Christmas in Maryland

Ok, so we were a little late but hey, better late than never! We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family last Sunday. My Uncle Scott and Great Aunt Hazel drove down from Pittsburgh. Pap wasn't feeling well, so he stayed home. But we had a nice visit with them. We had a full Christmas dinner thanks to my mom, Hazel and Kari. I wish I could have claimed some of the wonderful food but nope! We opened gifts again and enjoyed each others company. Yet again, Abraham made out pretty good with toys. He'll be set for life!
It was so great to see Scott and Hazel and I am so glad that they were able to come. It has been hard to not have Christmas with my family the past few years but times like this makes it somewhat better.
Christmas is officially over!!



The "boys" - Alex, Michael, Abraham, Uncle Scott and Joel


Opening gifts

My uncle is crazy about the Steelers - that is what you get from being from Pittsburgh! Kari and Joel got him a shower curtain to match his rugs. He is in love!!

Abraham and Great Aunt Hazel opening gifts

Michael's gift - no it's not Hello Kitty! He got a Swiss Army watch from Ma and Pa Mc Andrew

Like thc good teacher that I am, I got Alex some books for Christmas. They are all creepy Crawlie animals so he'll love them!


Great Uncle Scott and the kids - he got such joy out of playing with all 3 of them. And they all LOVED having him around. We wish he'd come more often.


Me and my best friend


Momma and Poppa Mc Andrew


"My" girl and me !

Just Chillin' !!

This would be our Saturday morning routine. Since Abraham gets up earlier than I'd like to be up, we get teddies, juice and turn on cartoons. He climbs up on the couch and has just recently begun to sit with his arms behind his head. It's too funny!! He is so like his Daddy!

Christmas in Atlanta

We spent Christmas Day in Atlanta with the rest of Michael's family. It was so good to see everyone. It had been 1 1/2 years since two of his sisters have seen Abraham. We enjoyed getting to spend time with them. Abraham chased Emily's dog around the whole time and was taken with him and the cat. We got to spend some extra time with Elizabeth since she came back home with us. She was headed to New York and caught a ride with us.
We were glad to be able to make it down there even though it is one heck of a drive!



The kids table at Christmas Dinner in Atlanta


Playing with Uncle Elliott and Aunt Ibby


Uncle Elliott was a good cuddler!



Abraham chased Elwood around all 3 days he was there. Elwood didn't seem to mind but probably had more exercise in those 3 days that he has had in a while!!


Grandma Kay has this little "girl" in her bathroom that Abraham seemed to think was real. He sat next to her and carried on a conversation with her and when she didn't answer he tossed her in the tub!



Grandma Kay and Abraham

The Ragan clan




Three Generations of Ragans

Christmas with Gramie and Grandpa

As usual, we took our yearly drive to Georgia to see Michael's family. We decided to drive straight to his dad's house in South Georgia. What technically should take about 15 hours took us nearly 18 hours.. with a 2 yr old who had been sick with the stomach flu the day of our travel. Yea, lots of fun!
But we did have a good time visiting with Gramie and Grandpa. Abraham was spoiled beyond spoiled with all his cars and toys. He was loving spending time with them. We had a nice visit.



Grandpa found a place that had lots of cool animals for Abraham to explore. He liked the donkeys!


I got... socks??


This one is better - it's a truck!!



I like coloring with Grandpa! He traced my hand and I colored it in! How cool!!



Gramie and I colored too!


Abraham got so many new cars and trucks I fear we will need a bigger room for him!



And some animals for his barn too.

Christmas in South Georgia

Christmas tree "gettin" is different in Georgia than we do here. There are plenty of trees to choose from if you just go a drivin' on a back road in South Georgia. Willie assured us that she knew who owned the land and it would be ok. Still she stood guard at the truck in case someone came driving by (yea right!)

Merry Christmas From the Ragans!!

We wish you a blessed Christmas with your family and friends. May God grant you His peace and love in the coming New Year.

O Christmas Tree!

Abraham was more interested in picking up the snow than looking for a tree!!


Abraham and Momma



Abraham was TOTALLY ready to go home for a nap - can you see the look of happiness on Daddy's face too??



My mom and dad bought a little potted Norfolk pine tree in memory of Moses. We decorated it and have it on its own little table for him.



Abraham got into the decorating too - he liked playing with all the snowmen too!

Thanksgiving 2007

Our Thanksgiving this year was a bit different and unorthodox for our family. Kari, Joel and their crew went to Canada to see Joel's folks for Thanksgiving. Michael was fly fishing in Erie, PA right before Thanksgiving. So Mom, Dad, Abraham and I drove up to Pittsburgh to see my extended family. It had been a good 6 months since they had seen Abraham so it was a good chance to be with them and share some time. I got to meet my grandfather's fiancee, Pat, for the first time and I genuinely like her. She is very outgoing, very put together, and she keeps/puts Pap in line which is hard to do trust me! She reminds me a lot of my Nanny and of my Gramie too. They all are definitely "ladies" in every sense of the word. I was also able to meet my Uncle Scott's girlfriend, Tracy, as well. She is a keeper!

We enjoyed our time with them and were sorry when we had to head back home. I am thankful for the health of Pap and my Great Aunt Hazel (who turned 96 this year!). I pray for more years with them both.



"Happy" (as Abraham called Pappy!) and Pat



Mom and Dad



Aunt Hazel, Michael and Me




Great Great Aunt Hazel, Abraham and me

Family Ties

The girls - Kari, Mom, Kay (2nd mom) and me


Me and my sweet best friend and sister


We were thankful to the Father for such a beautiful day!

Our Guests

Sadie is a friend from our new day care home. Sadie's mom is Theresa, a friend of mine from school.

Olivia is Tami's daughter. She and Abraham are good buds - I know that I'll miss her and so will he!


Mr. Jim (husband of Diane my teammate at school) and Nicholas, their son

Alex and Jamie (Diane's other son)


Me and Maureen - she is a former student of mine who has adopted Abraham as hers! We had spent time with her this past summer and she took good care of Abraham. Miss Susan is Maureen's mom.


Chloe cheesin' it up!


Abraham with Maureen

Presents!!

Opening his gifts - Miss Tami bought him a Matchbox car that was a Mustang. Since G-dad's toy is his Mustang, he and my mom have gotten Abraham to say Mustang as his secret word. They have created a MONSTER!! So when he saw the car, he went bonkers and wanted it OUT of the package!


Opening gifts with Momma and Chloe (like her unicorn horn?)


Michael and I bought Abraham a little trike. Alex and Abraham played on it for a good long time... Alex pushing Abraham around. They play so well together and Alex takes such good care of Babe-ra-ham! He is a great "big brother"!

Happy 2nd Birthday Abraham!

Phew! It didn't dawn on me how many birthdays we have in the months of October and November! Between Michael's family and mine there are 6!! Of course the most significant of them is Abraham's bday! :)

We had invited a bunch of people to a playground by our house for a little party for him on Saturday. The weather was not looking promising in the morning but got much better by party time. We ate cake and cupcakes and opened presents. The kids played on the playground and had a fun time. Course if you look closely at the pictures, you can tell how much fun Abraham had. See his goose egg on his forehead?? Poor guy! Needless to say, we cancelled his 2 yr pictures for Sunday.

Michael's mom was able to come up and join in the fun too so that was pretty special for Abraham as well.



Happy Birthday Abraham!! 2 Years Old!


Momma and Abraham ready to eat cake - Yummy!


There is nothing better than chocolate cake with TRUCKS on it!!


Abraham decided to eat the icing out of the back of the dump truck on his cake... boys!