Christmas Morning

I am so taken aback by how good our God is.  I woke this morning, so blessed to be a wife and a mother to two boys.  Praise you Father for all Your good gifts.  Our boys of course are far from understanding God's amazing love for them, but we teach them about His love by modeling after Him (or at least we strive to).  It's hard as a parent not to want to shower them with our good gifts to show our love.  I know God loves us SO MUCH MORE and delights in pouring His love on each of us, His children.

Clark woke this morning aware that this morning was special.  How exciting!  We have enjoyed watching our little guys enjoy their gifts

We figured we needed something active to do in the coming cold winter months, so we have a BOUNCER!

Both boys love playing with the train table. Clark is addicted to this thing.

Joel mostly loves ripping up the tracks, but here he's enjoying pushing the train through the tunnel.

After playing, the boys ate their breakfast of cinnamon rolls and bananas on the couch while watching Thomas. Joel loved his M&M candy cane more than anything. 

Happy Birthday, Jesus Brunch

At Target last Friday, I ran into my "old" friend , Sara, and a new friend, Andrea.  We got to talking and realized we would all be in town for Christmas, so we planned a Christmas Eve brunch.

Andrea made the best pancakes I've ever eaten.  Sara brought a delicious egg casserole, and I'm not even going to tell you how pieces I ate.   I brought Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls with icing that said "Happy Birthday, Jesus".

Between the three of us, we had five kiddos that were two or younger.  But they played together really well. Clark made a great friend with Andrea's little girl.  They cuddled up in the bed and played for a long while.  I joked that this will not okay in ten years!!!

The one year olds really liked the balloons. 
Oh yes, I forgot to mention the big boys (our husbands) enjoyed playing bowling on the Wii.

It was a lot of fun getting together with friends and seeing the kids play with each other.  Thank you Jesus for giving us a reason to celebrate so so much. 
Happy Birthday, Dear Friend.

An ordinary day around the house

Yesterday was a cold, but sunny day.  So we just hung out around the house.  Joel of course wanted to ride his truck around.  That's one of his favorite things to do lately.  Where did my baby go????

Clark wanted to paint, so he painted a rainbow on a wooden train with his watercolors.  He even named his train.  (Thomas has changed his brain forever.)

Then Clark wanted to go outside.  I gave in.   I love our view from the back of our house.  It's easier to see the mountains when the leaves are gone.  Here's a picture of what we see whenever we look out the windows.  I still can't believe I can see mountains after coming from Texas.  I know it's not much, but it's a huge blessing to my heart.

Clark played outside all by himself for an hour.  It was 40 degress, but I made him keep on his hat.  I couldn't believe I have a kid old enough to go play outside. I checked on him every few minutes.  I was a nervous wreck, but I figured it was time to let go a little.  Again I wonder where did my little boy go?

Joel was stuck inside with me.  He looks sad; doesn't he? :-)

Joel's Real Birthday

For Joel's actual birthday, I was still one handed after surgery. 

BUT I had to do something.  So keeping with the theme, I made monkey cupcakes.

YUM!               

I think Joel could get used to birthdays!

Our Snowy Morning

I had to wake Clark up because I was too excited to wait.  The first thing he did was scream, "It's snowing.  I need my hat!"  -

Joel was fascinated by the falling snow.

Happy First Birthday, Joel!

This post is dedicated to our birthday boy.

Three hundred, sixty-five days ago, Michael and I headed to the hospital on a cold, dark, rainy morning.  I had to drive myself because Michael was in extreme back pain which I have to praise God for taking it away as Joel was born!  That beautiful day we were given one of the greatest gifts--a son.

Joel Michael--a few days old

Joel at one month

Six months old

10 months old

ONE YEAR OLD!!

It's so hard to believe that our baby is one year old!  It has been a great year, and we have all fallen in love with this bright eyed, active little boy.  Joel has grown so much this year.  He is walking everywhere now.  He has five teeth and is cutting three right now. His favorite word is bye-bye, and he enjoys waving bye-bye especially to vehicles passing (a typical boy).  He loves to play with and tackle his brother, climb everything, and play with cars and trucks.  He is very strong and tough , yet he loves being held and tickled.  Happy Birthday, Joel!