Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, we decided to keep things simple and spend time as a family. On Christmas Eve, we visited Nick's grandma Nancy at her home.

John 3:16 is even written on the bottom!

 

Nick and I got 2 sets of movie tickets, candy, and popcorn!

Next, we went to have dinner with Nick's family. We had a great evening spending time with his grandparents and Nicole was able to play with 3 of her aunts and her uncle.

Christmas morning we went to church (my parents joined us) and then opened gifts and ate lunch. We spent the rest of the day playing with our new goodies (okay, we all played with Nicole's toys) and then joined family for dinner.

Nicole decided to sneak away and open one gift before church.

Look at all those gifts!

Nicole loves her new doll! She loves her so much that the doll received her first scratch.

Grandma Joan is teaching Nicole how to feed her baby.

Nicole got Nick a poster that has the word 'love' written in weapons. I will get it wrong, but I am pretty sure the weapons are as follows: L=handgun, O=grenade, V=pocketknife, E=rifle (or some other big gun). Nicole sure knows how to pick good gifts!

Nicole, the amazing gift-giver, gave another good gift! I got a new Snowbaby for my collection! I was so surprised because they have become hard to find, so I hadn't been expecting one.

Isn't it cute?!

Nicole got building blocks from Kendra, Drew, and Samuel. She loves to knock down the towers that we build.

Our annual family picture. I had been hoping for one at church in front of their well-decorated tree, but Nicole chose to nap during that time and we didn't have the heart to wake her.

Nicole's first Snowbaby!

A toy from Aunt Hannah

Before we got the toy from Hannah out of the box, Nicole gave it a kiss...ouch!

We love our date nights!!! (Not pictured: two more movie tickets and a g.c. for Chili's)

An awesome frame from Nick's parents!

Carrying on the tradition that my mom started: a new ornament for every year.

Poor Piglet! My friend Sarah gave Nicole little Winnie the Pooh toys, she loves to knock them off of our towers!

We pray that everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends as you celebrated Christ's birth!

Nicole is 9 Months Old!

So I had already written this blog, but it didn't post.......so here is take 2!!
Here are pictures of Nicole at 9 months old. It's amazing how fast time flies!

 I am loving her little teeth!

 All Nicole is getting for Christmas are her two front teeth.......

 .......but she doesn't like that plan.

 She loves all the lights on the Christmas tree!

We have been richly blessed this year! We pray that you are able to see how you have been blessed this year!

Having Fun!

Here are some pictures and videos of us having fun!



All worn out after a day of having fun!



Nicole managed to climb on top of my fabric box! Nothing is safe around here!

Our table at the Homespun Market at Lambs Fellowship.

Look at where Nicoles right leg is......she was trying to use the wipes box to help climb her toy shelf.

Nicole LOVES looking at the dogs! However, the dogs don't really care about her.

Resting and watching Seasame Street while I made dinner.

Nicole was helping me fold laundry. I didn't get much done, but we had plenty of fun play time!

I'm not sure why this posted twice, but it's super cute! Every time we go through the front door, Nicole has to do this! She will fuss if we don't let her. So cute!

Nick and Greg will be sore tomorrow!

Today was the Survivor Mud Run in Lake Elsinore!! Nick and Greg both ran alongside two of Nick's  friends (Jim and Alex). There wasn't much of the race that Stacy, Nicole, and I could watch so we remained in the stadium where we could watch the last three obstacles and the finish line. Here are some pictures from the race (and our other fun activities from today).

 Nick and Greg getting their hair ready for the race (mohawks).

 Waiting for the race to start.

 Nick, Greg, and Jim after check-in.

 Greg at the starting point.

 Jim, Nick, and Alex at the starting point.

 Alex running

 Jim and Nick running

 While the boys were running, we found out that they were giving away free Fuze drinks, water, and bananas. Nicole was really enjoying my juice! Too bad she didn't know how to take the lid off.

 Here are the guys after the race (also after they showered). Even though we were sitting there watching the end of the race, we didn't see them run in the field or when they were walking around looking for us. Sadly, this means that I didn't get any pictures of them running the last three obstacles or all muddy (bummer!). Next year I will be more prepared! I took some pictures of the part of the race that was on the baseball field so people can at least see what part of the race is.

Our other fun activity for Saturday (since we had free labor staying with us for the weekend) was to evict our unwanted guests that had taken up residence by our front window. TERMITES!!! Thankfully, the damage was all done on a decorative ledge under the front window.

 Stacy agreed to team up with me so the two front planters could also get cleaned out. She watched Nicole while I did some weeding and then I watched Nicole and she finished it up. We switched at a great time because it was Stacy who found the dead bird remains in the planter (ewwwww!).

 And the main reason that you are still reading this blog.....pictures of Nicole!! Grandma Bee found an 'I love my uncle' onesie that now fits her. Don't worry this was only the third outfit of the day (if you don't believe me, look at her in the other pictures from today).

 No outfit is complete without shoes!!

 Okay, it's a little warm for this jacket, but I wanted to see her in it and the weather was cool enough that she would be okay in it for a few minutes so I could get a picture of her wearing it before she outgrew the jacket.

And finally a picture of Nicole with her uncle!! They get along so well!!

I pray that you and your family are enjoying the little moments with your family and finding reasons to laugh, play, and work together!