazy being home all day since being laid off last Thursday from his job, yes, two weeks before Christmas. :( We are keeping our faith in God that he will be back to work REAL soon. We know that he got the job because it was God's will in the first place and we are keeping the faith that the lay off will not be for long. He really enjoys the job and the people that he works with. He doesn't feel good ;( and we all know how much worse it is for a man to be sick.

Schools Out So It's to MeMe's House

Well, we had our first day out of school because of the weather so Jacob and Lauren spent the day with MeMe and PaPa. When Trista brought them to the house this morning she brought Lauren in and was on her way back out to the car to get Jacob only to find that he had already gotten out by himself. He is always reminding us that he is a big boy. Well it wasn't icy at their house like it was here so when he got to the sidewalk he took a little tumble. His first comment was, "I'm OK but that sure is slick." After they had donuts and orange juice for breakfast I told them that it was time for their bath but Lauren wanted me to first turn on the heater in the bathroom. They love MeMe's bathroom heater in the winter. I guess they no longer put heaters in the bathrooms when they build new houses these days. While in the bathtub they both had to be alligators. Jacob wanted to get out first so he could watch cartoons, then it was Lauren's turn. She usually takes a little longer because of fixing the hair, putting LOTS of lotion on and then setting in front of the mirror for a while. I guess it's a girl thing. We then went into the living room and she wanted to watch something different (of course) so we got out the little DVD player so that she could watch "Elmo's Christmas Countdown" while my little OCD grandson lined all of his 200+ cars up and kept telling me to watch him turn "fwips." They have to all be facing the same way, same colors together, etc. Lauren tried helping her brother but that didn't go well. He kept suggesting to her that she go watch another movie. We had homemade chicken and noodles for lunch and then it was nap time. I took Lauren to my bed and PaPa and Jacob were going to nap in the living room (which didn't happen.) Jacob came to my room a dozen times and then would leave needless to say Jacob nor PaPa got a nap. It took her a little while to fall asleep since she only likes her bed. She took her socks off and then would put them back on several times. She would whisper things to me since I had my eyes closed pretending to be asleep, finally when I turned the other way she decided to go to sleep. We had a little success on potty training today. Then only things is she is telling us when she needs to poop but not pee. But I would much rather change a peepee diaper than a poopoo diaper. We really have to watch though because if we are not careful she will have the whole roll of toilet paper used before we know it. I think Jeremy spent part of today fixing a clogged stool because of her putting so much toilet paper down the stool. I already know that schools are closed again tomorrow but I might just have Jacob since Lauren usually spends Tuesday's with NaNa. I love the time I get to spend with all of my grandbabies.

Hello Holidays

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and now its Christmas. The Christmas tree is up, decorated and the presents for my GRANDbabies are under the tree. I wasn't going to put the tree up since we are having our Christmas at Jeremy & Trista's house Christmas Eve but Trista and Ashley wouldn't hear of it. So I had the tree ready for them to decorate when they came over on Saturday. I promise it will come down Christmas day and that only takes me a few minutes. I was trying to get some pics of Jacob and Lauren today but they wouldn't cooperate, which means when one was looking at the camera and smiling the other one wasn't. Go figure!!! So I am picking out the best one and it just happens to be of Lauren by herself. Don't you just love her dimples. I am also including a pic of Lauren and Aunt Bobbie (Barbie). Tonight is the Sand Springs Christmas Parade of Lights and our church has a float in it so Jacob and Trista will be riding on the float while Jeremy and Lauren rides in the truck with JB and Aubrey. Lauren has had a double ear infection and she is just starting to be herself again. Right now she is in the living room aggravating her brother by trying to take his brownie. They both just finished a dip of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream so I can't imagine them wanting a brownie. Our trip to Braums for ice cream is an everyday thing after I pick up Jacob from school.

Madilyn

Madilyn, Ashley and Brandon came to visit MeMe last night. PaPa was gone to western Oklahoma deer hunting and they were a pleasant surprise. She is getting so big. She loves to lay in the floor looking at the ceiling fan. She is trying to talk and loves to smile. She has actually spent the night with us a couple of times. She seems to sleep better at MeMe's house so Brandon said that she can just stay here until she turns 2. LOL They have discovered that she likes to be in the baby slingpack, so Brandon just walks around the house with her snuggling against his chest. He said that he did it for about 3 hours the other day. I also have seen pictures of her asleep in the sling laying on his chest. I don't think he realizes what he is getting himself into, but Trista has tried to warn him. Jacob is still sleeping in mommy and daddy room. They went and bought him a child size cot and he sleeps on it at the end of their bed, all the while his little sister sleeps peacefully in her own bed in her own room.

For the first time in his little four year old life he said something that did hurt MeMe's feeling a little bit. I pick him up from school everyday and when I picked him up on Thursday he told me, "MeMe I don't want you to pick me up anymore cause it is NaNa's turn. You get to pick me up everyday and you need to share. That night when Mike got home from work I said, "Jacob tell PaPa what you told me today when I picked you up from school." Well, Mike's remark was, "I wish I could pick you up from school." So when I went to pick him up yesterday, (friday) he started crying saying, "MeMe you weren't suppose to pick me up, PaPa said that he would pick me up today." I had to try and make him understand that PaPa Mike and PaPa Neal had gone hunting. So the next time PaPa has a day off he is suppose to pick him up from school.

A little update on Lauren (little Trista). She has become quite to little tattle tail. We were in the car on our way home from picking Lauren up from Miss Ann's and Jacob was telling me a story about what he had learned at school that day. He doesn't understand that MeMe can listen to him and Lauren at the same time and he told Lauren, "Sissy be quiet I was telling MeMe something," and her response was to say, "MeMe, Bubby yelled at me." Trista will hear them fighting in the bedroom about who knows what and tells them to quit fighting and in a very short time Lauren will come out saying that Bubby hit her, which most of the time didn't happen. She is just like her mother was, aggravating the boys and then coming and telling on them about something they didn't do to her.

I thank God everyday for my "Little Blessings" from heaven.

Halloween 2008

Another Halloween has come and gone as is the tough decision of Jacob trying to decide who he wants to be. Trista received a catalog in the mail full of costumes and Jacob wanted to get them all. When I told him that he only needed one he went to his room crying and telling me, "MeMe you hurt my feelings." I told him that I was sorry but that he wouldn't have enough time to wear all of the costumes in one night. It took him a while to forgive me but he finally did. I told Trista to throw the catalog away because that was the first thing he wanted when we would get to his house after school. Can't wait for the Christmas catalogs to arrive. LOL Well, as you can see he is Spiderman again only this time he has lots of muscles. Braden was a vampire, Lauren was a ballerina/fairy and our newst little angel Madilyn was Tinkerbell. We went to the Trunk or Treat at our church and had a wonderful and safe time of trick or treating.

Madilyn Paige Hill

Today, September 26, 2008 Madilyn Paige was born. She weighed 9 lbs. and was 22 in. long. She is gorgeous. I was watching Brandon while he was in the nursery with Madilyn and one minute he was smiling and the next minute he was tearing up. When he did that of course then MeMe would also shed a few tears. He kept catching himself talking to her and calling himself "B" instead of daddy. "B" is what his step son Braden calls him. I can't hardly believe that my baby now has a baby of his own. I know that he will be a wonderful Dad. No one but Brandon and Ashley knew her name until after she was born. They kept it a secret. So when I said my prayers last night that everything would go well today with the C-section I said Ashley's name in my prayer but all I could call the baby was "baby girl" since they wouldn't tell us her name. They had her name in a sealed envelope and we got to see it when Brandon held the card up to the nursery window. Thank you God for another precious miracle.

Mike's Retirement and our 31 year Anniversary

Well it finally happened. Mike retired from the steel mill after 31 years of shift work. We will no longer be able to call him MIDNIGHT MIKE. LOL God has really blessed us during the 31 years that he has worked there. Mike has already found another job and we feel like God provided this job for him. It is straight days and for the most part weekends off.

We also just celebrated 31 years of marriage and are looking forward to 31+ years more. We spent the week at Paradise Valley Resort in our new home away from home. We got to spend time with Mom & Dad, Uncle Johnny & Aunt Sharon and 3 of their grandon's, Robert and Carol and the boys, and Robyn and Davey and the girls. Trista, Jeremy, Jacob, Lauren, Ashley and Brandon came down for the 4th of July. I had a wonderful time being with the family.

God Bless You All,

Becky

MeMe and Jacob's 9 days at Roaring River

We just got back from 9 wonderful and relaxing days at Roaring River, Paradise Valley Resort. We went swimming everyday, played at the park and went to the fish hatchery to feed the trout. If I remember correctly there was only one day that Jacob decided to take a nap and he looked so sweet (as usual.) We also went through about 10 bandages. LOL One of the times that he insisted on a bandaid was when he got bit by a fly and yes, it did bring a tiny spot of blood to his arm. Well needless to say that was the end of the bicycle riding for the evening because everywhere he looked he would see a fly. After a very busy day we were usually in bed by 11:00 and would sleep until 8 or 9 AM. He got very independent about going to the bathroom by himself once he found out how to flush to toilet, I just had to make sure he didn't add too much water. I told Trista that I was thinking about staying this week since Mike was working midnights but she said that she would call the police and say that I had kidnapped her son across the state line. LOL I will admit that I cried when he left Saturday evening to come home with his mom. I told Trista that I will take Lauren when she is potty trained and will sleep somewhere else besides her own bed. Thank you God for blessing me with such sweet GRANDbabies and wonderful parents that will share them with me.

Becky

Our new home away from home!!!

This is our new home away from home. We spent the weekend at Roaring Riving in the Paradise Valley Resort (which we also bought a membership for.) We had a wonderful time and didn't want to come home. It is 32 ft. long with 2 slide outs and tons of storage. Luckily the shower is also a small bath tub since Jacob does not like to take a shower. He thinks that flushing the toilet is cool!!! And Lauren thinks that climbing the stairs to the bedroom is fun. We took Jacob with us and then Trista, Jeremy & Lauren came and stayed Sunday night with us. We can't wait for all of our children to come and spend some time with us. Of course the men love to fish and the women love to shop. Eureka Springs is only about 30 minutes away and Branson is about 1 hour away and then there are lots of antique shops. We don't have to get up at 5:30 a.m. to shop like the men do when they go fishing. Our camping spot was right by the park so Jacob didn't take a nap the whole time we were there. We went swimming one day and went to the fish hatchery a couple of days to feed the trout. Barbie and Richie and all of their family came for the weekend. Robert and Carol and all of their families were there and the kids had a blast together. We will be spending alot of the summer in our new home away from home.

Becky

Brandon's Graduation from UNLV

Brandon graduated from UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas) this weekend with his Master's Degree. It has been a long road and he is glad that it is over with. He also turned 26 on the 15th. Trista and Jeremy went with Brandon and Ashley to Las Vegas and they had alot of fun except when Jeremy got sick from too much sun and we think that Ashley has strep throat. MeMe and PaPa had lots of fun taking care of Lauren and Jacob but they were really glad to see their mommy and daddy when they returned home on Sunday after being gone for four days. It took MeMe a little longer to get ready for church since I am not use to getting two little one ready and myself ready. We arrived to church just in time to hear Pastor Larry's sermon. I am not as young as I use to be and can't believe that I use to get three kids ready and still get to church on time. God has blessed Brandon with a wonderful job and he is moving up very fast in the company. He enjoys his job and knows that God has great things in store for him in his career at Cherokee Nation Casino.

Here we go again, Let's Play Ball!!!

Jacob had his first Wee Ball game this week. It has been a LONG time since I have attended a baseball game at the Sand Springs Baseball Complex but the time has now come once again. It was an exciting game watching most of the little ones run everywhere except to first base. Jacob would get a little upset when his best friends twin sister would hold him and her brother back so that she could get the ball first. LOL Needless to say Jeremy and Trista have alot a years to look forward to since we all know that Jacob is going to be a superstar baseball player just like his Daddy, his Uncle Jeff, and his Uncle Brandon.

It's A Girl!!!

This is a picture of the soon to be parents of a baby girl. We found out this week that they are going to have a girl, so now MeMe can start buying pink things. The baby is due in October and we can hardly wait. We are being blessed with another angel from God.

My Little Flower Girl

Lauren discovered the flowers again this year. She was trying to act like she was just smelling them when she was really trying to pick them. She did succeed in picking one of the purple pansies. I noticed that she was keeping her hands clasped together, even when she was getting into her Daddy's truck to go home. So while I was trying to help her into her car seat I noticed just a tiny bit of the flower sticking out of her hand. When I asked her what she had in her hand she just looked at me and said, "kiss MeMe!" While I was planting about 6 flats of flowers last weekend I could not keep her out of the water and potting soil. She loves to get dirty and I love to give baths. LOL

New GRANDbaby!!!

It is now official, we are going to have another GRANDbaby. Brandon and Ashley are expecting this wonderful angel (gift from God) the first of October. These are the ultrasound pics. The middle one is the best one. They will go for another ultrasound next week so I will update the picture. This will be number 4.

Redecorated Kitchen and Dining

Ashley had asked me before Christmas is she and Trista could redo my dining room and kitchen. That meant tear off the wall paper and paint, but the one stipulation was that they got to chose the color of paint and the wall decorations. They finished it last night and I LOVE it. They even put up crown molding along the ceiling. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful daughter and daughter-in-law. Thank you both so much.


Becky