Christmas Snapshots

We had a great Christmas time. Here are some of the highlights in bullet and picture form. (I went a little insane with the pictures...)

--Jack's first Christmas understanding the story of the birth of Jesus. He loves having it told over and over. and over. and over.

--Haylee's first experience with opening presents. She caught on pretty quick.

--Chad and I can survive 5 mornings of waking up at 4:50 a.m. (thank you to Miss Haylee).

--A fun time with both sets of families. It was such a joy to be together and we feel very blessed.

--We sure enjoy being an aunt and uncle to Mitchell. He's a cutie and it's fun to get to know him.

We hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas, too. PS--Unfortunately, I didn't snap any photos of Katie. She was there! Sorry, Katie. We really do love you lots!





























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Sneak Peek

We had family pictures taken recently by a family friend. Staci and I used to be in 4-H together in Ephrata and she's started a photography business. She's excellent and she did a great job in taking pictures of our family...in spite of a two year old who most definitely did NOT want his picture taken. And if he was going to have his picture taken, it had to be with his Indiana Jones hat* on. Anyway, I am posting a couple of pictures in which I think Staci definitely captured our kids' personalities perfectly. And, she did get some great smiling pictures of Jack, but I'm saving some of those for surprises for the grandparents for Christmas. So, I'll be sure to post more after Christmas.

*No, we have not let our 2 year old watch the PG-13 Indiana Jones movies....He has become obsessed with I.J. after attending our friend Brayden's 8 year old birthday party. Since then, he has to be wearing his Indiana Jones hat and his Indiana Jones satchel (which he also got at the party) at all times.

I love how this picture shows how Jack does not want his hat taken off for the photos. I think he looks like a little Marlboro man.

Jack found a ladybug (seemingly divinely placed) on the crate that Staci had for a couple pictures. Jack loves ladybugs and we were able to get the hat off while he looked at the little bug.

One of Haylee's trademark looks is the "scrunch nose smile." When she' really excited, she scrunches her nose up in such a cute way. We were so happy Staci was able to capture this.

Stay tuned for more pictures! :)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Ephrata with my mom's side of the family. On Thanksgiving Day, there were 20 people eating dinner, including 6 kids under the age of six (with 5 of them being under the age of 2 1/2). We had such a great time together. My parents put on quite a spread and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.

I recently heard a speaker talk about how a person who isn't grateful is like a container with a hole in the bottom. No matter how much you pour into the container, it is never full. I have been trying to live with a thankful attitude lately--I'm finding it helps me see things with a new perspective and feel more "full." There are so many things I have to be thankful for, a few being my wonderful husband and healthy active kids; my parents, siblings and extended family; my wonderful in-laws; excellent friends; a nice house, good food, a good job for my husband...and the list goes on and on and on. I've been reading a book lately that has helped me be more thankful for the situation I am in and challenged my worldview. The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns (President of World Vision) has challenged me that the things I have been given are not just for my enjoyment, but also to help make someone's life better. So, I'm figuring out what that means in my everyday living. It's an excellent book, and even though I'm not finished with it, I highly recommend it. Okay, so I'm rambling and not quite sure why... Enjoy some pictures of Thanksgiving!

Look who's so excited to eat in her high chair for the first time. Or maybe she's so excited about me tickling her feet.

Oatmeal is a hit! She's actually been eating cereal for about a month and a half, but she's graduated from eating in her bouncy seat to eating in her high chair. And she's sitting up on her own now! Our little girl is getting so big. She's seriously happy almost all the time, and likes to be the center of attention wherever we go. I love the 6 month age!

I Love These Kids

I love this expression.

Little kids in p.j.'s. Is there anything cuter?

Jack REALLY wanted to hold Haylee in the laundry basket.

I love this picture--looks like Jack is giving H.J. some serious advice.

Here are a few fun pictures from the last few weeks. Now that H.J. is almost 6 months old, we seem to be settling in to a good schedule around here. They are both such great kids, and I'm thankful I have the opportunity to watch them grow and change every day. We have our challenging days, of course, but for the most part we have enjoy each other's company.


P.S. Look below a Halloween post.

Halloween

I tried to get pics of Haylee with all of her family. I've been really bad about doing this! I was much better with Jack! Haylee and her grandmas--Haylee is named after both of them.

Grandma Johnson and Haylee.

The grandparents and Danny patiently waiting for the trick-or-treaters.

The trick-or-treaters.

Rach and Haylee.

Grandpa Johnson and H.J.

Grandpa LaVine and H.J.

I think this is the first family picture of us since Haylee's delivery...how sad.

The farmer and the flower.

President Obama--Nobel Peace Prize winner.

H.J. and me. I need to take more pics of us, too.

Isn't she a cute little flower?

We had a great Halloween celebrating with a farmer and a little flower. We've started a little tradition of celebrating Halloween at Chad's parents with my parents. And this year Rachel came, too. It was really fun to be together and watch Jack trick or treat. Plus, Rachel, my mom and I went for a shopping spree on Saturday--we haven't done that in forever! And Haylee went with us--she was perfect for the 4 hours we were out. She's already got the shopping gene, much to Chad's dismay! :)

Five Months Old!

Tomorrow, Haylee will be five months old! Hard to believe. She's as sweet as can be and we all love her to pieces. It's hard to imagine what life was like without her. And, she loves her daddy!