Christmas

Yay! Christmas pictures and it's only 2 days after. We had a very relaxing time this year. We opened presents slowly and ate all day and didn't have our big meal until 4 which is kind of late for us but worked out really well.
Here is our tree: Looks kind of funny and red but I took it without a flash so there ya go.

Reading about Jesus' birth:

Stockings:

Elves passing out presents:

Yummy: M&M's (fortunately brother is very understanding that he can't have any)

Eager anticipation:

Just what she wanted:

Can never have enough Star Wars stuff (the shirt says Star Wars in case you were wondering):

Opening presents:

Playing with presents:

Legos, legos and more legos. I think these were as much for daddy as son:


Hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas as well!

Christmas Tree

This year we picked our Christmas tree out in record time because it was so cold and the sun was going down. I also didn't get a lot of pictures but here are a few. The first one is us standing in front of the Christmas tree we picked.

Here are a few of the kids. They were very cold and saying things like "my face is freezing".

Fortunately the farm wasn't busy and one of the workers was kind enough to cut it down for us a with a chainsaw and drive it back to the car on his cart. Maybe I will put a picture up of the tree in the house next time:-)

Oh and here is one of J, falling asleep in her chair. So adorable. This is what happens when she doesn't get a nap.

Go Dirt Bikers!

Oh my goodness, C really pulled it out in his last soccer game. It was actually enjoyable to watch. He tried so hard and was in the game for a long time. If he had been playing like that all season...oh well. At least it was clicking for him at the end. One of his coaches was so good at encouraging him and finding his strengths and keeping him in when he was having success. He never made a goal but he made an assist at his last game and that was pretty exciting. I am so glad I remembered to actually bring a camera and that it can take video.

Here is one of the assist:

Here is one of him actually kicking the ball more than one time and his tired expression:

Here are just a few pictures:

Staying open for the ball:

Not sure what is going on here, but love it anyway!

He definitely ended the season with a bang!

Practicing

This video is of C in the bathtub practicing for his Christmas program. As you can see, he really gets into it. What he lacks in being on key he makes up for in enthusiasm! Make sure you watch the whole thing and listen for the part where he gets water in his mouth but makes sure he finishes the song.

Halloween

Here are a few pictures from Halloween. I just realized the pictures of the girls are on our other camera so you will have to wait to see the 2 princesses. C was Optimus Prime and enjoyed dressing up. He even helped carve his pumpkins this year with our pumpkin carving kit although none of the kids wanted anything to do with cleaning out the pumpkins of course!
Here are C's pumpkins:

And the girls:

And Optimus Prime:

A little behind

We have had a busy summer and I have not put any pictures up recently. We spent the 4th of July at Papa's house, had I's birthday the end of July with a visit from Grandpa, August included a quick visit from Uncle T and camping.
Love this shot of I:

Self portrait, C loves taking pictures

C taking a picture of goofy Uncle T

4thof July, I riding a camel with Cousin B

At the aquarium for I's birthday.

Crazy Grandpa with his pink beard!

I wanted a Nemo themed birthday and a cupcake cake. That was actually fun to make!

Birthday girl!

Here is a better shot of the cake:

Back at the 4th, J making funny faces for the camera with Cousin B:

Strawberries and more

We finally made it strawberry picking this year. The season usually passes us by before we get a chance and believe it or not, this was my first time. The kids got to feed the goats, go down a slide, eat freshly picked strawberries and we somehow managed to miss getting poured on.

I think CA was the only one to actually "help" pick some strawberries.

...and even managed to stay somewhat clean after eating some as well.

The girls just "helped" by eating what we picked!

And a few extras pictures that I can't resist sharing:

Here is CA after throwing a major tantrum. He wore himself out so much that he literally fell asleep eating. I believe there are even craisins in his hand in the bowl. It happened fast!

Here is IA in her pigtails, first time I got all of her hair into 2 pigtails instead of just sections. This was a picture I took to send to her best friend from daycare who now lives in California.


Auntie M gave JA this dress for her birthday. This was the first time I was able to get her to wear it and she looked like a little doll. So cute!

Angelic looking isn't she? It's just a facade people, she is after all 2!

Summer has begun!

Finally summer is here. It was a slow start to the warm weather but the kids are loving it. Here is a picture from one the first pool times we have had.

We had to make the very difficult decision to put our Maggie down. She is no longer suffering but we really miss her. Fortunately, we had already planned a camping trip the weekend after we put her down so we were able to get away and have a really great time staying in a yurt. I didn't get any pictures at the campsite for some reason but here are some from the lake and the beach. Here is JA, ready to roll:

Here is a picture from the lake. There was a sandy place to play and a dock, the kids loved it!

Yay! We got the girls in the canoe. They were a little nervous at first but ended up doing really well. We even started with IA in the front and JA with daddy but had to switch halfway through. That was a little crazy!

Playing at the dock:

This is from the first day we went to the beach. It was very windy and cold. We should have taken Auntie M's advice, go to the beach in the morning before the wind picks up!

Brrr!!

And the shipwreck which we didn't really get to enjoy b/c we were so cold!

Ahh, going in the morning is so much better! Here is another shot of the shipwreck at the beach. Pretty cool! The kids were much more interested now that they could look at it without freezing.

It was low tide, so there were lots of safe puddles to play in, and boy did they play in them!

"Where's my feet?"

Building sand castles (or at least playing in the sand):

Running through puddles:

Just running:

Wild child, even with crazy hair, this girl is pretty!


Finally, one last shot of our beloved Maggie. She was the best dog ever!