Farm Life

Well, it is a sad day on the Hag Ranch as one of our very first animals to arrive has died. She was our banty hen named Blondie. She was a mama to most of the young chicks as they were growing up. But, that is the way of life. We buried her in the back pasture.

Ice?!

one inch thick on dog bowl

one and one half inches thick on horse trough

Early January brought some colder than normal weather for us southern Texans - it was in the 20's(!!!) at night for 4 nights in a row. So the ice was pretty cool looking - but the pictures don't capture the reality, oh well.
Now we are all wishing for at least slightly warmer weather - at least something enjoyable. :)

Christmas!

Kayla's long-awaited new belt :)

my stocking!

Bret's new gloves from his girls

Kayla's gift to Alissa

Alissa's gift to Erica

Is there an ipod to go with that?

Alissa's gift to Kayla

Kayla's gift to Erica - she made the calendar with pictures from our computer! very cool!

Erica's gift to Alissa

rain coat for Lamar! the scarf and hat are fabulous!

Kayla's bookmark for me, she designed & cross-stitched it! :)

Erica & Alissa got me a new cool wallet!

well, there's that ipod! :)

New boots?? really?

Ready to go!

Merry Christmas to all! It was fun to celebrate the birth of Christ with gifts for one another. There were other gifts - but no more pictures! Kayla made Bret a CD of piano music she played. We were listening to it for the rest of the morning. We had a slow day because we left the next day for North Texas and Arkansas for a funeral and then to celebrate & visit friends. Funny, our Christmas dinner was soup - but that's okay because we were with family and everything is better with the ones you love. Hope everyone had a wonderful celebration!

Sugar Cookie party!

Erica & her snowman masterpiece, quite a shame to eat it - kinda

First you roll out & cut the cookies

Hannah

Ashley

Then you decorate!

Well, we had our annual sugar cookie decorating party on Tuesday, December 22nd, complete with games & spaghetti. Is that the proper food for a Christmas party? Oh well. It was fun & very good to eat - the spaghetti and the cookies. :)

Don't the cookies look wonderful! Very creative! GREAT job everyone!

Christmas in West Columbia

annual family pose

Kevin

Randall & backpack for college

Jenna & Alissa with bling

Claire with USC sweatshirt & black light

Kayla with soccer goal

We had a fun-filled weekend visiting Bret's family. It is always so good to visit with them and hear about how their lives are going. The cousins are nonstop the whole time. We usually have lots of fun! The adults did a white elephant gift exchange that was fun for everyone. Didn't get any pics of that. We also took some professional pics of our whole group which we are looking forward to seeing. They will go on Grandma's wall. What a great gift for her.
Merry Christmas to all!

Santa vs Jesus

Why Jesus is better than Santa.......

• Santa lives at the North Pole…JESUS is everywhere.

• Santa rides in a sleigh…JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

• Santa comes but once a year…JESUS is an ever present help.

• Santa fills your stockings with goodies…JESUS supplies all your needs.

• Santa comes down your chimney uninvited…JESUS stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited.

• You have to wait in line to see Santa…JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

• Santa lets you sit on his lap…JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

• Santa doesn’t know your name, all he can say is “Hi little boy or girl, what’s your name?”…JESUS knew our name before we were born. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

• Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly…JESUS has a heart full of love.

• All Santa can offer is HO HO HO…JESUS offers health, help and hope.

• Santa says “You better not cry”…JESUS says “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.”

• Santa’s little helpers make toys…JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

• Santa may make you chuckle but…JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

• While Santa puts gifts under your tree…JESUS became our gift and died on a tree…the cross.

We need to put Christ back in CHRISTmas, Jesus is still the reason for the season.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

I copied this from a friend, Jennifer Dancer....hope she does not mind.

Enjoy - Shelly

Snow.......again!

Well, that says it all! We had fun and hoped it would stick but alas it did not. :( It was still fun, but VERY cold - at least for southerners! :)

Decorating the Christmas tree

finished product

crazy girls

unusual

too funny!

it took 10 shots to get this :)

Well, decorating the tree was as fun as always. It is such fun to get out all the ornaments that we have accumulated from various trips and put them on the tree. Each of the girls have their own ornaments given to them each year. Some of the ones they made when they were young are fun to see now! Then we talk & remember all the trips.......good times. :) Of course, we ate some fudge & drank wassail too. It was an evening well spent.
Shelly