Catching Up - Christmas in The Woodlands!

Well I know I'm not always the most punctual person, but just NOW posting about Christmas -- in the middle of March -- is pretty terrible!! Nevertheless, I wanted to try to catch up a little on here. John has grown SO much and changed in so many wonderful ways since I last posted! He is almost 10 months old now, but here are some (ok, a TON of) photos of fun memories made during his first Christmas! We went down to The Woodlands, Texas this year to celebrate Christmas with the entire Hefferly Family. It was such a blessing to have everyone together!

One of John's favorite toys is his stuffed Grinch -- I think his heart grew 3 sizes this day!
At Pinkie's house, this little light-up snowman looks just like John! And this picture captures it SO well! What a sweetheart!
Our Christmas Family photo in front of the beautiful tree! This was after Mass on Christmas Eve:
The original Hefferly fam - except for Pa. He was working (flying for Southwest) until late Christmas Day.
One of many attempts at getting all four cousins together!
Then Pinkie joined in the fun:
Our favorite gift!
John and Mama:
Pinkie read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to all of the grandkids on Christmas Eve:
John in his Christmas jams on Christmas Morning!
With his little reindeer butt! :)
Cousin Kolbe in his Frosty shirt -- he loves Frosty the Snowman!
Cousin Rudy playing soccer -- Santa brought him and Kolbe a soccer ball and net!
So of course all their Uncles (and Aunt Abby) had to break it in with a little Christmas Day game of hands-in-your-pockets-so-you-don't-cheat soccer:


John with his Aunt Laura:
John passed out while the family opened presents Christmas night. We wanted to wait until Pa got home from his trip!
A family photo during present-opening:
Dada bought John his first football!
Hangin' out with Pa!
And snugglin' with Pinkie:
Another attempt at getting all 4 boys together for a photo:
Wrestle-mania with Pa quickly turned into rugby practice:
Cousin Jackson was having a good time!
Dada was sure pleased at how much John liked the rugby ball!
But Mama had to sneak in a soccer ball, too!
Oh boy!
And one more picture to leave ya with... our happy little guy!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have had a great spring so far! We hope this finds you and yours doing well! I promise to try to update this more often -- John is growing too quickly!
Love,
Abby, Andy, John, and Wayne-Dog

This Time of Year...

I LOVE this time of year! I love catching up with family and friends through Christmas cards and photos (Sadly, I just got our Christmas cards mailed out today!). I love decorating the home, trimming the tree, and setting up the Nativity as a family. I love enjoying Christmas lights all over town, listening to Nat King Cole Christmas music, and warming up with a fire at night. I love wrapping packages, drinking hot chocolate, and watching (and quoting!) the movie Elf about 8 1/2 times in the course of one month. And I absolutely LOVE this little guy and seeing the joys of Christmas through his precious eyes!


Now THERE'S a present under the the tree -- the BEST present we've ever received!! May God bless you and keep you at Christmastime and always! From our family to yours... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love in Christ,
Abby, Andy, John and Wayne-Dog

Wreck 'em Tech!

In November, we were fortunate enough to take John to his first home Red Raider football game! Our friends Ben and Erin Johnson were kind enough to offer us free tickets that Ben got through his work -- so the 5 of us, plus Mark and Laura Asmussen, ventured out for a fun game on a beautiful Saturday afternoon!

But before I get into the photos from the game, here are a few cute ones of our little Red Raider. When he was younger, he would make a little "guns up" all by himself! (of course he's grown out of that now that it's football season) ;) Here he is at 6 weeks:
2 months:
4 months -- now he needs help with his guns up:
With Dada...
...and Mama
Now on to Game Day! In the stands before kickoff:
Cutest little Red Raider!
Chillin' with Daddy:
Mmmmm... popcorn! Wish I could have some!
Passed out with Miss Erin in the 2nd half:
Still snoozin'
But then he woke up for some fun during the 4th quarter:
So happy to be watchin' football with his Daddy!
Family photo op after the game:

We had a great first football season with our little guy! He'll be running around in pads and a helmet before we know it! :) Speaking of... Andy did buy him a football for Christmas already, ha! Well y'all take care and God bless!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John and Wayne-Dog

Fall Fun 2010

I am so far behind with blogging -- there is so much to catch up on! John is growing like a weed, and will turn 7 months old next week! He is SUCH a happy little boy, and we are so blessed! We have had so much fun this fall, so here are a few photos to tell the story from John's perspective:

Trying out Dada's cowboy hat... I think I've got a long ways to go!
Pumpkin Head! This hat fits a little better, and it's extra-special because Grandma made it for me:
We watched a LOT of football this fall, and I had a lot of fun rootin' for the Houston Texans. (Thanks to Pinkie for my great outfit! I wore it for every game.) Go Texans!

And every Saturday I was decked out in my Texas Tech duds to cheer on our Red Raiders! I even got to go to a home game and an away game (against Baylor out in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl). Wreck 'em Tech!
Our Red Raider Family:
"I love smiling! Smiling's my favorite!" (Quoting the movie Elf)

I even got to hang out with both of my grandmas this fall -- Gramma:
And Pinkie:
While I'm a happy and outgoing boy most of the time, Mama says I can turn on the charm too sometimes:
One of Mama's favorites... I'm a morning person (and a post-nap person). Mama says I didn't get that from her!
I love this great ball my Aunt Laura made for me... I'm having a lot of fun discovering all my toys!

I learned how to roll over! This is a picture right when I rolled from my belly to my back. I was pretty proud of myself!
Dada and my Wayne-Dog... the 3 of us have a lot of fun together!
I also started eating solids! So far it's mostly been rice cereal, but I'm into green beans right now... next up is carrots, I can't wait!
Even though I'm growing fast, Mama can still steal a little snuggle now and then:
Hangin' out with Dada on a Sunday afternoon... he needed a study break!
I love to laugh out loud now! I'm still figuring it out, but it sure is a lot of fun!
Well that was a whirlwind update! Next I'll have to share my first home Texas Tech football game! Hope you're doing great and getting excited for Christmas! God bless!

Love,
John (and my parents and puppy!)