New Years Eve

Today we had snow... maybe 1-2 inches.  It was enough to cover the yard.  Henry and Ben played in the snow this afternoon and LOVED it!  They built a snowman, had a snowball fight and even wrestled in the snow.  It got them out of the house and outside for over an hour!

Collins Boys

After Henry's party yesterday we drove to Pleasant Hill, MO to see the Collins Family and pick up the half of a hog we bought.  They were also very generous to give us lots of baby stuff, as we get ready for #3 to arrive.  It was a very quick visit, but we enjoyed getting to see everyone and finally meeting little Sutton who turned 1 in October.  We also got to see Alex and his mom Rebecca.  Below you will see the attempt at getting all 5 boys into one picture!

          Sunday morning before we left, Ben, Sawyer, and Henry playing with toys while Sutton takes a nap.

Party

Yesterday from 12-2, we had Henry's 7th Birthday Party with his friends from his school.  Ben got to invite a friend to come along (we hoped to keep him distracted with his friend and not bother the "big" boys, and it worked!)  Henry asked for an angry birds cake this year and you can see I am not very creative, but I did find this pretty easy one on the internet and was able to make the red angry bird.  Henry LOVED the cake and it was a big hit with his friends.  The boys (big and little) all had a GREAT time bowling!  Can't believe our little Henry is almost 7 years old!

                                                       Benton and his buddy, Ben.

Thanks to Zee-Zee for taking a group picture for us  Henry with his 3 buddies and Benton with his friend Ben.

                                                                   Time for cake!

                                                                   And presents!!

Snow!

This morning we woke up to some snow on the ground!  Henry and Ben couldn't wait to get out in it and play.  They even build a little teeny tiny snowman!

Casino Dinner

Last year for Christmas dinner, we didn't feel like leftovers, so we ventured out to see if there was anything open.  We came across the sports bar at, of all places, the casino!  So this year, we continued that "tradition" and enjoyed a family dinner at the casino.  It was nice to get out of the house and have it be just the 4 of us.  We loved getting to see our families over the holidays, but sometimes it is nice to just enjoy our little family.  We are so blessed to have family in town and to have gotten to spend most of the day with them!  We hope each of you enjoyed your Christmas and took time to be thankful for the REAL meaning of Christmas.

We enjoyed the very cool dancing water fountains after dinner.



Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!  We are having a great day!  The kids were up bright and early at 6am.  We opened presents, had breakfast, went to church with Zee-Zee and NoNo, had lunch, sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, opened more presents with Zee-Zee and NoNo, watched some Christmas movies and some of us took naps.  What a GREAT Christmas!

 Our Jesus Birthday Cake... one candle for each of our blessings.  Last year we had 2 candles and this year we put on 3 since our little #3 will be here soon!!



Christmas Eve

We made it back from Arkansas.  We made a quick stop at home to unload, shower, and get ready for dinner at Zee-Zee's and then church.  Zee-Zee had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner for us and Henry and Ben entertained us with some dancing!  I have a video on my phone and if I can figure out how to get it on the blog, I will be sure to post it.  After dinner with Zee-Zee and NoNo we went to church where we participated in the service by reading some of the Christmas Story.  Henry read about 4 or 5 sentences and he did an excellent job!  He didn't even have that much time to practice.  We are very proud of our 1st grade reader!!

                                                           Cute boys with their NoNo!!

Henry, Ben, Zee-Zee, and Bob the dog

                           Opening up their one present on Christmas Eve.... angry bird pajamas!!

Ready for bed.... the picture they made for Santa.

Gingerbread Houses

This morning before we left to drive home, we decorated gingerbread houses.  Uncle Max and Fallon even joined in the fun!

More Birthdays

Tonight after dinner, we celebrate more birthdays!  My dad's is Dec. 31 and mine is Jan. 23, so we had more birthday goodies.  Afterwards, we put the kids into PJ's and drove around to see all the pretty lights.  Henry, Ben, and Stella were in the car with my parents and they said all 3 loved it!  What a fun time for the cousins.

Fun Day

Today we had a very fun day!  After church we went to Bobby and Teresa's house for lunch, to feed the horses, and to ride four wheelers.  Henry, Ben, and Stella all had a blast!!