Christmas - Part II

We spent Christmas in South Dakota this year with Doug's family. The fun started on Christmas Eve with a visit from Santa Claus. Nathan and James were unsure of the whole situation.

Then we opened a couple of presents. Nathan got a rocket-launcher which kept everyone entertained!

Our beautiful nieces on Christmas - Kelsie and Bethany.

And our nephews - Lane and Wade.

James' favorite part of Christmas was the candy canes...

and the bows...

and the new toys.

We even took the boys out sledding in the blizzard.

Now we are in Montana - the final installment of Christmas pictures will be posted soon!

Nathan's birthday

Nathan turns 2 tomorrow but we celebrated his birthday yesterday at Papa and Grandma's in Philip. Tricia and James in front of his train cake made by Aunt Jeanene.

The boys eating cake - Lane, James, Nathan, and Wade

James and Nathan playing with Nathan's new barn.

Tricia reading to the boys after the party.

We're godparents

Doug and I were asked to be the godparents to our good friends Janna and Rod's little girl, Molly Kate. The baptism was yesterday in Rapid City. Molly is 6 months old.

Janna and Molly

We tried to get a picture of all of the adults and kids but Taylor (2 1/2) and James didn't think that was a good idea so we just took one of the 4 of us and Molly.

Doug and James after the baptism.

Christmas - Part I

We celebrated Christmas at our house tonight since we are leaving in the morning for South Dakota. James got to open his presents early so we don't have to cart them to SD and back. He really doesn't get the opening part of presents yet and needs lots of help - good thing he'll get lots of that from his cousins on Christmas!

Showing off the coasters he made Daddy for Christmas - notice the handprints...

And here he is sporting his new Christmas sweater and playing with his table and chair set from Santa.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I absolutely love this time of year (I always have) and having kids makes it even better. We spent last weekend in Longmont watching Kaylynn's church Christmas play and seeing her sing in the church choir. Afterwards, Jamie took some pictures of the kids all dressed up for the holiday. She is a great photographer and has a way of capturing their true personalites. Here are a few of my favorites of Jamie's photos from last weekend!

And last night, we got together with Cory, Jamie, and Kaylynn again to celebrate Cory's birthday and Christmas with them since we won't see them on Christmas. Kaylynn was very excited to open presents which was so much fun to watch. James still needs help opening presents and loved his new blocks!

And finally, here is James modeling his new outfit that Auntie Jamie picked out for him. He also got his haircut yesterday so he is looking pretty cute!

Decorating the Tree

We decorated our Christmas tree one evening this past week. James was enthralled with the process and proceeded to break 2 balls...so all of the ornaments and balls are now about half way up the tree. Here he is helping us decorate.

And the next morning James and Zowie posed for me in front of the tree.

Zowie didn't last long...she can only stand so much hair pulling and aggressive petting.

Thanksgiving

James and I traveled to Montana to see Mom, Dad, and Uncle Pete for Thanksgiving since Doug had to work. James had lots of fun playing with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Pete, and great-grandma who suprised us with a visit along with my Uncle Mick!

James put his suit on for Thanksgiving.

He helped Great-Grandma Tookie unload the dishwasher.

And the rest of these pictures are of James just playing at Grandpa and Grandma's.

Family Pictures!

We had family pictures taken earlier this week by Kellie Coughlin and they are posted on her Photography Blog. Enjoy!

A Painted House

We had our house painted this past week and I love the new color! First, here are a couple of "before" pictures. (The trim really didn't look that bad before...in the pictures, it had been scraped which is why it looks really patchy.)

One "during" picture...

And "after"!!

I can't do a blog post without a couple pictures of James. He was helping me sweep the driveway this morning.

And then took a bath!