Bowling experience No. 2

We had a good time bowling with Uncle Brian, Aunt Emily, and Uncle Blake on Sunday afternoon. The kids have been asking to go bowling again since they bowled for the first time this summer.

Eventually both kids insisted on bowling without assistance

Waiting for contact with the pins

We waited a very long time for pin contact when Joel was up (honestly, over 2 minutes). At one point, the ball was moving so slowly that when it made contact, it actually bounced off the still-standing pin and rolled into the gutter. It was after this improbable display of physics that an employee had mercy on us and went to fetch this ramp.

Fun Baby

dresses aren't made for crawling

Last night we put her to bed when she wasn't quite ready, so we got her back out.

Late night wild child with Pops.

Better

The 8-day long, miserable kidney stone saga came to an end yesterday, the day after Christmas. Greg's feeling better. Hooray!!!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was with the Moffats.

Sitting down to listen to the Christmas story.

One of the many activities Grandma had prepared for the kids. It gets pretty crazy sometimes with all the cousins together, and Grandma does a great job of planning for them and keeping them busy.



I didn't get any photos of it (actually, I didn't take photos all day; Greg took all these), but the adults even got to play some games during nap time. We had the kids all divided into different rooms, some sleeping, some just "resting" and watching a movie. It worked pretty well!

It was a good day with everyone (lots of yummy food and treats, too), and we made it home safely that evening. We got a little stuck on our unplowed street, but with some tricky maneuvering, Greg was able to get us out. The white Christmas was nice, but I'm glad it's melting. We're just not equipped for snow around here.

Christmas Eve

We drove through the snow and ice (with chains on) to spend Christmas Eve with my family and had a really nice evening together. The kids were so excited that Christmas was "finally" here.

Aubrey enjoyed her first Christmas Eve, too. Now that she's crawling, she's started testing her limits. She seemed to know the blinds at G&G's house were a "no" even though we've never told her. She was having so much fun playing with them, though, that I let her for a while and took some pictures. (Do you like her sweater? Great Grandma Arnold made it for her, and I think it's adorable with her little jeans.)

She's giving Grandma a hug--a new trick. She lays her head down on your shoulder and makes an "ahhhh" sound.

And here is the kiss that follows--wide open mouth on the cheek.

eating her first of many bits of wrapping paper

Joel was so excited about this red hat from G&G. He reminds me of Uncle Blake when he was Joel's age. Blake wore a red hat for a very long time, and it made his ears stick out, too.

getting ready to help Grandpa with that wrapping paper

Birthday cake for Jesus. We had a lot to be thankful for this year--family, church, jobs. The kids were thankful for their presents. :)

Uncle Blake and Kari playing with her new princess "computer"

Photos for our Alaska Family

This was from yesterday. Brian and Emily came over to play. Kari and Joel could actually walk on top of the snow because of the layer of ice.

And then this is what we woke up to this morning. It's still snowing! While it's beautiful, it's making things difficult logistically around here. I would love a white Christmas, but I want to be able to spend it with the rest of our family--together.

It's been a crazy week weather-wise, and on top of that, Greg's been suffering off and on from a kidney stone. He spent Thursday morning in the ER and spent a couple hours at Urgent Care Saturday. He's on pain killers, but it's putting a damper on our winter fun. If you think of us, pray that he starts feeling better soon. Thankfully, his company closed their facilities today due to the weather conditions, so he didn't have to try to go to work today.

The weekend

The weather allowed us to go to my parents' Friday night to celebrate Mom's birthday. We celebrated early since Brian and Emily are going down to be with her family for Christmas. Dinner sure was yummy!

Aubrey and Grandpa played with the ball-blower for a quite a while. The kids have all loved this toy.

Saturday morning we decorated gingerbread houses. I was glad I had already bought everything we needed since the snow kind of has us stuck. It was nice to have a fun indoor activity for them to do, too.

Sunday morning church was cancelled (and Christmas program post-poned until next week), as I think every church service was, due to the ice storm, so we promised the kids we'd have our own little Christmas program at home so they they could still be an angel and a shepherd.

The branches on this tree are vertical when not coated with ice.

Aubrey wanted that guitar and tried her hardest to get to it.

"Arctic Blast"

Are we in Alaska? We actually have snow drifts at our house.

We had to laugh as we watched the local news (on every channel) this evening. This guy was our favorite. He just measured a wind gust of 62 mph as snow and ice pelted him in the face. We're "hunkered down" (how many times have they used that phrase?) in our home, waiting to see if they're going to let us watch "Elf," but it appears that they're not taking a break anytime soon. Bummer.

Winter Wonderland

Uncle Brian and Aunt Emily gave the kids early Christmas presents--sleds. Our fresh snowfall made perfect sledding weather today. This afternoon Dan and his boys met up with Brian, Greg, Kari, and Joel at the school nearby and had a blast sliding down the hill. Their faces tell it all.

Jake and Kari

Joel and Ty

Joel on Uncle Brian

Dan and Ty

Three kids on a sled

The Stump men

The Moffat bobsled team

Four kids on a sled