Merry, Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to post our Christmas cards this year. I had fun getting them ready to send to family and friends. I love how they turned out (except the scan is kind of fuzzy). This picture does not do Drew justice either. He is normally our funny, happy boy.

Last Friday night we hosted one fun Christmas party! I was so bummed that NONE of us got pictures--guess we were having too much fun :) We invited seven couples to our house. We had tons of food and fun. We played a game called Santa Bingo that my family had played at Thanksgiving. In the middle of the table are wrapped presents, one for each person. Then you roll dice hoping to get doubles and when you do, you get to pick a present and unwrap it. When everyone gets a present you set a timer for five minutes and if you roll doubles, you get to steal (trade) someone's present. Some of the presents are really good and some aren't very good. It was so funny! Some of the presents that weren't so fun to get were sardines and gas-x. One couple ended up with both "bad" gifts and they were so gracious. We stayed up late playing games and talking. It was definitely a night to remember. We were surprised that many of our friends had not had Martinelli's sparkling cider (a non-alcoholic, carbonated cider that is delicious!) . It is one of our family traditions and we enjoyed sharing it with them.

I've been thinking a lot about the Christmas letter we sent with our cards this year. Its funny how the second the letter goes in the mail, the letter seem outdated. I wonder if I will remember all the changes that seem to be happening right now, when I write my letter next year. This year our letter was fill-in-the-blank. Hopefully, I made it pretty easy to figure out with only about 10 words to fill in.

We hope and pray you have peace this holiday season.

Merry Christmas from our house to your!

Jeff, Alison, Jack & Drew

Thanksgiving

Well, my pictures uploaded in the wrong order, but that's okay. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. All of Alison's family met together in the West because Alison's brother and wife had their first baby...a little girl named Audrey. Alison's parents rented a huge house and we all stayed together. There were about 15 of us. It was so much fun! And we are all in love with little Audrey! But on Thanksgiving we played a really fun game that Alison's mom brought. It was called Turkey Bingo and we laughed the entire time. The first picture is Alison's brother wearing the reindeer antlers and the next picture is Alison's Dad.
This is little Audrey and I think it is safe to say that Uncle Jeff was a baby hog. He wanted to hold her 24-7! But he did let the rest of us have a turn.




A couple of Jeff's sisters were at college nearby so they came and stayed with us, too. We had a full house but it was lots of fun. The house we rented had a piano and the boys loved playing with their aunts! This was Aunt Lacey giving them a lesson.
Of course, Aunt Alison got to hold baby Audrey, too. She was such a sweet little thing and did so well with us passing her around so much.
The boys were just in awe of her and Jack kept asking if we could take her home. It was a wonderful trip and so much fun being together!

Halloween

I think I forgot to upload pictures of Halloween. These were taken at a party with the boys' friends. Drew really wanted to look like Jack, so I let him put on makeup, too. It was a lot of fun this year. We had three parties and lots of candy and fun!

More Fall Fun...

This is one of our favorite Fall and Winter Soups. It is soooo yummy!
This is Jack's good friend. They love to be together.


Its funny how much things can change in just a couple months. Jeff's hair had grown back in (he had his head shaved for a few months, just for fun, but Alison convinced him to grow it back).

Hilarious

I just found this picture. It was a good attempt at trying to get a great family picture, but some how I love it! Drew was making faces at the camera and making the rest of us laugh. Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for my three boys ;)

A Fast Update...Written By Alison

The past few weeks have been busy. I mean really busy! November is National Adoption Month so I have been very busy with FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) and I have been taking another online education class so I can renew my teaching license in May. I still have four more credits to get done before then. Let's not forget all the holiday fun has started (Christmas shopping, family pictures, making cards, etc). I didn't have time to upload all my pictures from my professional camera so here are a few from my Iphone. I believe this first picture was a self-taken picture of Drew. He could find my phone if it was lost in Antarctica. He is growing and changing so much. He talks REALLY well and has definitely been acting like a two year old lately. But he is a really good boy.

Jack really got into Halloween this year. He was a vampire and Drew was a bat (Before and After). Jack got into character and told me that vampires don't smile for pictures.
When Drew saw how cool Jack looked he was really mad and didn't want to be bat anymore because he wanted to be a vampire. I promised I would put make up on him, too and that made him very happy.
After a trip to Costco, Jack found a nice soft place to curl up and rest :)
One afternoon, Drew was suppose to be napping and I found him "stealing" marshmallows! He looked very guilty! Sorry the pictures aren't very clear! I'll post more after our Thanksgiving fun!

Fall Pictures

I bribed my friend to come take some Fall pictures of us. She had never used a professional camera before so I would try to set us up, her in position, and get everyone looking...then snap, she would try to get it. I told her I would take some of her family this weekend in return. Here are a few. We are going to try to get some better one tomorrow. And if anyone is wondering...yes, I still have a faux-hawk hairdo and love it-its just a little long in these picture!



Our adorable boys!
I'll post some bloopers later...they are always my favorite with kiddos!

Fall Fun Continues!

A couple weekends ago we went with our friends Nate, Katrina, Lilia and Malachi to a Fall Apple Farm. It was sooo much fun. You can see my terrified face in this picture. We (adults) had a hilarious time pushing each other in this "hamster ball." The funny thing is that every one of us, screamed like a little girl as it went around, men not excluded.
This was digging in corn. It was really cool and the boys loved the texture playing in it.


Yes, we did survive Monster Mountain. Don't you think we should use this picture as our Christmas photo?
There was also a zip line swing. I also screamed like a girl.
This is adorable Lilia. She is 4 weeks younger than Jack. They are the best little friends.
It was so pretty in the pumpkin patch.




Back to our trip to see Matt, Stacy, and the kids. This is the newest addition, Carson. He is such a doll and Drew was smitten by him and wanted to keep holding him (this is a good sign for when the next baby comes :)).
More from our vacation up North to see Matt and Stacy. They were literally flying right by us (explained in the next post)! It was so fun to watch, but so noisy!



Its been a very fun Fall!!

September Fun!

We started September right by taking a Labor Day Weekend Trip to see our good friends. We had a lot of fun in just two days. We took the kids to a great Science Center and outside on the water was a huge Air Show.
I think I could take Emma home with me. She was SO good to the boys and entertained them and was just so fun to be with! Matt, Stacy, Jeff and I got to go out alone and we had the best food and icecream. If you are ever in their area, you HAVE to go to Mr. G's Italian restaurant and Menchies frozen yogurt shop. They both were EXCELLENT! I've never had frozen yogurt that tasted soooo divine!
We also took another trip with our other friends to the state capital zoo. These bats were so amazing. They were so captivating (but only in a cage). I would have totally FREAKED out if out if one had been loose. They are the largest bats in the world and their wing span is about 8-10 feet!!
The kids were watching some other animals.
Drew love to watch the tv sitting on a pillow! So cute!

I am so glad I got this picture of Jack horse back riding. Tis is Miss Amy, Mr. Scott (her husband in the back) and Mr. Tyler. Jack loves to go!
Both boys have really been into dress-up lately. It is so fun to see them pretending.