The Chance of a Lifetime: Christmas and New Years at the ranch

On a side note...in between Christmas and New Years our baby girl turned 11 MONTHS...waaaay too close to 12 months in my opinion. I just cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by, seems like just yesterday I was as big as a horse and just weeks away from meeting our precious Carrys Faye. She is well on her way to walking and is loving this new independence she has found. We all absolutely adore her and are so thankful for the incredible blessing she is to our family...

taking in all the Christmas festivities

gaining confidence and balance

BIG girl in Mommy's little rocking chair

We celebrated Christmas with my family in Llano over New Year's weekend. It was a FULL weekend to say the least. We arrived Friday and the kiddos opened presents that evening from my extended family. The next morning we had "Christmas" with my parents and sister's family. It's always so fun to see the kids' excitement and anticipation at what gifts are under the tree. New Year's eve we celebrated my parents and aunt and uncle's 40th wedding anniversary. My sister, cousins and I held a small reception to honor their milestone. It was a great party with a fantastic slide show showcasing all 40 wedded years created by my sister and yummy cake made by my cousin Kristi. We had a great time honoring all 4 of them!!! We then ate out and rung in the new year with fireworks!!!

New Year's day brought more celebrating as we got together with my dad's side of the family to celebrate my grandfather's birthday AND one last Christmas. It was a non-stop, event-filled weekend!!! We had a wonderful time and are always SO blessed by our time with everyone...

Carrys, heading to give Ryder some kisses