S-A-N-T-A

Christmas is without a doubt my favorite time of year. I love all the magic and wonder that comes with having children around. We SO look forward to the day Santa visits Daddy's office. Natalya and Branson spent a lot of time writing their letters to Santa. They dressed in their Christmas clothes and paced around the house until I could get them in the car to drive to Dad's work.

Santa parked his sleigh and reindeer on the roof. Natalya asked.


Natalya loved Santa. She said she especially liked his voice.

Branson loved Santa, too. He especially liked the cookie and candy cane he gave him.


Irelynn had a different experience. She had the I'm-15-months-old-and-you're-a-weirdo-who's-freaking-me-out experience.

Irelynn was much happier from a distance. She eventually warmed up to Santa and agreed to a smile, high-five, and she even let him hold her little chubby hand for a minute. It was very cute.

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving was blissful this year. Brian took a few days off of work and we chose to not travel for the holiday. So we stayed home, cooked, ate, and hung out. My sister, Ellen, from southern California came to visit. I couldn't have ordered a happier Thanksgiving!

On The Menu:
A 21.5 pound turkey
Traditional stuffing
My mom's gravy
Cranberry sauce
Seasoned, sour cream mashed potatoes
Green bean casserole
Homemade cream corn
Fumi Salad
Orange Banana Jell-O Salad
Rhodes rolls
Pumpkin pie
Chocolate Trifle
Apple-grape and apple-cranberry Martinelli's

We ate leftovers for almost a week. I love Thanksgiving.

The food.


The family.


As a little surprise for my family, I wrote each of them a special note describing what I loved about them and used the notes as place cards. After our meal, we made a thankful tree (for the kids, they loved it) where we wrote things we were thankful for on fall leaves and glued them on the trunk. (Thanks to Granny Kim for giving us extra supplies to create a thankful tree a year or two ago.)


The day after Thanksgiving we were looking for something to do that was inexpensive and fun for the whole family. We got everything we wanted when we went to our church with a basketball, several Nerf balls, and a Frisbee. We had so much fun just messing around! The kids were hilarious.


Irelynn kept trying to hide in the gym's curtain dividers. She would jump out at us and say, "Boo!" Branson enjoyed shooting basketballs and playing catch. Natalya preferred organized sports - usually when she did the organizing. Brian and I liked playing catch. It reminded us of life before kids - when we used to go to the park after work/school and play catch. Everyone had a great time. The kids didn't want to leave!


This is my pretty trifle. We didn't save room for dessert on Thanksgiving, so we ate all our dessert the day after.

This Thanksgiving, I realized how blessed I am to have a wonderful husband and family. Simple as that. Family is everything. I always loved the saying, "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."

Busy Bodies

Natalya's my little diva. Branson's a ham. Irelynn is feisty. Together they're trouble. But cute.

Playing with expensive toys - fun. Three kids in a box - way fun.

They pretend each tunnel is their "house". I guess the center is their common area. :)


Irelynn has more fun pushing her friend on the ride-along toy than riding it herself! And she's strong.


Irelynn and Karlee, her best friend.

I'm sure every parent feels this way, but our kids are some of the busiest I know! At least I can't complain that my life is boring.

Little Girls

I love little girls. I love that Natalya noticed that she and her little sister were dressed alike - which meant they should absolutely have a tea party together. She was so patient with her. And Irelynn soaked it up. She knew exactly what to do although she had never experienced a tea party before. If that had been Branson, he would have thrown the tea saucers across the room like frisbees. (And I would have laughed - boys are great, too!)