Christmas . . continued

We made a trip to Oklahoma to spend with my family over Christmas weekend. Thankfully the weather was not bad (or the roads). And we honestly made record time! Also, none of us were sick for the entire Christmas season!! What a blessing that was after the rounds of the stomach flu!!!

Here are some pictures of our time in Oklahoma with the Dyck's.

Grandma and Addyson

Braden playing with Grandpa. Who do you think is having the most fun?

 Of course, more presents. They were so blessed!!

Addyson drinking her milk with Aunt Ang

 None of my pictures of Addyson turned out. But she got quite a few clothes. And she "tries them on" by sticking them under her chin and walking around modeling them for everyone. So we got Uncle Carlin to model his clothes for us too!

 Uncle Craig and Aunt Beth

One gift was a fish scale so all the boys had to see how much weight they could pull. (Ryan totally won by the way!)

And by the time we left, the kids were totally wiped out. As you can see by Addyson here!

We had a fun time hanging out with family and the kids got to see their great grandmas for a little bit too. Addyson and Braden learned to co-exist with their aunt and uncles' puppies, Millie and Monk. We discovered a fun game called Farkle. And we all survived the drive. Not the kids favorite thing to do but they are pretty good sports about it!

 

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We spent New Years weekend celebrating with the Vogt's. All the grandkids got Santa hats. How cute are these two? We tried for a picture of all the kids but they were not being cooperative, our kids that is.

Here is Addyson with cousin Kylee. They have a lot of fun together!!

Braden busy working the clean up crew finding trash.

We, well mostly Ryan, made marshmallow guns for the nephews. I think they were a hit!

 Addyson and Braden hauled it in again. New toys!!!

One of the few shots I have - I did not do a good job taking pictures. Sorry!!!

But someone did help himself to our camera to get some shots for us. And I figure if you're willing to take the picture it might just end up on a blog somewhere!!! And since Rob had to work and didn't get any incriminating 80's pictures at Ryan's party, it's only fair he gets some blog space, don't you think???

We had a fun time celebrating, staying up way too late, taking late evening jogs, and laughing.

Now it's time to get back in a routine and get some sleep!!!

Christmas 2010

I am a little behind on posting, and out of order. But oh well, I wanted to save our Christmas memories anyway!!

This Christmas was a lot of fun because Addyson and Braden could actually participate!! They had a great time!! And we were actually able to take a decent family picture!! Can you believe that all 4 of us are looking at the camera and looking happy???

Here is our Christmas tree this year. Last year the kids were barely getting around so they didn't bother it, and this year they were old enough to understand not to touch. There were a couple reminders necessary and they did manage to get caught pulling off ornaments and throwing them as far as they could once. Good thing I put all the breakable ornaments out of reach!!

Sitting on the boxes was one of their favorite things to do!

Before we opened presents we managed to squeeze in some play time. They both love climbing all over Ryan. But Braden especially lives for wrestling time with daddy.

Here is Braden running as fast as he can with his puppy.

Do you see Addyson's thumb still attached to her mouth?? We are starting to work on their 2 year molars. What fun!!!

And finally, some presents!!

Addyson liked ripping off the paper. Braden wasn't sure he should make such a big mess. One of his favorite parts of presents was getting to pick up all the pieces of paper and throw them in the trash. This boy loves to make things all clean, tidy, and organized. A boy after my own heart!!

These are Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads. I couldn't resist them, but now that there are lots of eyes, ears, shoes, and lips all over the floor I'm not sure what I was thinking.

This is by far Braden's favorite gift. A truck and trailer with 2 horses inside. He can hook them up himself and fit all of his other animals and cars in the trailer too. He was so excited as you can see in the next few pictures!

 And every boy needs a hammer and a tool bench.

Addyson got some fun things too. She likes clothes and since she's getting too tall for her pants that was a good option for her!

We did stockings for the first time in our family. We all had fun digging things out of them. Addyson and Braden learned to use their sippy cups with straws and are very proud of themselves!! And they got a few fun snacks too.

We had a great time celebrating together. It is amazing what a difference a year makes!! The artificial tree didn't grow but our 2 babies have grown up so much. We loved spending Christmas with them and teaching them about Jesus' love and why we celebrate. It was precious to hear them point out Jesus in the pictures and say his name. What a great opportunity we have to celebrate God's wonderful gifts!!

Ryan turns 30!!!

Ryan turned the big 30 on Saturday, January 8. So we partied like it was 1981 (the year he was born)!!! We had a lot of fun!!! Here is the group picture (a few of the kids didn't make it in the picture).

Here is the birthday boy blowing out the fire of candles. Braden kept leaning back like it was so hot. Who needs a fireplace on these cold, snowy nights when you have 30 candles to keep you warm!!!

We had cake (Ryan's favorite and only acceptable birthday cake - chocolate caramel cake) and funfetti cupcakes with neon icing for the kids, ice cream, and candy and pop from the 80's. Remember Nerds, Pop Rocks, Fun Dip, Pixie Sticks, and Bubble Tape? How about Shasta, Fanta, Mello Yellow, Grape Crush, or RC Cola??

Braden and Addyson loved the cupcakes. Braden made sure to eat all the icing off first!!! Yum!!

Here are some of the decorations. I am not very crafty but I had a lot of fun making all these!! I guess I really was a child of the 80's - it sure brings back memories!!!

Yes, those are cassette tapes. Remember those? Oh, sweet rewinding.

Streamers are always necessary, especially in the 80's!! See the cabbage patch doll, walkman, and VHS tapes??

We had an 80's Trivia Game with questions about toys from the 80's, TV shows like Saved by the Bell, M*A*S*H, Little House on the Prairie, you get the idea. We had a tie between Heather & Chris for the trivia winner. After several tie breaker questions which they either both got or both didn't get, we decided it was a tie and they both won prizes!!!

There was a Rubik's cube but no one was smart enough to figure it out or win the prize.

Downstairs there was Pac-man on the X-box.

Troy won the prize with the high score!!

And there were of course prizes for best dressed -

Ryan's dad, Stan was ready for the softball game and the best dressed prize.

And best 80's hair went to Ryan's sister Julie:

And since you can't get a good enough glimpse of the great attire from the group picture, we'll have to show individul pictures so no one can hide!!!

 Angela & Carlin

 Chris

 Tami, Kirsten, Seth, & Drew

 Julie & Tami

 Mark & Heather

 Our family -

the kids were SO confused at what was happening!!!

 The birthday boy & me

 Ryan's parents

Troy & Angela

Bill & Olivia - they really weren't being party poopers. Mean Et Cetera shop wouldn't let them in before they closed!!!

Oh, and here's Chris preparing to do the dance move, The Worm. I'll spare you the video, but it was amazing!!!

We really had a great time celebrating Ryan's birthday. There was totally awesome 80's music, rad conversaion, and plenty of sugar and fun to keep us busy all evening. And Ryan always makes a party fun anyway!! Happy Birthday Ryan!!!