Horton Family Happenings

January 2009 Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Hannah says:
"January has been a blast! We've had lots of birthdays to celebrate...my Daddy, my Nana, and my friend, Christian! Christian had a really cool party at Peter Piper Pizza where we played lots of games and ate some yummy pizza and cupcakes! This is me on the race car...

Here is the birthday boy, Christian, plus me and Natalie sampling the cupcakes. We decided we REALLY liked them, especially the icing--which is the most important part!

Daddy is really good at all of these games! You wouldn't believe how many tickets he kept winning! We were able to pick out some serious prizes at the end!

This is my friend, Ms. Carol, who goes to our church. Even though it was after Christmas, she invited Christian and me over to her house to see her AMAZING Christmas village that she sets up every year in her living room. Mommy didn't get a picture of the village because she was running after me worrying that I would knock it all over or something...she muttered that under her breath, I think... BUT...Christian and I were really good and had fun during our visit with Ms. Carol.

One of the best parts about going to Ms. Carol's house is...you get to take real homemade gingerbread cookies home with you to eat! Yummy!"

50 Years of Wedded Bliss

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:40:00 +0000

December 2008 was a BIG month for our family...not only did we have fun during the holidays, but we had a BIG anniversary to celebrate! Chuck and Ada (Dawn's parents/Hannah's Nana & Papa) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! We had a nice reception for them at the church and so many of our friends and family came from near and far.

Here is the happy couple "cutting their cake"...

Here is a 3 generation picture...Hannah had so much fun at the party! She visited with everyone and tried to be as entertaining and social as she could.

Chuck's sisters, Martha and Willie, came for the big occasion, as did lots of our family! Cousin Jeff even came all the way from Spain! It was truly a special occasion!

These are some of our sweet friends who helped make the party a big success! We couldn't have done it without Megan, Jamie, and Kim. We also had a lot of other "little helpers" who you see in the picture below!

We "had ourselves a merry little Christmas..."

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:11:00 +0000

as told by Hannah...
I had SOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun all throughout the holidays this year! I got to sit on Santa's lap at my pre-school and I could just tell...he absolutely loved me! In this picture, I think I'm getting EVERYTHING I could possibly wish for...a dollhouse, a camera, on and on... Maybe Mommy & Daddy won't tell him about all of my 2 year old shenanigans! Tee hee...

See...I'm whispering into Santa's ear & telling him not to believe everything he hears on the good and bad list... It's all a conspiracy! I guess Mommy & Daddy have been pretty good this year. Maybe Santa will bring them a Wii or something fun???

Here I am at my friend, Natalie's birthday party! We jumped and jumped until our legs were sore...okay...at my age, they never really get sore. I just heard my Mommy talk about how that can happen... Happy Birthday, Natalie!

This picture was taken at the Christmas Parade in town... I LOVE to go to this! Well...I don't love the loud sirens and all, but the endless candy being thrown at me makes up for it. If only Mommy would let me eat it all at once! If she wasn't looking, I bet Nana & Papa would let me...

How do you like my cute reindeer shirt that we made at school? Mommy wanted me to show it off...and well...I'm pretty good at that! I like standing in front of the tree anyway because I can sneak a peek at all of the packages while I'm there!

On Christmas Eve, Mommy, GiGi, Nana, and I figured we'd better make some cookies in case Santa Claus comes to my house. I think he likes chocolate chip cookies with little mint sprinkles on top. It's too bad that he won't actually get to have the little sprinkles...I couldn't resist and ate a lot of them before I got caught. YUM!

On Christmas morning, Santa must have realized how good I've actually been, because he CAME to my house! He brought me a BIG dollhouse and a digital camera for kids that can be dropped and tossed into the toilet if you want (not that I do that)! Then...we opened lots and lots of presents from all of my family. We had so much fun!

Mommy got me and Daddy an electronic violin. I think Daddy liked it even better than me...He kept saying he was trying to teach me how to hold it and play it, but he sure hogged it an awful lot... I'm really learning, though, and maybe I'll be a world-class violinist someday if I keep practicing...

Oh...Mommy & Daddy DID get a Wii after all! We have had a LOT of fun playing with it. I don't get much of a chance to play, unless it's the racing cow game where you run into scarecrows! FUN!

Thanksgiving 2008 in West Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:58:00 +0000

We visited our family out in Odessa for Thanksgiving, which is always a treat! Hannah enjoys catching up with her GiGi, Grandpa, and all the rest of the Horton clan. Last year, we lucked out and got some snow, but this year...not so much...just nice weather!

Hannah & GiGi are best of friends!

We always try to get a good family picture...one never can be sure how photos will turn out with a 2 year old...

And...Hannah loves to sit in Grandpa's lap...plus now he has a cute little dog, which makes things all the more exciting!

Happy Halloween 2008!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:20:00 +0000

I am Princess Hannah Grace! Don't try to define me as one of the specific princesses you may have heard of--I am who I am! Happy Halloween to everyone...hope you got lots of candy!

By the way, my GiGi made my beautiful dress...I have truly enjoyed wearing it to the church Fall Festival, the pre-school Parade of Costumes and again for Trick-or-Treating! I am off to the ball in the next picture...with just a wave of my wand, more chocolate appears!

Here I am with Mommy & Daddy at the church Fall Festival hayride pulled by my very own Papa on his tractor!

We had FUN at pre-school this week! A Parade of Costumes AND a Halloween Party with cupcakes and my favorite friends...

These cool glasses were a party favor at the Halloween Party at school... Mommy says they don't really go with my princess dress...maybe if they had a few rhinestones around the rim!

Back To School!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:14:00 +0000

Hannah has been anxiously awaiting the day that Playday (her preschool at our church) began! All summer, she has asked me, "Mommy, Playday today?" Well, it's finally here! This year, she attends two days a week and has a nice new teacher.

Hannah at the Meet the Teacher Event with her new teacher, Ms. Stephanie...

We were all smiles this morning as we got our things together for the 1st Day of School! Hooray!

And...the mommies were certainly all smiles, too! Mommy and Hannah had a really fun summer together at home, but it is definitely time to get back into a routine... Off we go into a new school year of adventure!

Labor Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:09:00 +0000

GiGi came to visit us on Labor Day weekend! We went to the Dallas World Aquarium and saw all kinds of interesting fish and other animals. Hannah's favorites were the otters and penguins!

We also spent some time playing at our neighborhood park. Mommy and Daddy climbed up to the top of the slides while GiGi snapped our picture.

The Gymnast

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Hannah is convinced that she is headed to the Olympic Games sometime in her future! She has been taking gymnastics since May, and really loves it. We attend a Tiny Tots class currently (which means Mommy gets out there and does everything with Hannah--pretty funny sometimes!).

Here is Hannah sporting one of her favorite gymnastics leotards...

Hannah with Coach Annie...She's doing one of her front rolls. Hannah always cracks us up with her "salute" at the end: "Ta-Da!" with arms up gymnast-style!

Beach Babe

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:54:00 +0000

The Hortons held their family reunion at Island Retreat--Port Aransas, TX this summer. Hannah had not yet experienced the beach, so this was VERY exciting for her! She loved jumping in the waves and building sand castles with her daddy and cousins.

Hannah and Daddy heading out into the waves...

Hannah's Great-Nana was along with us on our trip. She had fun playing Ring Around the Rosy with Hannah and her cousins...

We attempted a family picture in front of the ocean...

Garden Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:46:00 +0000

This summer, we (the Mathews' & Nana/Papa & the Hortons) decided to try our hand at a garden! It was a LOT of work, but also a lot of fun, not to mention educational for Hannah and Christian...

Here's Hannah with Papa after he plowed and tilled the garden for us. She was very excited to be a part of this endeavor--especially happy to play & dig in the dirt!

This is our scarecrow that we put together. GiGi (Scott's mom) was here over Memorial Day weekend to help us get him all dressed and up to scare any crows away. Unfortunately, he didn't scare many rabbits away, so we lost all of our green beans!

Hannah and Christian really enjoyed playing at the farm while their mommies and daddies slaved away. This was one of their favorite activities, which kept them out of trouble for the most part!

First Trip to the Dallas Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Horton) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:54:00 +0000

In May, Hannah visited the Dallas Zoo for the first time. It was hot that day, but she had a blast! She was so busy looking at animals it was hard to get her to stop to take a picture.

After the hot day at the Zoo, we had to stop for ice cream at the nearby zoo-themed McDonald's. Thanks to Gigi for the afternoon treat and for being there to get a rather large gorilla to pose for a quick picture!

Teddy Bear Picnic

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:20:00 +0000

Playday (my pre-school) had a special Teddy Bear Picnic where our parents & grandparents could come and eat a picnic lunch on the playground with our teddy bears! We had so much fun eating outside, playing, and showing off our bears...

Here's a picture of my Nana and my friend, Natalie's GiGi (Miss Terry). Miss Terry plays piano for The Praise Team that Mommy and Daddy lead. It was so nice to have them at the picnic!

A Little Tea Party...

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:17:00 +0000

My sweet GiGi (in Odessa) made me this beautiful tablecloth! I love to set the table and put all my jewelry and accessories on to have tea. Sometimes, it's just me and Elmo or Raggedy Ann, but whoever it is, they NOW have a fabulous handmade tablecloth and napkins to be served on! Thanks, GiGi!

Happy Easter Sunday!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:07:00 +0000

He is Risen! We went to church this morning and heard all kinds of great music and saw all of our friends in their nicest clothes! It's a great Easter Sunday!

Here I am in my Easter dress out in the courtyard at the church...

Mommy and Daddy & me and Christian...

Here's another family shot...

After church, we went home and had a yummy dinner! Mommy and Nana really put it on the top shelf--I even got a special cupcake!

PaPa is probably going to be a little upset that his picture is on the internet like this, but maybe he'll get over it! We all just laughed and laughed at these silly bunny ears! PaPa is a pretty good sport!

Easter EGGstravaganza!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:39:00 +0000

We had TWO Easter egg hunts this year! Mommy and two of her best friends, Miss Kim & Miss Megan organized the event at our church, then we had another egg hunt at the farm on Easter weekend. I am really getting pretty good at finding eggs! In fact, there were SO MANY eggs at the farm that I started putting some back...who needs to have your basket overloaded, right? Mommy and Daddy really just wanted the candy, I think!

Here's Mommy and me at the church Easter EGGstravaganza...We even made the Dallas Morning News with this shot! We are famous!

Mommy and Miss Kim had such a nice time putting our little "family" egg hunt together.

Some egg hunting action shots of me and my friend, Christian...

I love Nana & PaPa's dog, Lucy! She lets me love on her and hug & kiss her all the time.

This is a "Norman Rockwell" type photo, or so my Mommy & Miss Kim say... They think that Christian and I are SO cute... I'm just glad he's my friend! Here, we went on a little walk down the road at the farm...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Hannah Grace!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:54:00 +0000

Can you believe it? I'm 2 years old! What a whirlwind of a year it has been! My mommy and daddy never get to sit down because they are always up and running after me! Everyone says I'm a really sweet girl, though, so I must be doing SOMETHING right! Good luck if you want to get a word in around me--I talk non-stop and always seem to have somthing profound to share with everyone.

I had the most fun birthday party EVER--a Wiggles birthday party at the Wiggly Play Center! I love to watch the Wiggles on TV, but this really topped it all--to get to sing, dance, jump, and play with all my friends! Here are a few of our 200+ pictures that we wanted to share... We apologize for WAY too many pictures on this entry, but it was just TOO FUN!

This is my friend, Natalie, who I love to play with! We had a small collision...

I love to sit on Daddy's shoulders... He gets kind of tickled when I pull his ears!

Here I am with my mommy... She had a LOT of fun at my party, too!

Lots of my friends and family came to my party! Here's Miss Kim and Christian, two of my favorite people EVER!

Also, my Nana was there with our friend, Miss Becky. PaPa was sick the day of my party so we had to get together with him later.

These are some of Mommy's friends. They are just like other mommies to me and I love them all! It was nice of them to come to the party, too...

These are some more great friends of ours, Miss Daphne & Miss Lynda and Bobby and Brooks.

Time to blow out my candles! Mommy had to help a little bit... Do you like my Wiggles cake?

My GiGi came to my party, too! She was supposed to be helping me eat my cake, but I think she snuck a few bites for herself! Maybe that explains her cute little grin here?

This is what my mommy and daddy call the "classic cake shot!" It was SO yummy and there's just no lady-like way to eat it!

We had another family birthday dinner after my Wiggles party. I just love to cheese it up for the camera these days!

After dinner, I showed everyone how I have learned to do "Princess Hands." The photographer taught me this a few days ago when she took my 2 year old pictures! How cool is this! Princess Hannah Grace!

Here's me and my PaPa opening some presents... I was sad that he couldn't come to my Wiggles Party, but we always have fun together, no matter where we are!

In closing, I have truly had a wonderful 2nd birthday! We'll see what this year holds for me--probably lots more fun and good times. I am going to try real hard to still be a sweet girl, even though I've heard Mommy talking something about the "terrible twos..." She probably doesn't know what she's talking about anyway... He he he...

It's Christmas morning!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:40:00 +0000

Well, let me tell you--Santa Claus came to our house this year! Hannah Grace had quite a loot waiting for her Christmas morning! Two of her "big" items that she got were a vacuum (which Hannah calls "ba-cum") and a tricycle (a.k.a. "cycle"). She was so thrilled with these two things and everything else, that we named this Christmas the "OH MY GOODNESS" Christmas! That was Hannah's key phrase all day long--very sweet! Here are a few pics of her with her goodies...

Christmas Eve 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:30:00 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful time with your families! Christmas Eve, we are always at church for a portion of the evening, since Praise Team (the contemporary praise & worship group we lead) sings at one of the services. Hannah really enjoyed the candlelight service and thought it was fun to get all dressed up! Here are a few pictures of her (and us) with her fancy red dress...

After we got home from church, Hannah wanted to try on Mommy's heels with her dress... So grown up...

Oh Christmas Tree...

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 05:05:00 +0000

Hannah is quite the decorator--of Christmas trees, that is! She loves to rearrange the ornaments and bows, despite how Mommy may like it! We are definitely enjoying all of the decorations, lights, and preparations for Christmas. This year is sure to be the most fun Christmas yet!

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0000

We traveled to Odessa, TX to visit Scott's family for Thanksgiving. Of course, we had lots of fabulous food and a good visit with everyone, but one of the highlights of our trip was that Hannah got to play in the snow for the first time! She was very impresssed and didn't much want to come back inside.

Howdy folks!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:53:00 +0000

Happy Halloween to you! Hannah fell in love with Big Tex at the State Fair this year (for those out of state...Big Tex is a 52-foot tall cowboy who welcomes visitors to the State Fair of Texas)! She liked him so much, she decided she wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween! Not only did she have the cowgirl outfit, she learned a little cowgirl lingo, too... One of her favorite phrases is: "Howdy folks!" She is also fond of "Yee-haw!" while she rides Rawhide, her trusty horse!

Pumpkins!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:48:00 +0000

What would Fall be without a trip (or three) to a pumpkin patch? This shot was taken at the Dallas Arboretum--Hannah was in awe over how many pumpkins there were!

First Day of School - PlayDay

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:24:00 +0000

It's hard to believe it, but Hannah had her 1st day of school this week! She is attending Children's Creative PlayDay at our church and so far thinks it is THE BEST! She loves her teacher and has some of her favorite friends in class with her. They get to learn, play, go to music, eat lunch, take a nap, and do all sorts of cool things. Here she is trying on her new backpack from GiGi a few days before school started...

And here she is on the big day...all smiles... (Mommy had a more difficult time, but made it through thanks to some help from fellow mommy friends, Kim and Megan, at the nearby coffee shop!)

Labor Day Weekend Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:14:00 +0000

Allen's Celebration Park has a great place for kids to play called "The Sprayground." We aren't sure why we haven't been going there all summer, but Hannah and her friend, Christian, went to play over the Labor Day weekend and had a blast! There were lots of different water features shooting water up, down, and all around...

The 18-month old...Be very afraid!

noreply@blogger.com (Dawn Horton) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:57:00 +0000

Well, here I am! Have I grown up or WHAT? This week, I turned 18 months old and I am sassy as ever! I found Mommy's shoes and thought they might look good with my outfit, so here I am modeling them...

You might ask, what kinds of things is an 18 month old into? Well...I really enjoy being a part of everyone's conversation...I copy most everything my Mommy & Daddy say. I love to be dressed up with a nice matching bow in my hair, I love to play outside, ride in my wagon through sprinklers that are on in the neighborhood, and feel the need to check out what's in the kitchen cabinets on a regular basis! Just this morning, I thought...hmmm...I've grown tired of being in my crib, so I'll just climb out and see what Mommy says! (YIKES! No injuries fortunately!) It's something new everyday, that's for sure!

I'm looking forward to going to school in September--PlayDay at my church! It's going to be so much fun! I'll get even smarter there, hopefully!