Happy Holidays!

Somewhat belated Christ-mas greetings, but Happy NEW YEAR!!! 2011!!! YAY!

Don't give up!

If it looks like I have completely given up blogging- that is not true! All 5 of you loyal, faithful readers out there, we are still here! Man, the holiday season is so hectic! We have been out of town so much and keep forgetting the true meaning... Where does it go? What a clever little ploy of marketing atheists! All conspiracies here in Suzanne world- Dan dismisses most, but my mind enjoys them ;)

So, here are my friends, Courtney's and Laura's posts of June and I visiting our favorite place of San Antonio last week for a cookie exchange and good ole' Mahncke Park drama and fun! We had a wonderful time and loved our hosts- they could not have been more hospitable. There is much more to say, but where is the time to say it- yikes!

Mahncke girls before and After

June has friends!

Cookie Exchange!

Reminder for SuDan here: JESUS is the ONLY reason for this season. I am trying to live and leave all the stuff behind while focusing on Christ's birth and our praise of His coming to save us! What an awesome thought to comprehend. Although, it is somewhat un-comprehensible. Is that a word? Spell check didn't underline it for me, so pat on the back for that one!

Anyway, hope you are having a merry holiday season, probably without snow- but use your imagination! Only 10 days away!

AND here is a pic of us in all our fun travels these last few weeks- Dallas for Dan's company Christmas party, Lexington for my company Christmas party and fun visit with the Ditto cousins and San Anton. Who knows which airport this was taken in!?! Where are our sweet animals, you may ask? Agh! Who knows?! But they are here when we get home to welcome us and forgive us for leaving them and paying no attention, etc. I wish I could be more like that!

17 blocks

Sunday morning, Dan decided that we were going to walk to church! So, 30 minutes early, we set off for 17 long blocks, which I am sorry to say is a pretty big accomplishment for me.....

For some reason, Meuf Te' was not allowed to come, only Vern because Dan had not filled his daily walk requirement yet. But June had a fantastic time and Vern, well Vern was Vern...

Then, we decided to keep our green streak going and took a family bike ride.

Great end to the fall in Lubbock. It's about to be our first real winter in quite a few years....

June's first words!

It's official! June has said her first words and I, of course, had to catch them on video. Watch and love.... :)

Happy Halloween!

We were in Dallas this past weekend for Dan's sister, Mia's fabulous wedding! It was just beautiful and so fun! I will post more on that later (with pics of June's little black dress!),

But right now, I just had to share June's little Halloween costume with you.

She didn't even mind having the hood on and just crawled around like an actual little lady bug :)

Morning at City Hall

We spent last friday morning at City Hall campaigning for our fellow church members. It happened to be the coldest morning yet this year, so we got all dressed up to go!

Since we have moved to Lubbock, the Lord has led us to a church of primarily homeless people. A few years ago, neither of us would have ever thought that is where we would be, but we love it and love the fellowship we have with so many wonderful people, and the lessons Christ is teaching us through humility.

Anyway, friday morning, the city council was hearing opinions and voting on whether the homeless would be able to continue sleeping at the City Public Library downtown. They have slept there for many years and it is actually a good place because it is right next to the police station, so the city is able to keep an eye on them. But, people have started complaining that they leave it messy and store their things there, and its an eyesore, etc... So, the city was going to make an outlaw prohibiting it, which would send them "elsewhere." (i.e. all out into the neighborhoods where the police would have had to find them if they caused any problems, hence costing more money, causing more issues, and creating a larger problem...)

Well, Dan and June and I went in support. The City Council usually has about 2-3 people attend their meetings and friday morning, there were over 100! It was wonderful and we won (for now). They are tabling the issue and forming a committee. June was very vocal on the issue and had to sit outside in the hall with me, but we are proud of our little protester!

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hand but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." - Saint Teresa of Avila

blackberries

Last night, Dan made dinner while I picked June up from my mom's house. She keeps her every Tuesday, which is FANTASTIC for me. I am able to get tons done and have a short reprieve.

So, when I got home, Dan told me he had somehow conjured up some fresh mozzarella and he had little tomatoes and fresh mozzarella all cut up with balsamic vinegar and oregano and bread. This may not sound like much, but to me- its heaven!!! ANYthing with bread is wonderful for me. I like bread with absolutely every meal!

Anyway, at the end of dinner, he told me that the fresh mozzarella was actually June's string cheese that he had cut up and didn't it taste great and we didn't even need to buy fresh mozzarella anymore! (I must admit, it did taste just like fresh mozz, but I was still a little perturbed at him for pulling one over on me!)....

Moving on; June loves blackberries. They are super messy, as you can see, but it is pretty funny to watch her eat them! :)

She hoards them like they are her most precious possession...