Life in the Hubbard's house...

Bay City Train Depot

2009-02-22T20:49:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, Jeff took Hannah to the Bay City Train Depot to take some pictures for Kera while she was at a Women's Retreat. This was a surprise gift from Hannah to Mommy. They enjoyed playing on an old caboose and even getting to walk on some old railroad tracks. This was Hannah's first experience with trains. Mom was happily surprised at Hannah's gift. Here are the best pictures from our little outing.

Visit to Mimi's and Papa's

2009-01-30T11:32:00.007-06:00

Last weekend, Kera and I took some teens up to Harding to see the campus. This meant that Mimi and Papa had a chance to come kidnap Hannah for about 36 hours and take her to Memphis. So Hannah took her suitcase and her favorite blanket and went on vacation.

Hannah enjoyed spending time with Mimi and Papa.

She also enjoyed pigging out on Mimi's cooking.

Hannah got to spend time with Great Grandma Shirley and Tata!

She also got to go to Gran's apartment and explore around.

She did find time, however, in her busy weekend to scheme with Papa about her next visit!

Playing around the house

2009-01-30T11:13:00.007-06:00

As Hannah has grown older we have tried to teach her that it's ok to play on your own. She has enjoyed this new found freedom and is beginning to use her creativity to enjoy playtime. Kera and I are daily amazed at some of the things she comes up with. One of her new tricks (especially while Kera is cooking) is to clear out the cabinets and climb in and playing hide and go seek. She will shut the door and wait for Kera to come find her... however, she is not very patient and pops out if Kera takes too long.

Hannah has cleaned out the cabinet and is now ready to get in.

Hannah waves bye-bye before she gets in and plays hide-n-go-seek!

Hannah has also learned the joys of playing outside. Everyday she walks to the back door and looks out the window to see where Belle is. She also starts banging on the door to let us know she wants out (reminds me of how Patches whines so that we will let her outside... maybe Hannah learned a trick or two from the cat). The other day we allowed Hannah to go play in the backyard with Belle while we watched from the kitchen window. Hannah loved getting dirty and playing in Belle's bowls like she was cooking. Belle decided after a few minutes that Hannah needed a bath. Here are a few of my favorites from her bathtime.

Garden of the Gods

2009-01-13T11:03:00.001-06:00

Last week Kera and I went on our yearly trek to the National Conference of Youth Ministries. This year it was in Colorado Springs. Hannah of course went with us and was a great sport each day as she spend a lot of her time in childcare. One afternoon we broke away from the conference and went and visited the Garden of the Gods. These are a few of my favorite pictures from that beautiful afternoon. Hannah enjoyed walking around and touching and climbing on the rocks. Kera and I just enjoyed the afternoon we spent as a family.

Cookies for Santa

2008-12-24T20:00:00.001-06:00

A family tradition in our family is to leave cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. This year Hannah got her first "taste" of the special occasion. Everything started out great but went South from there!

Kera helping Hannah get the cookies out of the cookie jar.

Hannah didn't understand that the cookies went on the plate...

instead she thought it was for her.

Here is her guilty but satisfied look after she "tasted" the tradition.

Of course, Hannah got upset after we took the cookie away and placed it on the plate.

I guess we will have to try again next year to teach her this tradition!

A Chick-fil-a Christmas

2008-12-14T21:13:00.003-06:00

On Saturday, we went with Kera's side of the family to visit the Chick-fil-a Santa Cow. Hannah got to sit in its lap... she actually enjoyed it! Every time we have tried to sit her in Santa's lap she has cried, but something about the big cow made her happy. It could be because she eats at Chick-fil-a every time we go to Houston or it could just be that the cow was funny looking. Hannah even got a stuffed Santa Cow for her stuffed animal collection! This might have to become a yearly tradition.

Hannah enjoys the attention from Santa Cow!

Hannah and her cousins smile for a picture!

ICE

2008-12-12T10:08:00.007-06:00

This weekend we are in Fort Worth to see some family and last night we went to the Gaylord Texan, a new resort in Fort Worth, to see their new ICE display. Basically you walk through a building that has been sealed off and made to be -9 degrees so that ice sculptures can be displayed. It was an awesome display. We all bundled up and even put parkas on that they gave us and we were still cold! Hannah enjoyed the experience and being with family!

Hannah getting all bundled up!

Mom, Dad, and Hannah looking out the window of a lifesize

ginger bread house made out of ice!

The family sitting on a ice sculpture of Santa!

Hannah having fun with Mommy, Granddaddy, and cousin Drew.

Hannah posing while sitting on a train.

Thanksgiving in Idaho

2008-11-29T09:46:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving in the Hubbard family was filled with airplane rides, cold temperatures, and snow. Aunt Allison and Uncle Patrick invited us up to Idaho to eat some turkey and see the Northwest. Hannah got spoiled as Mimi, Papa, Aunt Alli, and Uncle Patrick played with her all week long. While in Idaho we also celebrated Christmas since we will be apart from one another on Christmas Day. The highlight of the week was the famous Cour'de Alene city Christmas parade at the resort topped off with a great fireworks display. Here are some of our favorite pictures from the week.

Mimi introducing Hannah to a Christmas tree.

Uncle Patrick and Hannah

Aunt Allison with Hannah

This is in the resort before we got all bundled up and went to the parade.

One angel making another one!

Hannah's first experience with snow!

A great finish to a fun week!

Hannah's Birthday

2008-10-28T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well this last weekend was a very busy few days in the Hubbard household. Hannah turned 1! Family came from Tennessee, Fort Worth, and even from Israel to celebrate this momentous occasion. After three parties, Hannah was all partied out. These pictures are from Hannah's friend party and family party (the youth group party is not here). We had a blast celebrating her birthday and watching her enjoy the attention.

Here Hannah is decorating a pumpkin with the other kids.

The Birthday girl!

Boy, the birthday girl is excited.

All the family gathered around the table ready to eat some cake.

Hannah enjoying her birthday cake!

Hannah really got into unwrapping the gifts, however, the

paper was more interesting than the gifts!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-13T22:14:00.006-05:00

This afternoon, Kera, Hannah, and I were driving home from Houston when we spotted a pumpkin patch at a local church. So of course we had to stop to get our pumpkins for Halloween. Hannah enjoyed touching and handling all the pumpkins.

Mommy and Hannah posing for a picture among the pumpkins.

Look a pumpkin just my size!

Ok Mommy and Daddy... I found just the right one.

Of course we couldn't leave without a family picture.

Minute Maid Park

2008-09-01T13:12:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we took an afternoon off and spent some time together going to watch the Astros and the Cardinals. We needed some good quality family time since we are in the midst of Jeff's grad school classes, Kera's officiating volleyball games, and our usual ministry demands. This is Hannah's second baseball game of the summer.

Hannah was mesmerized by all the sights, sounds, and lights!

She also enjoyed being the center of attention when it came to the camera!

Kera and Hannah smiling after the game despite the unfavorable outcome.

One last picture as we exited the stadium.

Give Mommy a camera and this is what you get...

2008-08-08T21:19:00.006-05:00

One morning while I was still asleep, Kera and Hannah decided to have a little fun with our camera. Kera really has talent when it comes to taking pictures. Here are a couple of my favorites...

Hannah's favorite pasttime

2008-07-31T23:26:00.002-05:00

For the longest time, Hannah has enjoyed sitting in her highchair and watching our dog Belle, however, today she realized that with her new found skills of crawling and pulling up she can get a better view. It was so cute watching her jabber at Belle like she was trying to tell her that she wanted to play. She can not wait till she can go outside and run around with the dog.

The day the bed came down...

2008-07-31T23:04:00.003-05:00

Well... the day finally came when Hannah's bed had to be adjusted due to her rapid growth. Kera and I can't believe she is already 9 months old. Not only is she saying a couple of words, crawling everywhere, pulling up to a standing position, but now she is big enough to almost climb out of her bed. So as you can see from the pictures below, measures had to be taken.

This is how Hannah has greeted us every morning

for the last couple of weeks as we go to get her out of bed.

Therefore, Daddy had to pull out the trusty wrench and make some minor adjustments so that Hannah wouldn't get any bright ideas and try to explore outside of her cage.

Hannah watched with eyes of wonder as we took out the

mattress and blankets to work on the bed.

Fiesta Texas

2008-07-28T23:35:00.003-05:00

Today Hannah got to experience her first amusement park... Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. Although Mom and Dad had to chaperon some teens, they still found time to introduce her to Daffy and Bugs, play at the water park, and pose for some really cute pictures. All in all it was a great day. Hannah is thankful though that this was the last big trip of the summer and now she can get back into her normal routine!

Kera and Hannah posing for a picture between trips to the Texas shaped wave pool.

Always gotta make time for a family picture after a long day in the sun!

Pascagoula Mission Trip

2008-07-17T22:16:00.005-05:00

Last week, Hannah went on her first mission trip. She accompanied us to Pascagoula, Mississippi to continue the hurricane relief effort. Her Gigi (Kera's Mom) came and babysat while the rest of us worked. Hannah enjoyed the time away from home and had a blast being comic relief to the youth group after a hard days work.

During our Sponsor Appreciation Dinner at Lambert's,

Hannah decided to work on a plate of mashed potatoes.

After she was done, Hannah had it on her face, in her hair, and on her clothes...

and also on mommy!

On the way home, Hannah got to experience her first traffic jam. Somewhere in Louisiana we were stopped for a hour... long enough to get out of the bus and check out the scenery.

July 4th Festivities

2008-07-14T10:52:00.004-05:00

On July 4th, we decided to spend the day as a family at Matagorda Beach. Despite the dark rain clouds, we enjoyed walking on the pier, playing in the sand, and swimming in the waves. Hannah thoroughly enjoys the sand but is not yet sure how see feels about the big waves.

For dinner we attended a church picnic at our preacher's house. We made sure we sported on red, white, and blue! We did not get to see any fireworks though, because of Hannah's bedtime.

1st Father's Day

2008-07-02T15:52:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures from my first Father's Day. Although we were at Uplift at Harding University it was still fun spending it with Hannah. I also got to spend some time with Dad as my parents came to Searcy to pick up Hannah for a couple of days. Fatherhood has been good to me. I couldn't ask for a more beautiful, healthy, and fun little girl.

This is my favorite picture from the whole day!!!