Christmas 2011...

Christmas was a looong but great day! The kids were up at 3:30 am asking if they could open presents! We sent them back to bed but were all up 3 hours later. =) We enjoyed a nice early morning at home opening gifts and eating a yummy breakfast then it was off to church to celebrate the birth of our Savior with our church family. After church, we spent the rest of the day at my parents house. It was a great Christmas weekend!

Luke's cowboy gun 

Kate loves her Hello Kitty robe

Luke loves cinnamon rolls!

Our annual Christmas morning in front of the tree pic

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

December and pre-Christmas...

December has been a busy month for this wife and mommy. On Tuesday, November 29th, John had hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. The surgery was successful and his recovery, while pretty extensive, is going well. Taking care of him, the kids, the normal home stuff, and all the Christmas prep has made for a pretty non-stop few weeks. 

Since we knew John would be incapacitated for a couple of months, we had to make sure all the Christmas stuff was out of the garage rafters before his surgery. So right after Thanksgiving, we decorated the house. 

Of course, we have to include a couple of pics of the patient of surgery day...

Survived the I.V.

Post-surgery, not feeling real great =(

Heading home

Auntie B set up a little photo studio in a bedroom at my parents house and took the kids pictures for our Christmas card...

Visiting Santa at South Coast Plaza...

*Note: 7 pm on a Friday night is a great time to visit Santa...who'd have thought?!

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After a fun day at the Jacobs' on Christmas Eve we came home and got ready for Santa...

Making cookies

Santa came!

Luke's "wrestling machine"

Kate's skates...she has literally spent 90% of her waking hours since Christmas in these and has gotten quite good!

Liam Timothy...

Our family of friends welcomed a new member on November 28th when Matt and Allison's sweet baby boy, Liam Timothy, was born. Several months ago, asked Sarah and I if we would like to be in the delivery room to support her since Matt knew he would be a bit uneasy. ;) Of course, we said yes! So when my phone rang at 4:30 in the morning last Monday, I knew it was baby time! I arrived at the hospital a couple of hours later, expecting to be there at least into the afternoon but Allison is a rock star and Liam was ready so by 10:25 am...it was a boy! What an experience! I was so honored to be a part of this amazing day and so thrilled for our dear friends! 

Momma's ready to go!

And...this is why we were there. Sorry, Matt! ;)

It's a boy!!

Happy, beautiful mommy and her sweet baby boy!

Daddy's first look

Proud, happy little family

7 lbs. 10 oz. 20 "

The grandparents hearing Matt say, "We have a boy!" 

We love you, Liam!

1st grade Thanksgiving party...

Today, the kids in Kate's class enjoyed a little party to kick off their Thanksgiving break...thanks to ACSI for planning their conferences so we get a whole week off for Thanksgiving. ;)

Thanksgiving "feast": craisens, turkey, carrots, cheese, and apple juice

Reading the story of Squanto

Cute turkey centerpieces made by the Funk family

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Kate and her buddy, Grace

...and then things got messy...

But they had fun and HOORAY for no school for the next 10 days!

Halloween 2011...

The kids were so excited for trick-or-treating and were asking to go all weekend so on Sunday we  carved our jack-o-lantern in preparation for the "big night". Kate dug right in while Luke was a little more hesitant to touch the guts but they were thrilled with how their pumpkin turned out and couldn't wait to light it up!

On Halloween, the Vander Molens came over for a chili dinner and then we headed out to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. Every year we go to more houses and it's fun to meet more neighbors.  Brooklyn serenaded us with the Little Einstein's trick-or-treating song for our walk (it's still in my head) and the kids got TONS of candy! Another great year!

Optimus Prime, Buttercup the Bride, Belle

Cowboy Dylan

Happy Halloween!