outside!

We've had quite a few days of nice weather lately, so we've been trying to take advantage of that. These first couple of pictures are from a walk we took - it wasn't super warm, so we put the kids in the bike trailer and Luke was being silly to me through the "window."

Best Picture Ever. ;)

The rest of these pictures are from one day that was super nice. We went outside to play with sidewalk chalk and just be out! Yay! Luke spent the majority of the time walking up and down the steps without any help... his new favorite thing. He's NUTS! Only 18 months old and doing things it took EmJ like 2.5-3 years to figure out :o)

Um... I really don't know. She was just being her silly self and it made me laugh.

After we played outside, we came in and had suckers... who doesn't like that?!

:o)

Just some random stuff...

A look at our days lately...



Luke playing with the kitchen stuff...

I love this picture! They sit on the kitchen stuff all the time... Luke's just hanging out and EmJ's singing. A normal day in our house! :o)

Love when I can catch moments like this... EmJ was in her own world just reading to her doll. :o)

It was crazy cold for a few days here, so we had to do some different stuff to keep entertained. One day we played with shaving cream! It was super messy and lots of fun!

This picture just makes me smile! She obviously had such a great time!

Another attempt at some random indoor fun... pots and pans band! (literally!) Loud, as you can imagine, but entertaining too!

This is what I get if I ask Luke to smile for me... hahaa!

And there's the real smile! You can see his teeth a little too! He finally has been getting some... we're at 5 for now, but definitely working on more.

That's all for now... it's supposed to snow soon, but not be so stinking cold, so hopefully we'll get to play outside! :o)

Sportsman Jeff

Just a glimpse of Jeff's hunting season...



This is Jeff with some of the pheasants he shot when he went on his hunting trip to South Dakota in October. This was his first time hunting and he had a blast. We'll just say he now "has the fever."

Most of the pheasants they shot became dinner for them while they were on their trip. However, Jeff did bring one home and yes, I did eat it. It actually wasn't bad at all... dare I say it was... good? :o)

Jeff got his first goose just this morning!

I'm not gonna lie... it's a tad nasty to me. But, I hate geese, so better dead than alive in my book! Ha!

The kids and I met Jeff to take some pictures of him with his first goose. He had a bunch of decoys set up and the kids thought they were awesome!

Fun in the Snow

After gingerbread houses (see blog below) we thought we'd better go outside and play in the snow!



The California girls sure loved the snow! :o)

Seriously... this kid was born for snow. She could have stayed out there all day!

This was some of the most beautiful snow I've ever seen... you could see the shapes of the snowflakes and they were so cool!

How awesome is our God that He creates intricate snowflakes?!

So incredible!

Gingerbread Houses

Our good friends Scott and Deb were here right after Christmas with their adorable girls- Emmerly and Nola. We decided to decorate gingerbread houses with them and Janae and Jonah. It was all the things it should have been: fun, messy, and tasty! :o)

EmJ decorating away!

Miss Emmerly

Jonah concentrating...

Nola... isn't she adorable?!

This is what happens when I ask EmJ to stop eating candy and frosting and smile at me... ha!

This is what Luke was doing most of the time - dancing with Just Dance on the Wii. He absolutely loves this game! And music, for that matter! :o)

(no... he wasn't actually playing, he just holds a remote cover and dances his little heart out!)

EmJ and her finished house

Janae and Em with their finished house

Jonah and Santa's sleigh

Nola with her tree and reindeer

Christmas Catch Up

Here's a little look at the rest of our Christmas fun!

After we opened presents at our house, we headed out to my parents house for our annual Christmas brunch. There were tons of people and it was tons of fun! :o) After that, we just hung out, played games, did a puzzle, and just enjoyed being together.

The next day we went to Aurora to celebrate Christmas with Jeff's family down there. It was a great time... and so good to see everyone, as usual!



The kids lookin' cute on Christmas

Being his silly self

Don't let that innocent look fool you... ;)

Luke and Papa having fun

One of Luke and Daddy's favorite games

All the "cousins" (or something... Jeff is cousins with the parents of these kiddos)

EmJ, Lucy, Demetrius, and Luke

:o)

Blowing out candles on the Happy Birthday, Jesus cupcakes

Mmm!