Holiday Highlights 2009

We had a wonderful holiday season! I always look forward to December because we get to spend more time with family. It's always fun to visit with cousins at the Pearson family party. The kids had fun making gingerbread ornaments and dressing up for the nativity play. Look at my cute little shepherd and angel!

We love the Smith family game day. Jeff and I took first place this year! It turns out we know each other a lot better than we thought (or maybe it was all the practicing!). Christmas Eve at Grandma Forsyth's house equals new pajamas and more family fun. We loved having Heather, Taven and Andrew in town this year.

Christmas morning was exciting. Although Jeffrey was a little under the weather so he wasn't quite himself. Hannah had a lot of fun though. The smiles just kept coming!

A visit to Grandpa Don and and Grandma Merrilee's house brought more fun toys for the kids (and clothes for Mom and Dad!) .

Then a trip to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house brought a really great surprise...Grandpa out of the hospital for Christmas! Poor Grandpa Smith had been in the hospital with kidney stones and pancreatitis. We were so happy to see him home and healthy! We spent the rest of the day there enjoying a wonderful dinner and more time with family.

The rest of the month we spent as much time as possible with Heather and Taven before they went home. This is us waiting to enjoy a yummy dinner at Red Iguana.

Then we spent New Year's Eve at Jeff's parents house. The guys were outside most of the time throwing stuff (i.e. clothes and toys headed to the D.I., fireworks, etc.) in to the big fire that Jeff's Dad built. Both the kids stayed up until after midnight then crashed before we even pulled out of the driveway to head home. We are looking forward to a Happy New Year!

The Elf on the Shelf

This little fellow came to visit us mid-November (a little too early!). Since then he's been moving around the house keeping an eye on the children. The kids love finding him in the morning when they wake up. Sometimes he forgets to move and stays in the same place for a few days! I can't say the kids have been perfect since he arrived, but it's a fun little game none the less and I think Santa will still be coming to our house.

Build-A-Wolf and Kitty

Grandma Merrilee gave Jeffrey a wolf from Build-A-Bear for his birthday (to be stuffed at a later date!). So we decided to have a date night and meet Grandma at Build-A-Bear. She let Hannah pick one too. Hannah chose the kitty. Time to get them stuffed. Jeffrey loved pushing the pedal to get all of the stuffing in to his wolf. And Hannah gave it a try too. I think their favorite part was giving their animals a bath. Grandma had previously picked out this cool football outfit for Jeffrey's wolf and had his name put on the back. Jeffrey, very appropriately, named his wolf, Wolfie. Hannah's kitty went home in some cute little undies. She has a ton of clothes at home for the kitty that Grandma already bought. We had a fun time...thanks Grandma!

Jeffrey and Wolfie sleeping...

Superhero Birthday!

Can you guess which superhero just turned 4?


Yep, it's my sweet little guy Jeffrey! He truly is a sweet little boy. He always protects his little sister (even though she beats up on him!). He still likes to lay by me and pinch my arm. He is still sad when he wakes up and realizes Dad is at work. I think he is the smartest little 4 year old I know. It's amazing to watch him learn and grow. We went to a new doctor a couple of weeks ago when he had an ear infection and the doctor thought he was in kindergarten. He was amazed at how well he spoke and how grown up he acted. In case you couldn't tell, he is still in to all of the superhero stuff. He loves to draw and he's getting really good. He loves to box with his Dad. The second Jeff gets home he puts on his "fighting" clothes and gets Dad the boxing helmet so he can beat him up. I just want him to know how much we love him and how thankful we are to have him in our lives.

On his birthday, we celebrated by opening some presents and going to dinner at Red Robin. We brought home one of our favorites, Mudd Pie, and sang Happy Birthday!


Then on Saturday we had a family birthday party at Jungle Jim's. And can I tell you how pleasantly surprised I was by this place. It was clean and it wasn't busy at all for a Sat. afternoon during Thanksgiving break. The kids had a lot of fun going on rides, playing games, eating pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. Of course, it was a Superman party. Leah was nice enough to make the delicious cupcakes. Jeffrey was spoiled with lots of wonderful gifts. I think we all had a great time. And I would definitely go back to Jungle Jim's.


Happy 4th Birthday Jeffrey!!

Gobble, Gobble

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed visiting with each other. The kids had their own little table. They laughed, ate dinner, colored turkey pictures, and wrote down the things they were thankful for. Jeffrey's list included food, toys, Holly and Dad. Then I'm sure they ended up in Grandma and Grandpa's theater room to either run around or watch a movie. The little cousins love being with each other.


I'm so thankful for FAMILY!