Look how big she is getting!

I mean, her hair is long enough for pig tails.

 She put those rain boots on herself!

 Definitely has a mind of her own and let's us know her opinions!!

 And is the twinkle of our eyes!

Naomi, age 15 months.

How we started 2012:

First, we did a little cleaning up from our party last night.

 Some of us wanted to make another (and another and another) party hat and mask.

 A picture showing our true personalities.

 Seeing who is taller.

 Goofing off!

 Goofing off!

 And deciding we would tackle 2012, head first!

Happy New Year everyone!!

New Year's Eve Sha-bang!!

We decided to end 2011 with a rockin' kid-friendly New Year's Eve Party!!  The evening included yummy food, some card games, LOTS of playing, making party hats, a toast at 9 pm, (and another at midnight!), great friends, and tons of fun!

 So this would be 10 of the 11 children present, and the oldest is 6!!  Wow, how times have changed for me from 10 years ago!  But this was way more fun. 

This was also the fifth picture we took and, as you can tell, Naomi was done!!  If you don't spot Ethan, he made the blue full-face mask.

 An up-close of Paxton and John Paul's party hats!!  Rock on!

 

Lookin' a little tired there, JP!

Love is...

Going to the zoo with your children, even if it isn't your favorite thing to do on a day off.
Holding your dad's hand, even if it is a bit of a stretch.
Watching and capturing some of the most important people in your life walk in front of you, and realizing how much you are blessed!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

 We had gorgeous weather for Christmas day!!  Look at us outside without jackets even.  A white Christmas is nice, BUT so is a WARM Christmas!

 Here is a picture roll call of the Grandkids on my side:
Andrew--all grown up and almost 14!

 

 Spencer, age10, on right: I guess I didn't get an individual picture of him!

 Claire, age 8: Guess she needed her sunglasses!

Ted, age 8 minus one week:  Good picture!

 Blake, age 6:  Yes, he has gorgeous blue eyes and cute dimples!

 John Paul, age 4: He is getting so big!

 INSERT PICTURE OF LILLY:  Guess I didn't get a picture of her, but then I realized she was SO SICK on Christmas and probably wouldn't have wanted her picture taken anyway.

Ethan, age 3: He still had his curly, red locks at that time!

 Alisa, age 2:  With her hair in piggy tails!

 INSERT PICTURE OF ADRIANA:  We missed you guys!!!

Naomi, age 1:  Sporting her Christmas shirt and sticking out her tongue.  'Bout sums it up!

 Lots of present opening!

 Great-grandpa getting in on the action too.  Even as crazy as it gets when you have 11 kids 13 years old and under, he LOVES being around them!

 And we now have Nerf guns.  Matt and I have had a few epic battles since then too!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Morning!

Merry Christmas!!  We spent early Christmas morning unwrapping some gifts.  Of course they are decked out in their Santa hats that I crocheted this fall AND Grandma Sue made Ethan and JP's pa-jammies!!!  Aren't they adorable?

 Then of course, the boys had to go try out their new remote control Monster trucks!

 

John Paul's Preschool Christmas Program

JP's preschool performed an adorable Christmas program.  It was all about Mary and Joseph and their travels to Bethlehem, and how God was with them as He is with us now.  It was beautiful!

All of the preschoolers received a stuffed animal as a present, so "Carmel" the Talking Bear joined the realms of all of our animals that evening too.

Here is a video of "Fear Not," which they sang several times throughout the program.

And Matt caught this cute one of John Paul saying, "Hi Dad!" (pause) "That's my dad!"  And then the final song.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This was the best one that we snapped of the kids in front of the Christmas tree.  They were dressed so nice for church that we thought we would try and get a good one.  JP is saying "Cheese." No worries, he is not in pain.

 Ok this one is better of my blue-eyed boy!

 Ethan was a little tired.  We must have woke up a little early!

 The next three are our attempts to get a picture of Naomi in her Mrs. Claus dress.  She looked adorable.

 Naughty or nice???

 Let go, Mom!  I'm a girl on the go!

Baby Love

Naomi fell asleep holding her favorite baby doll and I just had to capture it.  It is pretty cute how much she loves her babies.  This one sucks a pacifier and a bottle and cries when it isn't in the baby's mouth.  It does shut off and doesn't just randomly start crying so I felt comfortable enough letting her sleep with it!

First Snow

We were all excited to see the first snow of the season on Saturday.  So on Sunday afternoon, that meant one thing...sledding!!  JP and Ethan saw our neighbors, Treyton and Chase, sledding in their front yard (and over our driveway!) and HAD to go play.  I must admit, I had a good time too!  Naomi and Matt lasted, well, not as long!

 Look at these chilly red cheeks!

 Silly snow angels!

 A cold snow angel.

 At the end of a sled run.

 Ethan at the top.

 John Paul in the middle of his run.

 Coming in for the finish!

John Paul even talked me into buying sleds of their own today at the store!  It better snow some more this winter!  But I figured, we had a great sledding hill in our front yard so why not?  And look at how much fun they had!