Christmas 2014

We started off our celebration with our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of ham, au graten potatoes, rolls, and salad. Then we gathered together for "advent", which is a family tradition where we read scriptures in The Bible and The Book of Mormon about the Savior and sing Christmas songs. It always ends with hot chocolate, M&Ms and treats :)

This is a tradition that has been carried on from Jason's family. I love the opportunity we have to discuss the need for the Savior with our children and help them truly understand what Christmas is all about. I know I will always cherish this special time as a family and I hope they will too.

 Traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.

Kelsey showing off her new pajamas and her broken foot! She stepped wrong off the last stair in our house a few days ago and broke a bone in her right foot. As you can imagine, she's not very happy about it (other than getting out of PE for a few weeks...). Thankfully, it is not a severe break, so she should only need to wear her boot cast for about 6 weeks or so.

Instead of getting a large gift, each of the kids received one or two small presents and several goodies in their stocking. Then as a family gift, we received a brand new Nintendo Wii U console! We love playing together as a family and our old wii console has been broken for several months. This was an unexpected surprise for the kids and they were very happy about it!!!

One of my favorite parts about Christmas this year was the homemade gifts that the kids made for each other. The kids drew names between them and agreed to make presents for each other--they couldn't buy anything. I LOVE what they all came up with. They were so thoughtful.

Spencer had Kelsey...since he is a little young, he got some help from Mom to make Kelsey this cute fleece hat.

Kelsey had Connor. She made this poster of a "C" for Connor with pictures of some of his favorite things and words that describe him. Connor said it was "the best present ever!" It is now hanging on the wall in his room :)

Connor had Parker. He made Parker origami ninja stars. Parker loved them because now he has real ninja weapons...

Parker had Spencer. With Mom's help, he made Spencer a soft fabric block with a jingle bell inside. It turned out so cute and Spencer really seems to like it.

It was so much fun to see the kids work hard on something special for one of their siblings. They could hardly wait for their homemade gift to be opened by the recipient. I think this is the start of a new family tradition.

After finishing with the gifts, we ate a delicious breakfast and then spent the rest of the day playing the wii, relaxing and just enjoying our time together on this special day.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

5 months old!

5 months old today--Now there's a smile :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa Wardle. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving food and it was all delicious!!! We also played Thanksgiving Bingo for prizes which was a lot of fun. We're so glad that Grandma and Grandpa could be here for a few days. We always love to have them come and visit.

 We sure love these 4 cute kids!!!

Jason and I are so thankful for each of them and the love and joy they bring to our family every day.

4 months old!

This cute little guy is 4 months old today!! 15 pounds 2.5 ounces, 24.75 inches long. I tried and tried to capture a smile...nothing but serious with the camera in his face!

Halloween 2014

Pirate Baby

1 Little Indian

Captain Hook

The Wizard

Happy Halloween!!!

Arrow of Light

Today Connor received the highest award that a Cub Scout can achieve, the Arrow of Light. Jason is currently the Cubmaster of Connor's pack, so he was able to present Connor with his award and an arrow. 

We are so proud of Connor and his hard work during the last few years in cub scouts. He has done a great job and learned so much.

Congratulations, Connor!!!

Pneumonia...Again!

Parker has been sick for the past few days so I took him to the pediatrician this morning. They strongly suspect pneumonia again, even though the x-ray didn't show anything suspicious (this is his 3rd diagnosis of pneumonia in the last 2 years). Because of the pneumonia infection that he had 2 years ago that landed him in the hospital for 2 weeks, the pediatrician wanted to be aggressive with his treatment. They decided to give him a shot of antibiotics in the office today and then a prescription for the rest of the course. He is not as sick yet as he has been in the past with pneumonia, so hopefully that means we caught it early. He has only needed oxygen at night so far, so that's a good sign. Poor guy! We sure hope he gets over this quickly....

3 months old!

I finally captured a smile!!
Can't believe he's 3 months old already!

Spencer's Blessing

Spencer was given a name and a blessing by Jason during our sacrament meeting at church today. It was a very special day. 

Kelsey knitted Spencer's white blessing blanket. She spent several months working on it. It turned out just beautiful. What a treasure!!

 

Grandma and Grandpa Romney were able come to NC to be here for this special event.

We are so grateful little Spencer is part of our family. He has brought such joy and love into our lives. 

First photo as a family of 6!

We are so thankful to Heavenly Father for blessing us with 4 beautiful children to love and raise!!

Kelsey Rides a Horse

Today Kelsey got to ride a horse for the first time in her life! She was very excited and a little bit nervous too. She got to ride a beautiful horse named Red, who was very gentle. She did a great job and can hardly wait to come back for her next lesson.

2 months old!

It is hard to believe Spencer is 2 months old already!

9 pounds 12 ounces and 22.25 inches long

14!!

Kelsey is 14!!

She requested this specific cake that she found online and it turned out really cute, I think!

She was a little confused when she pulled a plastic horse out of one of the gift bags...

...until she realized it was a certificate for two horseback riding lessons! She was so exited!! She has wanted to ride a horse since she was very young. 

Happy Birthday, Kelsey!!!

First day of school 2014

Kelsey, 8th grade

Connor, 5th grade

Parker, 1st grade (again)

Love these 4 cute kids!!!

Photo Session

Aunt Wendy drove all the way from Tennessee to do a photo session with Spencer this week. She is an excellent photographer--check her out at www.vizionphotography.com!!

We are so excited that she took the time to come to NC to visit us for the weekend and take pictures of Spencer. The pictures turned out great. Here are a few of our favorites. Enjoy!