Merry Christmas!

I had good intentions of sending Christmas cards this year,
but they are still sitting in the box !
Maybe next year...

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas
and a safe and Happy New Year!

Cookie Weekend

What a wonderful weekend we are having...and it is only Saturday!! We had our 4th Annual Cookie Day today. Our families come to our house...the ladies make Christmas cookies and the men do manly things (a.k.a nap, etc.). It is such a nice chance to get together and visit...and eat! A lot!!

Our turkey dinner before the baking began.

Lauren frosting sugar cookies.

A sampling of the cookies that we made this year. We usually get a picture with all of the cookies that we made, but must have missed this picture this year. Oops!

It was also Todd's 30th Birthday today!

Our family!
We are so glad that Daddy is home with us again!
We missed him!

Thomas

Andrew has just fallen in love with Thomas the Tank Engine in the past week or two. He always wants to watch Thomas and carries this book around with him EVERYWHERE...even to take a nap! I sure hope that Santa brings him some Thomas toys!

Andrew "reading" Thomas... I think that he sat still
long enough for me to take this picture and then he was off again!

Andrew and his "cheesy" smile!

Daddy

Todd has just left for Washington D.C. He is thrilled to go and we are excited for him...but will miss him A LOT! Yesterday we stayed home, played (in our PJ's) and had a nice time as a family. Here are a few pictures from our Saturday...






We are going to keep ourselves busy this week. We have a full schedule of wrapping Christmas presents, taking LB to school, volunteering with Toys for Tots, making Christmas Cookies, making special Christmas projects and a Polar Express Party! I am looking forward to spending this time with the kids...but can't wait until Todd comes home!!

Fast Asleep

Andrew woke up extra early this morning (around 5:00 am) and I knew that he was still tired. I did not realize how tired until I was helping Lauren wash her hair and heard snoring! Andrew had found his blanket and pig and fallen asleep outside the bathroom door. He is taking an early nap today, he did not even open his eyes as I moved him to his crib. I hope he takes a long nap ...he needs it!

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to this...





What a beautiful sight! Everything looked so crisp and white...Lauren could not wait to get outside. After breakfast we enjoyed the great outdoors with a little (ok, a lot!) of shoveling, snow angels and a snowman. What a great start to our snow day!

Christmas Preview

Here is a little preview of the pictures that we took for our Christmas cards. Andrew did not want to cooperate, as usual when we have the camera out, but we still had a few nice ones. People keep telling me that the "silly" pictures are the ones that you look back at and remember...we'll see about that!

Our Elf Family

I had a little free time while the kids were resting today...click here to check it out. Enjoy!

A Snowy Adventure

After it snowed for almost 5 hours today, Lauren was begging to go outside and we figured that we should shovel the drive. UGH! A snow blower is top on my Christmas list this year! Andrew was a good helper with shoveling and the kids had a great time being pulled in the sled...

"What a great snow adventure!" ~ Lauren

Let it Snow!

I hear Christmas bells ringing! Today is the perfect weather to start preparing for the holiday season! Lauren was so excited about the snow that she had to run outside for a few minutes after church to catch some snowflakes on her tongue. Andrew caught them on his eyelashes! I love this time of year!

Check out this new photographer!

Andrew now shares the love of photography that the rest of us do! He took quite a few pictures of the family today. Many of the ones that he took of Lauren and Todd together turned out cute...you can even see both of their faces in the same shot :) I should post some of the pictures that he actually took...maybe that will be tomorrow's post...

Raking Leaves

Today we spent some time outside (in the 72 degree November heat!) raking leaves. As you can tell, we took a lot of breaks to play...and jump in the leaves! What a wonderful day!

Nana & Papa

While we were visiting Nana & Papa last weekend, we had the chance to visit (yet another) Cider Mill. Lauren enjoyed feeding the animals and Andrew enjoyed "Papa!!" He shouts his name in excitement every time he comes near. Even as I post this, he is standing here shouting, "Papa!"

The kids with Nana & Papa...

Lauren feeding the goats...

Mmmmm...Thanksgiving dinner is looking good this year :)

Halloween

This year we went to my parent's house for Halloween so that we could Trick-or-Treat with cousin Abby. Both of the kids had a great time...Andrew loved running from house to house with his bag open for all of the candy. He would not let anyone touch his goodies!!

Our bride. (And a little glimpse into the future!)

Our little lion.

The lion, Dorothy and the bride.

Photo Shoot

Our good friend Molly is starting her own photography business (our dream someday!) and she did a photo shoot for us. Here are a few of our favorites... She did a great job!

Thanks, Molly!

Andrew

We have started to change Andrew's room into his "Big Boy Bedroom." He loves to play in his own room now that there is more for him to do...

He loves to read on his bean bag chair.

Wearing Lauren's dress-up scarf while calling his buddies :)

A Weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's last weekend and had some fun! Andrew loves tractors and there are plenty to see on the farm. We also visited a fruit farm while we were there, although it was COLD! Lauren was able to decorate a pumpkin and we had some cider and donuts. We love Fall!

Pumpkin Patch

I had to add a separate post about our trip to the Pumpkin Patch while in Kalamazoo.
What a great place for some photos...

GO BRONCOS!!

Yes, There Really Is A Kalamazoo!

We went to Kalamazoo last weekend to spend some time with Todd's brother and sister-in-law. We had a nice time. We really miss Kalamazoo...here are a few pictures...

Andrew and Uncle Corey

Enjoying (??) a game of Mario Kart on the Wii.

Lauren was a better driver than me!!

Todd as a mummy...as part of a new board game that we have.
It is called Quelf...you should check it out...hilarious!!

The Guys...Corey, Jon, and Todd.
Ahhhh...College Memories!