Some of our Favorite...

...PEOPLE!

I can hardly believe it's already been a month since we were there, but our time in good ol' Loomis will not fade from memory any time soon!

Here are some pics of cousins and siblings. We just LOVE this crew!
Two little ones attempting to "share" their peas.

One of my favorite sites...all of these little rascals sitting around G'ma and G'pa's big kitchen table. The sounds of them talking and laughing are just as great as the sight of them.

Then, there's the parents. Always enjoying any free moment from
tending to those rascals.

Aunt Kaylynn and Uncle Kyle were heroes and had ALL the cousins over for a slumber party!

I know my kids loved every second of it! They are asking when they can do it again!

We are so happy to have such wonderful family to go visit! You never know what kind of party is in store when we all get together.

Christmas Break! (part 2)

While we were visiting the Southwell G'parents, we went ice-skating!

Ezra was nervous at first, but loved the little helper they had for beginners.
Soon, he was skating without it...even trying tricks!

Zamboni!!!

These two loved the ice!

G'ma helped entertain William so we could all have a chance to skate.
Brrrrr! It was COLD!

Emily was like an old pro on the ice. Not bad for only making it an annual tradition.

Thank you G'ma Southwell for a fun day!

Christmas Break! (part 1)

I made my first attempt at home made gingerbread houses. With real gingerbread.

It smelled delicious, it tasted delicious, but it was WAY too much work!
(because all the kids want to do is smother ANYthing with frosting and candy!)

The kids had a really good time decorating their own house.
They each had a tube of frosting and more candy than
they've ever seen in one place at the same time!

Then, we went with some friends to the Christmas House!
This place was out of control! I think Santa himself lived here!
Yep, if you tune your radio to 96.9 fm you can see the show - all the lights choreographed to music. What a sight! Then we got to tour the inside and back yard.
A Christmas village, trains and even hot cocoa and cookies. WOW.
it takes him 9 months to prepare for this!

Even a snow machine!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the YEAR!

I love, love, love Christmas vacation with my kiddos! 3 weeks of NO SCHOOL and being lazy. Baking, watching movies, playing wii, doing puzzles, cooking up our favorite meals, and lately...watching it POUR RAIN for 4 days solid. The house is a mess, and the laundry is not done. But we are going to try and enjoy every day of our break.
Last night we went "caroling" in the rain...well, we DROVE from neighbor to neighbor and delivered our little hot chocolate mix gifts. We ran up two at a time and said Merry Christmas instead of knocking as a family and singing a couple of songs. ( It was probably a preferred method for some).
When we got home we decorated some cookies with MY new favorite (early) Christmas gift...The "Message in a Cookie" Holiday set from Williams Sonoma. It was so fun! Now all I need is the good kind of frosting for writing...not the slimy gel.