Our story continued...

MY VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS AS A THOMAS!!

This is how I know God is good and bigger than we can imagine.  One would probably expect us to say, this was the worst Christmas Ever since Timber isn't here... but I can honestly say, Christmas was in fact very blessed.  I would have traded anything in the world to have gotten to have my first Christmas as a Thomas with both of my in-laws, but I didn't get a choice.  But we did have a choice as to how we reacted, we could share old memories and create new ones, or we could wallow in our grief -- we chose the memories and I know God was pleased!!  It was a Christmas full of memories both old and new.  We started a new tradition, Christmas Eve at our house!!  Tara, Alden, Mom, Us, Dad, Judy, Hitch and Grandma Pat... Oh and Ashely and Crystal usually stop by.  It was so awesome, starting a new tradition.  And the old traditions continued as well, Christmas Eve, Memaw always made smothered steak, mac and cheese, rolls and mashed potatoes... she passed that on to Mom and Mom cooked us up the best Christmas meal ever.  I look forward to smothered steaks on Christmas Eve EVERY year!!  This Christmas Eve there were some special gifts to be passed out.  A James Avery bracelet and charm for Tara, in honor  of my precious niece that was then only a bun in the oven.  Memory Bear's for Tyler and Dad -- these were bears made from Ty's jeans and work shirts -- ours (Tyler's) was made out of the jeans that Timber wore at our wedding.  We will always cherish those bears!!  We also gave Mom a memory book, filled with letters and stories that friends and family had written about Timber -- She loved it and was totally surprised.  Oh, and we gave dad a shotgun that was Ty's.  We gave him a gun case to throw him off, then brought out the gun -- he was shocked and got teary eyed.  Sad but oh so happy all at the same time.  Each gift was a step toward healing and a step toward remembering at the same time.   It's what the Thomas' family does, make memories!! 

Pics below:

Alden's first treasure hunt... he got a gun safe!!

And the Proposal!!

And another new tradition... a toy for all 3 guys!

The next morning there were lots of gifts under the tree just for the 3 of us.  I got several charms for my James Avery bracelet, 2 of which were from Mom and Timber -- a daughter charm and a daughter in law charm, the daughter charm wasn't engraveable so they got both.  So very special to me, especially since they got them just after we got married and it was from Timber too!  I TREASURE them!!

Also got the cute lil pistol I had been wanting!!

And Tyler's annual treasure hunt began...

It was a browning x-bolt 270 WSM. 

And after this treasure hunt we enjoyed our delicious traditional breakfast, homemade cinnamon applesauce, ham and rolls... so TASTY!!

Oh, and Tyler actually had two treasure hunts... his Mom got him this...

After our morning together we gathered with family at my Uncle David and Aunt Becky's where we continued to receive the comfort of the Lord, given through the awesome friends and family He chose for us. 

None of us will EVER forget this Christmas, my very first Christmas as a Thomas.  And even though we missed Timber VERY much, we know he was among the cloud of witnesses!! (Hebrews 1)

Our story continued...

So the day after Midevil Times was Pumpkin Carving, I believe this was our 11th annual pumpkin carving.  We get together each year with family and friends and enjoy chili, desserts, fellowship and the art of carving pumpkins!!  Again, we didn't feel much like celebrating but Timber always got a kick out of this night, so we continued the tradition -- we gave satan NO ground in stealing our JOY!

Some pics from the famous Thomas/Puckett Pumpkin Carving!!

Dad and two of his brothers!

Our good friends, the Cutburths!!

Tara and Alden's Pumpkin!! 

We had lots of fun, and I think I said we had chilli in the beginning of this blog... but this year it was burgers.  Mom always prepared all the food so this year Dad and Judy did burgers to make things simple.  Sometimes simple is sweet and perfect.  Love you all!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

This saturday I had the pleasure of babysitting my precious niece, aka nuggy.  This was my first time seeing her in full action... crawling and pulling up on things like crazy.  We had a great time and I treasure every minute that I get with her.  Love playing with her and praying over her... can't wait to see the wonderful woman of God that He is growing up.  A few pictures of my nuggy:

On Sunday after church Tara, Alden, Dad, Judy and Mom came over for a burger cookout.  We were celebrating Dad's Bday and I had made my very first sheet cake!  Courtesy of the pioneer woman's recipe, love her recipes!  Tyler made the burgers, I made the cake and dips, and Mom made Armadillo Eggs. 

I'll put the link to the Sheetcake and Armadillo Egg recipe below in case inquiring minds need to know!

Love how she takes pictures and is so detailed!!  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/armadillo-eggs  And actually Mom just used sharp cheddar cheese instead of the Monterey Jack.  They were yummy!!

We ate, watched the USA play Canada in hockey and then played Scattergories.  Tyler won OF COURSE (know it all!) and Mom was second.  I discoved, I'm not too great at that game but had a blast playing anyway. 

Some pics from our SUNDAY FUNDAY!!

After everyone left we let the pups in and they were TIRED out!!  It was so cute.  As I'm typing this, they are both passed out on Hitch's bed.  Oh and I should add that today is the day a squirrel met his death.  This squirrel had Jack acting crazy and barking like crazy in the backyard for a couple of weeks now.  I couldn't take it anymore, it was either kill Jack or kill the squirrel... obviously Tyler loves his itty bitty dog so the squirrel went DOWN.  Hope the neighbor doesn't find the pellet in the squirrel when he finds him in his back yard... cause he fell off the fence, not on our side!

YEA for Sunday Fundays!

Definition of Sunday Funday:  Me chanting Sunday Funday to encourage Timber to take us to do something fun.  Sunday Funday's must absolutely include family and FUN!!  I'm sure he was mighty proud today, even if we did play a game :)