Fun up at Grandma Courtrights

On Saturday Jan. 14 we went up to Mt. Pleasant for the Courtright Christmas party. When we arrived Grandma Fanning was holding Maddie and checked on her "buds" to see if there were any teeth. And sure enough....Well, we thought there was only one and then Grandpa Fanning said "There's two!!" And there were! Maddie broke her two bottom teeth at just over 7 months old.

Here is a great picture of Madilyn and her Great Grandma playing tug-of-war. Another picture of Maddie and her cousin Andrew. The third is of my Mom and Tom.

Two New Friends

Maddie has two new friends to play with.

Jonah Wesley Carlson, born Jan.17th, 2006 and weighing in at 8lbs 5oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches long. He is a healthy big baby boy and mom and dad (Sean and Kelli) are both happy and healthy. Jonah is here being held by his proud Papa.

Hope Ann Deuel. Born Jan 18th. She was 4lb 11oz and 17.5 in long. Born at 4:28 AM The whole Deuel family is doing well and Jen is felling super. Hope is here showing off her weight. :)

Congratulations to both of these families on their little blessings!

Daddy's Little Bug

Maddie sure does love her Daddy. Here she is with Tom on 1-4-06.

Sitting all by her self!!

Well, the day had finally arrived. Madilyn is sitting all by her self. Ok, so she might fall on her face once or twice but for the most part she is sitting up and playing with toys now. Let's hope that she does this for at least a couple of weeks before crawling everywhere!

Sleeping Beauty

Here's our sleeping beauty on 1/3/06. She had a hard day of playing with Aunt Tracy and then fun with Grandpa and Grandma Fanning.

Madilyn's First Christmas

Well, it's over. Our baby has had her first Christmas. Time is moving so fast, it's scary.

On Christmas Eve we sent the last Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Snellink's home. Here is a picture of Maddie and her Aunt Katie. They will be moving out this spring and into Mom and Dad Hosfords. On Christmas morning we attended a beautiful service with Dan and Tracy at Calvary. Madilyn was very good and loved the lights and music. Then it was on to brunch at Mom and Dad Hosfords. There we all exchanged gifts and Maddie got her favorite gift of the year, her new "big dog", Landon. He was a gift from her Aunt Kellie and she just LOVES him. She was blessed as we were, with many wonderful things this year. From there we spent the rest of Christmas day at Mom and Dad Fannings. We had a beautiful Christmas dinner there with my parents. We had a wonderful Christmas and were so happy to see so many of our friends and family.

Maddie's Favorite Christmas Gift- Landon

Here a few sweet pictures of Maddie and her new favorite dog, Landon. He is named after her Aunt Kellie's real dog Landon. Thanks Aunt Kellie for this great gift!!!

4 Month Photo Shoot

Here are a couple of the photos from Maddie's 4 month photo shoot with Melissa. We happen to think she is pretty cute. :) We already have her dressing like a golfer!!

Fanning Christmas

On Dec. 17th we spent the day at my parents celebrating Christmas with my three sisters and their families. My Sister Chris, her Husband Sam and my nephew (and Godson) Billy came down from Coleman for the day. My sister Vicky and her kids, Holly, Alicia, and Kellen ( also my Godson) came in from G.R. And last but not least my Sister Elizabeth and my niece Rebekah came from Rockford, just down the road really. Missing where her husband Nick and my other niece Isabella, who was home with the flu. Good food and family are always a wonderful part of the holidays. Here are a couple of pictures. One of course being Madilyn at her first Fanning Christmas party. Another is of my two eldest nieces Holly on the left and Alicia on the Right. Last is of Maddie and her Uncle Sam.

Rosie Gets A New Doo

Some of you know that both Tom and I are "cat people." We have both had cats for most of our lives. Rosie became apart of our family last fall as a gift from Katie and Austin. She is a pure bread Persian. With all the time we spent away from the house right after Madilyn was born, Rosie's coat got a little matted. Once it starts, it gets worse by the day. Well, I finally brought her in for a "lion's cut." She's a little self conscious, and Lilah our other cat won't stop teasing her. :) I think she looks great!

Meeting an Author

Madilyn meet her first children's book author today. His name is Jeffrey Schatzer ( AKA Santa Claus). He wrote The Bird in Santa's Beard. This is a wonderful Christmas story about Santa and a little bird friend. Not only did he write this story, he comes to Great Northern Trading Co. in downtown Rockford and signs the book. I honestly left feeling a little like a kid again and thinking "this could be the real deal!." :)

Peas Please

Here is Madilyn eating ( almost eating, most is on her face) her first jar of peas. What a great time that was!!

Madilyn's newest blood update

Madilyn had a doctors appointment on 11/30 and we were informed that she will not be needing anymore regular blood draws. Wonderful news to our ears!! Because of her history, she will need to have it drawn twice a year for two years and then once a year until she is five. What a difference from twice a week like it was for so long. We can't thank you all enough for the prayers and love . It has helped tremendously.

Visit from Garret Tenbrink

We had a visit from Mike and Garret Tenbrink last week. Garret is 10 weeks older than Maddie. Mike and Carrie should be proud of their little sweetie, he is quite the charmer already. :)

First time in a "Big Girl Chair"

Well, she's growing up too darn fast!! Here is Maddie in her highchair for the first time. She has a bit of growing to do to really fit. She thought she was something else!!

Story Time With Daddy

Right before bed time, is the best time for a great story. Tonights story was Good Night Moon, a wonderful childhood memory for many of us.

Aunt Nancy Stops In

Today we had a visit from Nancy Hager, a dear friend. Both Maddie and I were very glad to see her. A trip up to the Hagers cottage was Madilyn's first big trip, at just under a month old. Here is a picture on the 4th of July at the Hagers. In this picture is Madilyn, Jared, and his wife Brynne. Jared and Brynne are expecting this April. A big congratulations to the Hagers!! We are all so excited for you!

Maddie's Boyfriend

Here is Jackson Burkholder, Maddie's boyfriend. Tom and already sat him down and had "the talk." :) I hope to get pictures of all of Maddie's friends, to post. I'll get to work on that...

Good luck GVSU Lakers!

As the Grand Valley Lakers prepare for a rivalry game against Saginaw Valley this Saturday, we thought it would be appropriate to post a photo of the MOTOR HOME 8. This group made the journey to AL. the year Tom and Dan won their National Championship. What a great win that was. Little did we know then, the following year would be second National Championship for the Grand Valley Lakers. We have a good feeling that this might be another trip down south for the MH8. :)
GO LAKERS!

Bon Jovi or Bust

Mom and Dad Hosford took the whole family ( Hosford kids ) to see Bon Jovi at the Palace on Friday. Adam and Melissa Burkholder also attended it with us. It was an amazing concert. I think even if you aren't a Bon Jovi fan, you can appreciate a great show, and that it was. Here is Katie (Bibler now), Kellie and myself at dinner before the show.