First Christmas as a Family of Five

Our stockings hung for James' First Christmas

Evie & Connor watching movies in bed

Noah and Weston hanging out in the playroom

Connor & Mommy at his class Christmas party

Weston at his class party

Connor showing off his treats

Weston & Daddy opening presents

Granddaddy & Nana with all their grand kids

Will, Me, and our three boys (5, 3, and 3 months)

The boys with their cousins, Kayla & Emily

Grandparents with kids in their Christmas pj's

Passing out gifts on Christmas Eve

Boys checking out their new movies Turbo & Planes

Connor with his remote control monster truck

James holding one of his gifts

James & James

Mimi and Weston

Weston so happy to finally have a complete MSU football uniform

James & Mommy

He wore this uniform (minus the helmet) for 36 straight hours

James all bathed and ready for bed

Going to bed in his Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve

Blueberry Cinnamon French Toast for Breakfast

Family presents under the tree in the living room on Christmas morning

Santa, I mean Will, ready to start the day

Santa came and dropped off some presents

Waking the boys up

Playing with their new HotWheels track

James at the table with us for breakfast

Reading the Nativity story

Going through the stockings

Connor trying to count his candy

December was packed full of fun.  First, we hosted the Carnathan family for 5 days.  The kids had so much fun playing together for an extended visit.  Noah and Weston camped in the playroom one night.  The following night, Evie and Connor camped out.  Connor and Evie were always sneaking away to watch movies together on the kindle.  Weston and Noah were a good match for each other at air hockey.  As always, I loved getting to spend some quality time with my best friend Abby.  We had fun doing pedicures one afternoon while the kids napped.

A few days later, Will’s family came to visit and celebrate Christmas.  The boys had fun playing with their cousins.  Then, two more Christmas dinners and celebrations followed.  We went to our Christmas Eve service and then came back home to exchange gifts with Mimi and Grandy.  On Christmas morning, Will and I woke the boys up, and they ran into the playroom where Santa left their presents.  Weston and Connor played with their toys, while Will and I put blueberry French toast on plates for everyone.  After breakfast, we went into the living room to read the Nativity story from the Bible.  We also put the last name of Jesus on our “Jesus Tree”.

There are several things we will remember about this Christmas.  This was our first Christmas with our sweet baby James.  We also started the tradition of the “Jesus Tree” in our home.  We read daily scriptures about some of the names of Jesus.  The boys would take turns putting an ornament with a name for Jesus on the tree each night before bed.  Sometimes we sang songs that related to the name, but most nights we walked downstairs to bed while singing “Go Now in Peace”.  On the night that we read our first name of Jesus, the boys noticed what looked like a star on our ceiling.  It was a really cool reflection of light in the shape of a star.  Our “star” made our devotional time extra special.  During the week of Christmas, we also delivered for meals on wheels two days as a family while Will was off from work.

Thanksgiving Program

Connor the little pilgrim

Singing God is so Good

 

Weston the little turkey

15 Fat Turkeys are we, we slept all night in a tree

The sweet brothers, Weston & Connor

Weston & Connor had their Thanksgiving program in November.  Weston felt so big being among the kindergarteners on stage.  As funny as it is, he's waited years to get to dress like a turkey!  His favorite song was the 15 Fat Turkeys one that had someone pretending to be a butcher.

Connor did a good job performing on stage, also.  He looked angelic as he sang God is so Good. 

James, at two months old, slept peacefully through the whole program.  We are so proud of our three boys!  I thank God for them.  He is so good!

November Fun

Dad, Mom, Brian, & Me

Me & my big brother

With Weston & Connor, too

Grandy & Mimi

Me & the Connor-bug

Uncle Brian & James

"Uncle" and his fan club

50th Day of Kindergarten celebration

Weston & I sporting 1950s style clothes

Weston dancing around

Having so much fun

You've gotta love this guy

His joy is so contagious

All the boys in the class with the "Mrs. Kathys"

Posing by a 1950s Chevy

Connor's first dental check-up

Sweet little Connor man

Being a good patient

Connor got a balloon for being so good

November was full of fun.  It all started with Uncle Brian's visit all the way from Colorado.  Connor and James both met Uncle Brian for the first time.  Connor called him "Uncle" and never left his side, or his lap very much either.  Both boys enjoyed having Brian as a playmate.  Everywhere we went in the car, they wanted "Uncle" to squeeze right in the middle.  Connor was so sad when Uncle had to go back home.  He pouted all day and shed some pitiful tears.  Kids have a way of judging whether a person has good character or not. Upon visiting with Brian, Weston & Connor recognized right away that he has such good character.  I'm his little sister, and I think he is one of the nicest people I know.

Weston celebrated the 50th Day of Kindergarten with his class in November.  It was a day packed full of fun.  We all dressed up for the party, which was complete with root beer floats and dancing to 50s music.  All the learning activities for the day centered around the 1950s theme and counting to fifty.  The kids also had their pictures taken in front of a 1950s Chevrolet that belonged to his classmate Matthew's dad.  If there is one thing that Weston loves, it is a good party.  Joy was written all over his face the whole day. 

Connor also had his first dental checkup at Dr. Ritter's that afternoon.  He was such a good patient.  He watched Toy Story while his teeth were cleaned.  Dr. Ritter made him a balloon shaped like a cat when he was all done.  When his balloon lost its shape after playing with it for a while, Connor was able to recreate the cat by twisting it back into shape.  He is so observant.  Nothing gets past him, even when you think he isn't paying attention.