All together at last!

We had such a great time in MO. My siblings had not all been together since Dad's funeral (because Jimmy and his family had been in Africa for four years), so it was so good to catch up. I wanted to post a few more pics from the visit. So this is part 2 of my last post.

All the siblings with Mom!

Jimmy, Tiff, and Steph with little Laura. As you can see from the short sleeves it was warm that day (60's)...the funny thing is that just a few days earlier the high was 7 degrees!!! Crazy MO weather!

Uncle Shawn eating Ava's toes!

What a precious family! Shawn, Steph and little Laura!

Ava on her new horsie and Alec with his batman on Christmas morning.

Jimmy, myself, Kelly, and Shawn with our memory quilts.

Kelly with Rob talkin on his cell.

A Late Christmas Surprise!

What a great visit we have been having with my fam in MO! We have been here 7 days, and it has gone by way too fast!! We had a great Christmas. Mom had a blanket made for me and my brothers and sister that was made from all of Dad's old shirts...it was the most special thing we could have gotten...we were all in tears! Another special gift (and the reason we are still here, instead of driving back home) is that my brother Shawn, Steph, and their newly adopted daughter from Columbia were able to get here this morning to see us before we all leave tomorrow (They just left Columbia on Christmas day!). We were originally planning on leaving this morning, but when we found out that they were going to be able to get here after all, we decided to stay. It was well worth it to get to see our new little niece Laura ...What a doll!!! So, we only get one day with them, but what a blessing! Just so you know....there will be more pictures to post when I get back...I didn't want to cram them all in one posting!

Little Laura with her Aunt Kristen!

My sister Kelly with Ava.

Cousin Syd with Alec

Jimmy, Kelly, and I Christmas morning with our Memory Quilts.

The cousins hanging out and singing.

A Christmas Carol for you!

This video was taken a few days ago. Alec was singing in the van, and when we got home I asked him if he wanted to sing on the camera...he immediately ran over to the fire place and started singing(that's why Ava still has her coat on). I guess both he and Ava consider the fire place some kind of stage because every time they sing the run over there to "perform"..I love it! Anyway...Ava decided she was going to attempt singing along, which was just precious. The song did get a little long considering it was just one verse of Away in the manger...he sometimes forgets to end it....so you'll hear Eriik and I trying to help him find the ending. Hope you enjoy!

Away in the Manger..

I'm going to cheat and send you to one of my good friends Blogs to see Alec singing in the Christmas Program at our church this past Sunday. Alec was standing right next to her son "Little Lion", and little Carson is the one Alec is holding hands with on the other side...too cute...they are so funny together! I took a video too....not so good...the whole evening started out pretty crazy. When we pulled into the church parking lot just barely on time, we realized that Alec got in the van without any shoes on!!! I was horrified, and sent Eriik back to the house to get them...they were the first ones to perform (thankfully we live really close to the church). Anyway...Eriik pulled up just as they were lining up in front of the church and I ran up to put his boots on (there were still a ton of adults up there getting the kids all situated...but still!) Eriik ended up missing them sing becuase he was trying to find a place to park. When it came time for me to video, I was so out of breath from all the running that the video was shaky and a mess. Glad my friend's video turned out great though.
Click on the Lion's Den to check it out. Also, here are a couple pics that I got in between trying to do the video. He also had a program last Wednesday at his preschool which was really cute, it's been a busy but fun Christmas season so far.

Alec and Carson holding hands...they are best buds!

The Scary Caroler!!

We had our MOPS Christmas progressive dinner this past Saturday. We started out at my house for appetizers and then went on to Cheryl's for dinner and then Judy's for dessert. We had such a great time! The best part was the White Elephant gift exchange at the end of the night...it was hilarious! Anyway..I just wanted to get some pictures up for all the "MOPS girls". By the way....the scary caroler is coming back to haunt you... you know who you are!!!!

Take note of our pastors wife making the goofy face above!

Meet Bob....

My little Ava is convinced that Santa Clause is really named Bob! I first noticed it when we got home from New Mexico and she pointed to the little stuffed Santa that her Nanny gave her and said "Bob"...I said "no that's Santa". She then said.."No...Bob!!!" I just laughed it off, and went about my business...then when we were decorating our Christmas tree there was a little Santa ornament and Ava held it up and proudly said "Bob!" Too funny! Anyway...I think I figured out why she thinks he's Bob...we have a Bob the Builder doll that she hears us calling Bob...it's a boy doll thing I guess!! Anyway...it's pretty stinkin cute, and I'm not ready to correct her on it. We don't make a big deal out of Santa anyway...so she can call him Bob if she wants to!

All fall down!

What a day yesterday....not a good one! In fact it was probably one of the worst days I've had in quite a long time. It started out fine...we took Alec to Karate and and then drove home, and while I was sending out a quick e-mail I heard a very loud crash and a scream...I went running! I saw Alec standing in the living room staring at the 9 foot Christmas tree laying horizontal on the floor. My first thought was that it was on top of Ava and I yelled "where's Ava?!?!" Turns out she had run out of the room scared. I noticed that the ribbon that I had wrapped around the tree was strung out stretched from the tree all the way to the hallway...so I began to see what had happened. Alec and Ava decided to play tug of war with the tree and they won! I had the ribbon out of Ava's reach, so it didn't take a genius to figure out who the culprit was. What a mess...almost all the ornaments came off the tree but miraculously only one broke (and I have a lot of glass ornaments too). So...I had to have Eriik run home to help me lift the giant tree back up. So....then I went to redecorating the whole thing...not as much fun the second time around!

A couple hours after the tree incident I was doing dishes and the kids were playing in Alec's room, when I heard Ava crying. When I got back to his room, Ava was standing there with blood all over her face and it was actually squirting out of her forehead (sorry for being so graphic, but it was really bad...like a horror movie!) I pressed my hand to it tightly and ran in to grab some paper towels and pressed them to her forehead. Finally it stopped bleeding and I could take a look at it. It was a deep gash, that I knew would need stitches. According to Alec, she had been playing on his bed and fell off and hit her head on his night stand. I put a band aid on it and called her doctors office and they said to bring her in and they would get it stitched up. I dropped off Alec with Meredith (who is the most awsomest friend, and saves me all the time!) and ran Ava to the doctors office. They had to strap her arms and legs down which Ava did not like one bit...I told the Doctors they might need to get some earplugs...she's got some lungs on her! Finally she screamed so much that she actually wore herself out and fell asleep while they were stitching her up! So, then after spending an hour and a half at the doctors I go and pick up Alec at Meredith's. She had made some dinner for me to take home...isn't she just the coolest! So now, here I sit five stitches and one fallen tree later, thankful that although it was a pretty awful day...my family is safe and sound, and I have great friends.

Our Christmas tree Sunday night.

Our Christmas tree Monday morning!

I just took this pic at breakfast this morning...she's good as new!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We spent a big part of this weekend doing Christmas stuff. On Friday Eriik put up the Christmas lights on our house (he gets off work early on Friday's) and then we did our annual trip out to chop down our Christmas tree . It was really cold, which got us in the Christmas mood I guess! Ava was starting to come down with a little cold, so we didn't stay very long hunting around. Eriik spotted our tree this year....and for once I agreed right away (usually we go back and forth between trees for a long long time...it was too cold for that). Anyway...we had a lot of fun at the tree farm, and we had a great time decorating it afterwards too.

Eriik up on our roof hanging lights...oh the things he does for me!

When we got to the tree farm, we had to wait for the hayride out to the trees..so Alec went straight for the little toy tractor they have there...he is smiling with a candy cane in his mouth :)

Searching for the perfect tree!

Here we are standing in front of "the one"!

The kids just had to go outside (Ava in her Jammies) and see the snowman all lit up in our yard.

The Karate Kid...

Alec just had his 2nd Karate lesson this past Monday. He is taking lessons with three other little guys from his preschool class. The other 3 boys started back in September, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't be good for Alec to join in so late...but Alec has really taken to it quickly. Most importantly he is having a great time, and I think he already has a little more confidence! You've gotta check out the video at the end...his instructor is really great with them. It cracks me up how Alec says Whyyaaa!

Alec is to the right of the instructor

Alec is the one that looks like he's standing on his head! They were all doing summer salts.

Alec is the one in mid kick.

My new Niece!

I just want to let you all know that I have a new Niece, Laura Claire. My brother and sister in law have just adopted from Columbia. They are there right now spending time with her before bringing her home. She is such a cutie. You can check out her picture on their blog. http://stephandshawn.blogspot.com/ Congratulations Shawn and Steph!!!!

A Nanny, Poppy, Christmas/Thanksgiving!!!

Well...we just got back last night from New Mexico where we were visiting Eriik's Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Sister in law, and Niece. We had a really good time with them. Since we are not going to see them for the real Christmas we had our own Christmas celebration with them. They had the Christmas tree up and the house all decorated and everything when we got there on Saturday the 22nd. We celebrated Christmas on Monday, Eriik and I celebrated our anniversary on Tuesday, and Thanksgiving on Thursday...busy week...ton's of fun!!! Anyway....Eriik and his brother Aaron each got a Wii...so guess what we spent the week doing?! I did the boxing and Tennis so much that my right arm felt like it was going to fall off! Alec, Ava, and I also got spoiled by Nanny and Poppy....good thing we had a van to haul everything home in! It was a really enjoyable week with family. Anyway...here are some pics from our visit!