It's Beginning to Look ALOT like Christmas!!!

This is Luke sitting in front of his Christmas tree in his room.  He decorated it with lots of snowmen.
Luke is praising the Lord!  How sweet!
Riding the Christmas train with Grammy.
Oh, and this is my Christmas fish face!!

Our Special GanGan

My grandfather went to be with the Lord this past Friday.  We are so grateful for all the memories we have with him.  He was a very special grandfather and great-grandfather.  I'm very glad he was able to meet Luke!  Here are some special pictures that were taken months before he passed away.

Cute Beach Pictures

First time in a big bath!

Some thoughts

GO HHCA!!!!!!

I thought I would take the time and plunge and do a little "writing" on the blog.  I started the blog to have a place to show pictures of Luke.  I'm a terrible writer and don't like doing it.  But I just thought I would update on the Strebe life.  WOW!  It is crazy and busy here.  

Jon's football season just ended with one loss all season.  Jon did a great job with these guys but not because they had a winning season.  He taught them so much about life and lessons they will never forget.  I"m so very proud of him and so blessed to have him by my side each and everyday.

The Varsity continues on and will play a home game Friday night (tonight).  They are in the play-offs and we are cheering them on into the State Championship game.

Our last month has been mostly packing and unpacking for trips.  A month ago I went to Birmingham to see one of my friends who just had a baby.  I came back on a Monday, and found out that Wednesday night that my grandfather was declining quickly.  So I made a quick decision to drive to Atlanta Thursday morning, visit with him and drive back Friday.  My precious Luke thinks it is "normal" to jump in the car and drive 4-5 hours on a trip, or to hop on a plane and go wherever and come back.  He has flown 4 times and has been on road trips probably a dozen times.  He is such a trooper.  I had great times with my grandfather knowing it could very well be the last time I ever saw him or saw him coherent.

So we came home Friday, unpacked, repacked and flew out Saturday morning to Baltimore, Maryland.  We attended Lincoln's (Jon's grandfather) memorial service.  What a precious time of remembering his life and what he all meant to us.  He is a special man and we miss him so much.  We were able to spend lots of great times with him because he lived in our neighborhood.  We flew back home Sunday night.

We were then here for a weekend (PRAISE GOD) and my sweet husband took me out on a date to a really neat restaurant here in Hilton Head.  We went and sat on the beach after dinner and it was so nice to spend QT with him.  (I am a QT person!!!).

This past weekend we went to Atlanta again for me to be in a wedding of one of my sweet friends from Providence.  It was a beautiful and all for God!!  I'm very happy for Michelle and Jason.

We are also dealing with my grandfather passing away.  He is such a strong man till the end!  He is still fighting but everyday his body gets weaker.  He is such a great man and has impacted all of us in a different, positive way.  He went into hospice 4 weeks ago.  When he went in, he thought he would be there 4 days!  God had other plans!  So, I got to see him a month ago, right before he went into hospice, I just saw him this past weekend when I was in town for the wedding and he was still talking and could communicate a little.  He smiled and waved at Luke when we came in.  And then yesterday, my mom told him she was on the phone with me, and I heard him loud and clear say, "I love you, Donna"  Those will be the last words I ever hear my grandfather say to me and I will remember it forever!  Life is so short on this earth, but thank goodness we have the hope of eternity through Jesus Christ.

I am sitting here listening to my baby boy squeal and play in his bed.  So sweet the sounds of a baby and we are so blessed for God to give us this precious life!

Luke's 1st Halloween

Luke (really his parents) had so much fun going trick or treating with all his cousins!  It was a fun time with the family.  Here are some pictures of our little TIGER!!!!

Luke and his pumpkin and gelled hair!!!

This is Luke's new way of sitting.  He refuses to sit on his bottom with both legs in front.  That silly boy!
Our little pumpkin!



Momma put gel in Luke's hair to spike it:o)

Luke loves to play in our closet with his momma's shirts

Luke is dedicated to the Lord!

What a precious day!  And yes, Luke was the best dressed, haha!

Luke is praising the Lord!

Luke loves to read!

Luke is becoming so cuddly and will lay down beside me while I read or tell stories to him about when he was a "baby!"  Such precious time!
This was taken from the video monitor.  It was after the HHCA football game Friday night.  He was SOO wired when we got home that he could not go to sleep!  So finally, at 11:30pm, he CRASHED!  He was playing with his feet and then BOOM, he was asleep and slept on his side just like this and didn't move!  

A Day in the Life of Luke

Luke loves to eat fruit and gets so mad when we take it away.
Here is Luke playing in our closet with my clothes.  As you can see, he loves to pull my shirts off the hangers.  I had to put 6 back on today.  Not good when your house is on the market and you are trying to keep it very clean!
These are some toys he hasn't played with for 4 months.  I brought them in to pack them up, and of course he is all of a sudden interested in them!

Here Luke is sucking his thumb and swinging!  He loves to swing!

Isn't Luke just precious!

This is Luke playing with his DVD!  And this is how he sits!  It is the ONLY way he can sit!  Hilarious!  He is 8 1/2 months old, and he refuses to sit on his bottom!

Luke loves to get in between the ottoman and the chair and play!  He will NOT play on the floor!  He plays standing up!

And here is Luke feeding himself....does he even need us anymore???:o)