Dear Cory....

Stretch misses you!

Missing you...

Does anyone else miss these people?

A new adventure

We are excited for Cory's new adventure, but we will miss him while he is in Washington.

Benson keeps saying that he is going "far away with Cory

More "like father, like son"

The latest obsession at the Haws Household.

Yesterday they seriously considered golfing in a hurricane, that's how dedicated they are!

Christmas Pictures (in no particular order)

So I have tons of pictures from this past week with Christmas and all and I thought I would just share them with you all. The first couple are from today but the rest are pretty much from Christmas Day. Enjoy!Benson drumming away. I took this one for Danny (aka Elder Haws).

This is Nick today. Brady gave Nick this suit and I thought it looked fancy on him. He was shoveling the driveway when we got home. Thanks for the suit Brade!

Our "official" 2008 Christmas photo.

Mom's gifts to open Christmas morning. She also got a dishwasher a couple days prior to Christmas. (Santa is very self-less.)

Andy and Cory's piles.

Dad's chair surrounded in gifts.

Nick and Tami's piles. Nick really spoiled me this year, like always.

This is what it looked like after Santa left. Looks nice and clean!

So those of you who live in the area know that we got tons of snow on Christmas night. It was so bad that McKenzie's parents told her not to even try to drive home, and Nat and Casey didn't want to deal with driving in the snow and stuff, so we all had a "sleepover" at Mom and Dad's. Nick and I drove down the street and got our air mattress and then we pulled out some mattresses for Nat & Casey and also for McKenzie. Andy just slept on the couch. It was actually really fun. We watched "Head Over Heels" and then fell asleep!

What would the sleepover be without balloon animals made by Casey? Nick is sporting his super cool crown or hat that Casey made him.

Shanna was talking to Danny. (She doesn't look happy does she?)

Dad sporting his new basketball shoes that Nat & I (and our spouses) got for him.

Shawnee & Brady

Ronola

Shanna and Cory

Nick and Tami

Casey, Nat, & Cory

McKenzie and Andy

Mom went crazy with making quilts for everyone. These are the ones she made for Andy & Cory. Nick says this was a "Quilted Christmas."

Dad with his hot air balloon quilt that Mom made him. (I used this one at our sleepover and it was FABULOUS!!!)

Emily, Nat, and I secretly surprised Mom with making a quilt with some fabric that she used to sew things when we were little. I'm pretty sure she liked it. She started crying when we asked her what the fabric was from. Big hit I think.

Okay this is my favorite picture and this is why I saved it for last. I am posting this mostly for Danny but I thought I would let you all see how much weight Dad has lost. He fits into Danny's leather jacket that Danny wore right before he went on his mission. Dad, that's amazing. We're all proud of you for losing that much weight!

Anyway, we really had a fun Christmas and it was fun to be able to talk to each of you (my family members) on Christmas. I am really grateful for each of you and for all that you've done for Nick and I. We love you all so much!

Pickin' up Sticks

So I guess we made it sound like we cut the WHOLE tree down but we didn't. We only cut the west 1/2 of the tree down because it was dead. Mom is hopeful that the tree will grow back at least a little, but I'm pretty sure that it won't. Anyway, we finished up the whole clean up process on Monday night for family night. Here's who was there: Wayne, Jan, Cory, Becca, Tami, Natalie, Casey, Benson, and Andy. (Ronola and McKenzie came later and ate dinner with us all.)

Benson and Grandpa Otis
Loadin' up the trailer to haul it in the field to dump it.
Big Boy Benson standing up. He's been walking around like crazy!
This is the finished product. (Johnny this is for you.) Don't be disappointed that there wasn't much more destruction to the tree... sorry I explained it wrong.
The girls raking. Tami, Becca, Natalie, Mom

Dad put a fanny pack at the top of one of the trees. He says there's a reward for whoever gets it.
This was a hard picture to get. I had to walk over in front of the King's house to get the house and the tree in one picture.
When Dad was cutting down some of the big branches, one of them hit the slide and dented it. He fixed it though.
Nat, Becca, Tami
Dad and Benson again.
This is the only picture I have of the slide after Dad and Cory and fixed it. They did something else to it after this picture.
Pickin' up sticks again.
Cory made this little cat house for Becca's cat Panda. I thought it was so cute so I thought I'd let you all see it.
Benson and Grandma Jannie

Happy Birthday Cory!

Cory, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday! I remember playing when we were little and I was always so fond of you. You were always one of my best friends, and I still consider you one of my best friends. You are a great brother and I love you very much.
I hope today was a good day for you and that you had a good birthday!
I love you Cor!
Tami
These two pictures were from Cory's birthday party. They are the best ones I have. Mom and Dad gave Cory some climbing stuff. The picture above is Cory playing with a rope he got. The bottom picture is the after of the birthday cake. The camera didn't take it fast enough so Cory had to fake it for the picture...
Happy Birthday Cory!

Snow Day

We had a pretty fun day out in the snow today. I had been at home so I missed the beginning, but I guess it all started when Nick and Casey were hot so they went outside and threw snowballs at eachother and then started rolling big balls of snow and putting them in Andy's truck and on McKenzie's car. I guess they decided to make a snowman (pictured below) and as you all know the Haws/Dalpias/Jones boys, you know that they can't settle for anything less than the best.

Cory named him Zeus, Lord of the Jews. He has big pecs, buff arms, two gun holders, six pack, and a smartie necklace for a mouth. (They were looking for something for the mouth and Cory ran in the garage and found it for Zeus.) The snowman even has a small little wife at his side.

After they made the snowman, they started building a hill to sled down... it all just kept getting bigger and better after that.

McKenzie was wearing a garbage sack so she didn't get wet pants.

Nick was working so hard while everyone was playing...

Cory brought out his skis and he and Casey skiied down the hill.

Mad skills Yo!

It got pretty cold so Dad, Nat, and Benson went in the house and watched out the window.

When we were just getting done playing on the snow and stuff, Cory noticed there were 2 deer in the Schiffman's field. I walked over and there were deer footprints everywhere in their yard!!

What an eventful day!