Christmas Morning

 
A Merry Christmas it was. Briggs was a little overwhelmed I think. At first he was interested in the toy that was unwrapped, perhaps a little interested in the paper and lots of interest in mommy, daddy, fancy, ya-ya and big daddy. He was unusually clingly Christmas morning. Oh Well! Despite the confusion we all still had fun.

Dear Santa Claus,

Well the year has flown by fast. I'm already 9 months old and guess what? I'm about to walk. I can even hold my own bottle now. I scoot alongside tables and love to hug mommy and daddy's knees. My family has been so very busy this year and we are excited that the holiday season is here. First of all my parents built their very own house. Actually it's not a traditional house, it's called a barndominium. It's half house/half barn. We are finally getting settled in and we love it. My parents brought me into the world on March 10th and they say they just can't imagine life without me. We have soo much fun together. Lots of love and laughter in the Hoffman Herd.

Right now I'm pretty satisfied with a cardboard box, or even more crazy... My favorite bath toys are my shampoo bottles and my favorite other toys are kitchen utensils and pots and pans. I love helping mommy do the dishes, and I love to help daddy cook.

We don't have a fireplace in our barndominium so when you and the crew stop by just land in the pasture. Rain, one of our many dogs, will be waiting for you. We've left a big trough of water for your reindeer and their will be a cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and pan de polvo waiting for you. Pan de polvo is little bite size melt in your mouth cookies-so enjoy them.

Safe travels around the world.

Love,

Briggs Paulus Hoffman

YaYa, Skyler & Zoysia

YaYa and Skyler Bear came to visit for Halloween. We had a grand ole time.
It was a beautiful weekend! YaYa and Skyler were cracking me up, our visit was too short. Skyler loved seeing all my bright baby toys. She was fascinated with them, she was having so much fun. The only bad thing is, she was so excited to see Henry. We went exploring to try to find that stinker of a cow, but he was no where to be found. The next morning on mommy's way to work, low and behold, who's standing at the cattle guard? Yep, Henry. While we were having fun on the porch, Daddy was working hard on putting our sprinkler system in. Next weekend our Zoysia grass will arrive. Mommy is SO excited.

Dedicated to Popsy

Now there's our little monkey. We nicknamed him monkey when he was born because Briggs had big hands and feet. The nickname stuck so of course he had to be a monkey for Halloween. Danny, his godfather, finally got our serious little monkey to belly laugh. Good times!!! Happy Halloween! Brent carved the pumpkins and made gourmet cinnamon and Tony Cacherie flavored pumpkin seeds. We dedicate these photos to our Popsy. He went to Heaven the following day, All Saints Day, to be with the loves of his life: God & Nano. We miss you Popsy!!!

We love you Popsy, we are so glad you and Nano are holding hands again!!!

Lady Bug & Monkey

Trick o' Treat is an interesting time when your closest neighbor is 3 miles away. Our happy little lady bug, Skyler, and our serious little monkey, Briggs, had a great time trick o' treating at every door in our house. Brent and our friends stood at the front door, back door and the two bedroom doors while we pretended to go trick or treating in a neighborhood. Skyler didn't mind one bit, especially when we let the tiny little four year old indulge in a little sugar high. Then on our way to church the next morning as we were passing our closest neighbor's house, 3 miles away, Skyler says, "We didn't go by that house last night!" I smiled, Halloween was a SUCCESS!!!

Naked Pumpkin

Little naked booty pumpkin boy! Ohh la la! That punkin that had two bottom front teefers just like mine was chilly willy. Daddy sure was making me laugh though. I've got some yummy toes!

Just a workn'

Daddy shreddin'

Big Daddy shreddin'

Fancy and me watchin' the boys work

I love my Fancy!

Happy Birthday Papa

We made an evening trip to Gonzalez, Texas to surprise Papa for his 56th Birthday. He had no idea we were coming. It was a short visit; Baba, Bingo & George were participating in a cutting horse competetion. It's so much fun to watch cutting horses, they are so disciplined and intense.
I really loved Papa's black felt hat.
Um, um, Good! I like to pull hair, Bingo's mane looks pretty yummy!
I could have a lot of fun in that dirt too, if Papa would just put me down.

Horned Lizard

Our Barndominium

Still not 100% complete, but getting a little closer everyday. Brent helped me finish two major things inside now all we have to do is the fenced in play patio for Briggs and the biggie...the yard. I hope to have the sod down by Thanksgiving and the beautiful natives will go in this Spring. Some photos of our open kitchen living area. My favorite part are the mesquite shelves with our bright collection of Fiesta Ware. Brent's favorite feature is his island with his gas stove. He built everything you see in the photos and we love our new home. Other pictures are of our bedroom. We hope you enjoy! It may be a metal building on the outside, but it's our cozy home on the inside. When I get the yard done, the outside will look great!

'bout to crawl

Oh my goodness, how time flies. I keep wishin' Briggs wasn't growing up so fast. We love our little guy.
It's hard to remember what our lives were like without him. This past week and a half his "Fancy" has been
able to watch him. We feel so spoiled, it's been great!!! We hope she can do it more often. That's the hardest thing to deal with is leaving your
child with someone you don't know that well. Then juggling your work and life schedule, knowing that
your time with your baby is all too precious. Enjoy the picture of Briggs cracking up at himself. As soon
as I figure out how to do video, I'll send you the funniest bath time video.

About to crawl...

I'm just trying to savor these moments... Last week Briggs began sitting up fully on his own for long spans of time.  He's becoming very coordinated, grabbing objects, bringing the spoon to his mouth, banging the spoon on objects.  It's soo much fun to watch him.  I think we'll try the pots and pans soon.  I know he will love that.  He also rocks back and forth on his hands and knees.  In a way I don't want him to take that first crawling 'step' because this 6 months has already flown by.  We're having sooo much fun with our little blessing!

Major Leagues