New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, we went to Dan and Dana's to celebrate with Brian and Doni K, and Brian and Steph F, and their families. The kids had a great time playing together, and the adults had fun playing Battle of the Sexes. We were home around 11pm.

Brian K horsing around with Caden and Eli.




















































Carly and Jackson were being cuddly with thier favorite blankets. (Jackson is Brian and Steph's youngest (2))

Happy Birthday Broc!

This morning, Allyson woke Broc up by saying, "Daddy, wake up - it's your birthday!" She was disappointed when he didn't wake up right away. (I guess he wasn't as excited about his birthday as she was!)












We celebrated Broc's 31st birthday this evening, by having chicken lasagna (one of our family's favorites) for supper and had Creme de Mint cake for a birthday cake.

Christmas Night

On Christmas Night, we got together to celebrate the birth of Jesus with my mom's side of the family. It is always fun to get together and see cousins and aunts and uncles that don't live close.
Here is a picture of my mom's immediate family.
















Here are some of the great-grandkids.














My cousin Jesse and his wife Melissa, and my cousin Tessa and her friend Ryan.














The little kids played bingo while the adults played Bunko for grab bag gifts.

Sunday School Christmas Program

Last night, we had our Sunday School Christmas Program.
All the kids did a great job. Caden and Allyson both knew their parts, and said them without any help. They passed the microphone to each other without any trouble. (What a difference a year can make!)
They sang 3 songs, and Allyson sang her heart out. Caden knew the words, but didn't feel like singing for all the songs. I was so proud of them!

Christmas Wedding

On Saturday evening, we were planning to have Christmas with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Wayne, but grandma was not feeling well (sending get well wishes to Gma Mary), so plan B was to find a sitter and attend a wedding at our church. The wedding was very pretty.
Here is a picture of the bride and groom at the reception. Congratulations Aaron and Kim!



















Here is a picture of Doni, Amy, and I. (Amy is the groom's sister)














Makayla watched the kids for us. The kids loved having her "come to play" with them. Neither kid cried or anything when we left (which is amazing for Allyson especially!) They loved all the attention that she gave them. They played Candyland, read books, and lots of other fun stuff.

Christmas Goodies

Here is a picture of the Christmas goodies that we made this year (excluding our gingerbread people).
We made Andes Mint Cookies, Dipped Ritz Cracker snowmen, Peanut Butter Balls, Peanut Butter Blossom cookies, and Peanut Clusters. Yum!














Also wanted to share a picture of Allyson with the whale that we made out of Pixos. She is pretty proud of it. We will work on Caden's tonight. I think he wants to make a helicopter (which is harder than the whale - wish this mom luck!)

It's Christmas Day!

On Christmas morning, Allyson woke up first, and then Caden. They were so excited to see all the presents underneath the Christmas tree.














The each opened their presents from Santa before church.
Caden got a Wall-E Leapster game and Allyson got a Pet Pals Leapster game. They also got a set of Linkin' Logs to share.



















We then got ready for the Christmas Day service at church. On the way to church, Allyson kept thanking us for all her presents (even the ones under the tree that she hadn't opened yet). She said "I love all my presents. Thanks for them." So sweet.
After church, we opened the rest of our gifts under the tree.
Allyson got a Bitty Baby from Americal Girl Dolls,



















Caden got the Geo Air High Flyin Airport. When he opened it, he said "This is just what I wanted."



















Both kids got a set of Pixos. The kids loved these and were so excited to open them. They begged every day to play them. (edited - I would not recommend these unless your kids are older - they are very little and take lots of time and patience. From a mom's point of view - not a very good gift - I can say that because I bought them!)














Out of all of their gifts, their Leapsters are by far their favorite gifts. Then it is a toss up for what comes next - Allyson loves all her babies, and Caden loves his trains and his tractors.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family.
We partied at Dana's house. (yes she was busy playing hostess this year - thanks Dana!)



















Caden received a Kenworth truck and you can tell by his face that he loves it.














Sam, Tyler and Eli also received trucks. All of them were a little different, but they loved them!














Allyson received a Hannah Montana doll and a necklace and bracelet.














Tessa received a wedding dress dress-up set from another party, but she loves it and doesn't like to take it off. Here is the veil and bouquet.



















After supper and presents, we played bingo. The kids loved it this year. They each won a prize pretty early in the game, and then Allyson kept telling me to win a prize again for her. I didn't do well on bingo this year - I didn't get a bingo on my card until the end.

Scrapbook Catch Up

Today, the kids and I went to town to get parts for Broc, and of course stopped to check out the after Christmas sales. We stocked up on wrapping paper (Transformers, Scooby Doo, Tinkerbell, and Littlest Pet Shop) - the kids helped pick them out. We also got a couple other good deals (for upcoming birthday gifts.)
When we got home, we watched Wall-E, and Horton Hears a Who movies. Neither one would receive a raving review from the Yesda critics. They will be brought back to the video rental store tomorrow without much argument.
During the movies, I worked on some digi scrapbooking. As you can see, I also updated my blog header. It was time for some new pictures.

































(credits: template by shineangel, papers and elements by Amanda Dyken)
Yes - I am still working on getting the rest of our Christmas events posted. Hopefully this weekend.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!























Here is a picture of the kids in their Christmas outfits right after church.