Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful christmas this year!  It definitely went by way too fast.  Matt was given five full days off and was able to come home!!  We had the Turner Christmas December 22 but Matt had to miss out on all the fun because he didnt arrive until 23rd.  Everyone missed him greatly but we all still had a wonderful time together.  We ate, opened gifts, visited, sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate cake!!  :)

Left: Turner Girls  Right: All the Turner girls with William (our family friend)!

Friday was an exciting day for me because I was picking Matt up from the airport!  I was way beyond the point of excitement!!  After I picked him up, we went by Granmolly's so Matt could get to see her!  We were lucky enough to that my Uncle Tab and cousins were still around so we all went and grabbed a bite to eat!  After a delicious meal we headed to Arkadelphia to spend Christmas with both our families. Hardman Christmas was Saturday morning!  It was so fun to watch Mackenzie open her gifts and to think that a year from now we will have our own little one to watch!!  Even though Dean is not here yet- he did get several gifts!!!

My siblings and niece!  Mallory, David, Erin, Callie (dog), Matt, Me, Mackenzie, and Christopher

Following the Hardman Christmas- was the Ford Christmas.  We spent the afternoon of Christmas eve visiting, opening gifts, playing dirty santa, and eating!!  Matt and I left for a little bit to attend the candle light service at Church (which is one my favorite things) and then we returned to the ford gathering for more visiting and food!!  Here is the Cooley Family picture we took that afternoon.

Christmas Day- We had the Cooley Christmas!  We had chocolate gravy, biscuits, eggs, and bacon for breakfast and Dean Loved every bit of it:)  After gifts and breakfast, Matt rode four wheelers and shot guns for a bit and then we headed to our home in Fort Smith after dinner.  We spent the next two days of Matts time off in our own home.  It was so nice to finally have Matt with me in our home!  He hadnt seen the house with all of our belongings in it- so it was exciting for him to see our place put together!!  My favorite part was showing him the nursery (-in progress)!  Our friends Heather and Russ did drive down to spend some time with us before Matts departure.  They are still in Enid but make their move to Tucson the first of February and we wont see them again until they move to Fort Smith next fall.  They will be greatly missed but when they return- they will be bringing with them their new addition Hadely!  I know her and Dean will be the best of friend!!   Russ made an AWESOME A-10 rocker for Dean!!  Heather also made a quilt (which you will see in a future post!)!

Tuesday- I took Matt to his first ultrasound!  I was suppose to have it the week before but I was able to put it off a few days so Matt could be apart it! It was such an amazing experience to share together!  This ultrasound was 4D and to see Deans little chubby face was incredible!  He wasnt all that cooperative for us because he was sleeping and DID NOT want to wake up!!  So all we got were profile pictures!  Here are a few!

Wednesday Matt left and I was very very sad to see him go.  Especially knowing that I wont see him again until after Dean has arrived.  I like to think that I have handled the last 2 1/2 years of living apart fairly well but I am now very eager for him to be home!!!  Family and friends have been absolutely wonderful in checking on me, visiting, and making plans to keep me busy on the weekends until then!!  This weekend I had my sisters and mom with me!  We ran some errands, visited, worked some in the nursery, and did a lot of eating!! :)  I think Mackenzie had the most fun!  She really enjoyed Deans new rocker!!!  (she found Matts old Batman costume in one of the photos)

Again- we had a wonderful Christmas.  We both wish we had more time to see everyone but we did what we could with the time we had!  We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy new year!