Christmas pictures

Before we went off to Christmas eve service at our church, we took a few pictures of the kids in their nice clothes. Wow, this can be quite a challenge as I'm sure many can relate. So, of the 150 pictures we took, here are a few that we can present as good!

Nathan has no problem cheesing it up for the camera! This truly depicts our Nater!

Silas was more of a challenge and he actually did this pose by himself and it turned out to be one of the better photos. Otherwise most of his photos had his hands over his eyes or in his mouth.

Abby was being shy and didn't want to smile for the camera. Here she's looking at her brothers and smiling, so not the greatest picture, but still a good one.

Getting the three of them together was very interesting, but here is a pretty good picture of all three.

Now for the bloopers....that you keep around because they are so funny!

Abby is determined to get her hair band off........

and she finally does.

Here is how the boys feel about getting their picture done together!

Hey, there's one....not too bad!

Poor Abby.....she has Nater untying her dress and Silas might be holding on a little too tight....but he was just doing his job! Oh to be tortured by your brothers!

Anyways, we had a wonderful Christmas celebration and so thankful to have captured a few good photos of it.

Our Disney visit

In mid December, Kurt had a meeting in Florida and it worked out to take our whole family down there. We also were able to bring my parents down there so that they could help while Kurt was working and so we could enjoy some more time with them. Although the weather didn't cooperate like we might have liked and we had a little flu bug go around, we managed to have a good time and enjoy some wonderful memories. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

One of Kurt's colleagues took us out for breakfast with the Disney characters. This meant that the boys didn't eat good, because they were watching all of the characters walk around and couldn't wait their turn to see them.

This is the only character Nathan would get close to. Every other one he hid and almost cried about. So, the rest of the vacation he continued to tell us that he kissed Donald Duck. However, Donald actually kissed him!

Abby was so funny with Goofy's hand on her head. He was rubbing her head and she just couldn't figure out what was going on.

We stayed at a very nice resort type motel. Here is one of the days that was actually nice enough to enjoy outside. We each took a boat out onto the lake and had a great time. Silas made Amma and Grandpa do a lot of pedaling! Kurt and I had Nathan and Abby in our boat.

Here is Daddy and the boys meeting Mickey. Nathan still wasn't so sure about meeting Mickey!

I thought this was a funny picture. We were watching the Disney parade and so Grandpa and Daddy have the boys on their shoulders, but Silas kept grabbing Grandpa's cheeks to hold on...it was funny. I'm not sure Grandpa's back will ever be the same, he had a boy on his shoulders a lot of the trip!

Here's our family meeting Tigger and Pooh.

We waited around to see the castle light up with Christmas lights. It was a beautiful sight.

Grandpa and Amma with the kids in front of the castle. I can't remember how many lights were on the castle but it was pretty amazing. Everything was decked out so beautifully for Christmas. It really was an amazing sight to see!

Thank you Grandpa and Amma for helping us on our vacation and creating memories with us in Disney!

Grandpa Shippy and Amma's visit to Colorado

The week after my sister's visited us, my dad and step mom came out for a weekend visit. This was Halloween weekend, so it was fun to have the kids dressed up and excited with Grandpa and Amma. Since we have done a lot of sightseeing already when my dad and step mom were out here before, we got to enjoy more time just being a family. We did get to go to a little amusement park since the weather was so beautiful. It was so much fun to see Grandpa ride on "fun rides" with the kids. He's still such a kid at heart! Anyways, here are some pictures of their visit.

The kids with Grandpa and Amma right before they went trick or treating.

Amma with Abby.

Grandpa decorating the pumpkin with the boys.

Grandpa and Amma with Abby.

Catching up....My sisters' visit to Colorado

I'm embarrassed to say I have gotten behind on my blogging...if you couldn't tell. I feel like I have so much to catch up on, so I'll try my best to get as much done as possible before we get into the new year. I'd like to say this year I'm going to be better....but as I look ahead to this year, I'm not going to guarantee it.

So here it goes. My sisters came to visit our family in October. It was so nice to have them in my neck of the woods and to enjoy their company and to just sit and chat again. I didn't realize how much I miss my sisters until I had them for a weekend. It was hard to see them go, but I'm thankful technology has kept us close. I feel so blessed to have two amazing sisters and I hope and pray we can do this again!

Here is Carla at Garden of the Gods.

Paula enjoying the view at Garden of the Gods.

Our visit to the Olympic Training Center

My sisters with the kids.

And the three of us together again! What a blessing!