Christmas

We had a really great Christmas this year.  Santa gave us all Nerf guns, so we can have family Nerf wars!

We woke up pretty early Christmas morning, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and opened presents.

Brennen got mostly fishing stuff and some nice headphone and blue tooth speakers.

Kiara got an awesome present from Delma.  Delma thought of it all by herself and I helped her with.  It was a framed picture of her and Oskar taken on the day she got him.  Kiara also got a baking set which included a frosting decorator.  She got a dog agility training kit so we can train Oskar to do fun tricks like jump over bars, go through tunnels and around cones.

I was pretty excited about Delma's gift.  We got her an ipod which she was totally not expecting.  I had it all charged and set up before I wrapped.  So when she opened it it had all her games and music all set up on it.  She was really excited!  She also got a fun new game called herd your horses and some cowgirl boots.

TJ got a Spider-man doll, a bow and arrow and a new fishing pole.

I got some beautiful new scarfs and sweaters.  Jason spoiled me with three pairs of new shoes!

Jason got some slippers and games from the kids and my big surprise to him (he could not figure out what was in the big box) was a hiking backpack.  Now there are no excuses to be able to go backpacking this summer!

After opening presents we all got ready and went to my grandmas for lunch.  Luckily she only lives a few miles away because we got several inches of snow during the night and the roads were pretty slick.  After visiting with my grandma we came back home and the grandparents came over for a visit.  We cooked a ham and had a nice simple dinner.  Christmas day was perfect!

The kids and I both had almost two weeks off for Christmas break.  We spent the next week going sledding, playing with new toys and watching some of the new movies we got.  Of course Jason and Brennen went out a few times to try out their new fishing stuff.  I also took the kids swimming one day.  It was such a great week to just relax and hang out together.

I'm so thankful for my wonderful family and excited for what the new year will bring!

Kids and Dogs

Our house sure is crazy with kids and dogs running around.  A lot of time we have extras (kids and dogs) hanging out as well.  Just makes it even funner!  I know some day I will miss all the noise, mess and chaos.  I have to remind myself that a lot.  :)

Brennen and his Bass

Brennen is doing really well playing the bass.  He has recently joined a community orchestra in addition to playing in his school orchestra.  He is playing with mostly adults in this orchestra and playing very challenging music.  He is really enjoying it and works hard.  We are very proud of him.

Daddy Daughter Dance

For activity days they had a daddy daughter dance.  Jason and Kiara asked Kiara's friend Joe to go with them as well.  Her dad passed away a little over a year ago and her plans with an older cousin to take her fell through.  We were all too happy to have her join them.  Jason went out a bit before the dance and got the girls a rose.  They all got dressed up, they looked so great and had such a good time.  He is such a good dad.  These girls are so beautiful inside and out.