New Years Eve

Here's some fun photos of us bringing in the New Year. We had some really good friends over for dinner and while most people were just getting their party started we were counting down and shouting "Happy New Year and blowing our horns...(5 kids+ plus party horns=much noise, sorry you missed it.) . We set the clocks back so that 9pm was midnight and they thought they were BIG stuff, staying up till midnight, and we all benefited by not having highly emotional, whiny, fall apart kids the next day just as my family was coming over for our Christmas. It was a win-win. And we all had a GREAT time.

The party people

The silly party people sharing their "midnight" kiss!

our party of five

The creators of the large bulk of the noise that came from our house this night.

Ok, maybe he was having a little too much fun.

and so was he....

Love birds at midnight

and the other two love birds at midnight...(not joking-this 5 year old romance is legit)

Christmas with the Koehls.

My parents also known as, "Poppy and Grandma" came to celebrate Christmas with us on New Years weekend. We had such a wonderful time, and as always it felt a little too short, but we made the best of the time we had. We always have so much together eating yummy food, playing games and laughing. The cousins always fight about who's house Poppy and Grandma get to sleep at.

Anna's always been crazy about her Poppy, but now she has Caleb who is equally excited about some Poppy time to compete with, and he's pretty persistent. He followed him around all weekend saying "C'mon Poppy" and then when Poppy had a bowl of ice-cream, Caleb ran and got his own spoon and climbed up on his lap just knowing his Poppy would share with him down to the last bite.

Kate loving on Grandma. She was so happy that Grandma found the walkable dog she had been wanting but she didn't think we would find because they had disappeared from all the stores a month before Christmas. She was so surprised.

Hannah is crazy about horses, and getting so good at riding them from all her lessons. The kids love to watch her ride.

Poppy and Grandma were so excited to get a picture calendar again this year. Lots of happy memories in those pages....

I always get my dad the same gift card, but each year try and trick him by putting it in a different size box. He always at least acts fooled anyways!

My mom had been wanting a pretty tea kettle because she loves her hot tea at night. I went on a search for a pretty one and I couldn't believe I found a tea kettle that matches her wall paper exactly. She was so excited!

My dad always finds a cute little Georgia gift for Jeremy each year. Jeremy never knows what he may get, but this year won the prize. Caleb and his daddy will have many years of fun "playing football" together.... We all got a good laugh when the first thing Caleb did was grab two players and make one start yelling "help" while the other was tackling him. Jeremy said, "Ok Caleb, first lesson you need to know is football players NEVER cry help"

Cant wait until our next visit!

Christmas in Georgia

After Caleb finished his nap on Christmas day we loaded up and drove to Pops and Nana's house for more fun. The kids were a little , ahem... a lot spoiled by them, which they thoroughly enjoyed, and the kids did too. haha. We had a nice dinner (or supper as those Georgia folks call it) together and enjoyed the night sharing gifts, playing, and laughing, and then woke up the next morning to head out to visit with the rest of the family that could get together. First stop was Susan and Barry's house for lunch, where we had a great visit with Pa and Kathy and Susan, Barry, Joey, and Robby. The kids always have a blast when we get together with them. They are all so good at making them laugh and showing them a fun time. There is never a dull moment when Kathy and Susan are together! And then we headed to Summerville to Ma's house. Here we were treated to Ma's yummy cooking and her sweet hugs, and lots more spoiling for the kids.

Anna at Pops and Nana's. Way excited over a new barbie.

Our little cowboy, always entertaining us.

I love Kates expression in this picture. She had so much fun on Christmas day.

Caleb is crazy about his Diego train from Pops and Nana

and the BIG (literally!) surprise of the night! Pops and Nana waited till the end of all the presents and the girls thought they might be done.....You should have seen their faces when Pops came around the corner pushing this. Pops did such a good job putting it together. I bet 25 years ago, when he was raising two boys he never dreamed this was in his future!

Get together at the Dunaway's.

So glad we took the time to get a "four generation" picture. Pa is so proud of his family. Such good looking' men, especially the one on the far left :)

At Ma's house. One of the sweetest ladies I have ever known.

All of the kiddos at Ma's house. It's always special to get them all together.

The only thing that could have made our visit to Georgia perfect is if Mark, Kristen, and Jakob could have been there. We sure missed having them.

but glad Pops and Nana could go to West Virginia and visit them for Christmas. We can't wait until we get to go see them again.

Christmas Morning

Jeremy was a big sweetie and woke up bright and early on Christmas morning to build us a cozy fire before the kids woke up. (and if you know our kids, you have to get up pretty early to make sure you are going to beat them, especially on Christmas morning!) He managed to beat them....but not by much. Kate came into our room first (of course!), followed shortly by Anna around 6:00 a.m. Well they were chomping at the bits, like pretty much immediately, so poor little Caleb who is our only child who has ever been gracious enough to us to always sleep past 9 or 10 had to be woken up four hours ahead of his "normal". As soon as he got downstairs though and saw his surprises, his adrenaline kicked in and carried him through the fun morning!

There is no words to describe how wonderful it is to be a parent, and to be able to experience awe and wonder through your children's eyes. Jeremy and I soaked in every moment of their joy as they unwrapped their gifts. They were so sweet and thankful over each single thing, and to our surprise did not rip through everything in ten minutes. They took their time playing with and exploring each new thing. It was so much fun to watch. I remember as a kid feeling sorry for my parents because they did not have a lot to open, and now that its my turn I know just how content they truly were being the ones giving and experiencing our joy. They were having just as much fun as us!

Their first "surprise" was finding baby Jesus finally in His manger. We purposefully left Him out of the nativity until Christmas morning to help them grasp the concept of how God's people were deeply longing for the Savior of the world to be born, and how incomplete things were before He came.

Both Kate and Anna's number one thing on their wish list was an "American girl" type of doll that looked like them. They were both very happy little girls to see them when they came down those stairs. And I think Santa did a pretty good job finding dolls that matched both girls!

I think Caleb's favorite part was exploring his stocking with his daddy. So easy to please!

But he also was very excited about his motorcycles and horses....two of his favorite things.

and we were all excited to enjoy our Christmas morning breakfast tradition together of homemade cinnamon rolls and egg casserole.

After breakfast, Jeremy and I enjoyed a lazy morning drinking coffee by the fire together watching the kids play and just taking it all in with thankful hearts. We are so blessed by how much they all three love and enjoy one another. When they are all three together playing, the room comes alive with enthusiasm and life. It was a great morning.

A very special Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was such a sweet time for our family. Its coming had been long anticipated by the children as they moved the candle around the wooden wreath each night at dinner, counting down the days until the wooden Mary on her donkey arrived to the stable for baby Jesus to be born. This was a new tradition for us that we will definitely look forward year after year. It gave all of us a tangible, visual reminder each day of what it was we were counting down for, keeping the anticipation where it should be, on the birth of baby Jesus. On the night of Christmas Eve, we had an early dinner and as we lit the candle and moved it to its final spot on the wreath, we talked about how tonight was such a special night, because we had finally arrived to the night we had been counting down to this whole month. We spent the rest of the entire evening sitting by the fire, opening presents, playing games, singing, and just enjoying being together. It was such happy and cozy night.

Our Christmas Eve traditions include each of us giving a gift to one another. The kids always open up a new pair of pajamas to wear for Christmas morning and a new family game for us all to play on Christmas Eve.

Daddy was very excited to open up his new slippers to wear on Christmas morning.

Little Anna has wanted so badly for a long time to give her mommy a heart shaped locket, and she was so excited to give it to me. I love her sweet and caring heart.

and Kate was about to burst out of her skin waiting to give me her gift. She had tried with all her might to give it to me early on many occasions, starting as soon as she had it wrapped a few days before. She loves to give to people and the anticipation was killing her. I can't wait to drink my coffee out of her special mug each morning.

We all had so much fun sitting by the fire playing our new game, Scatterpillar Scramble. I don't know who got into it more, the kids or their daddy! It really was a fun game that we could all enjoy, even Caleb. We shared many giggles around the fire racing our marble to the top of the wiggly, dancing caterpillar.

and the kids loved snuggling up by the fire with their new Christmas book "God gave us Christmas" for their bedtime story.

We finished up the night all snuggled up on the couch around our advent wreath, listening to "Away in a manger" together. Celebrating advent, using the candles and Christmas devotionals has been such a special time for the 24 evenings leading up to Christmas Eve. We could never forget to do it because the kids wouldn't let us. They couldn't wait to turn out all the lights and snuggle up together on the couch. Caleb would point to the couch and yell "sit mommy, sit" until I settled in beside him.The first week of advent the song we listened to was "Rejoice". Caleb learned how to sing it quickly and it was so sweet to hear his little voice singing "Tu-joy, Tu-joy, e-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-e-well" otherwise known as "rejoice, rejoice, emanuel". Every night after dinner he would run to the coffee table, and say "tu-joy" meaning he wanted us to come sing around the candles. So many special memories made here.

And, finally here they are about to head upstairs to bed at the end of a happy night. They don't look the least bit excited, do they?

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-lala!

Nothing to put you in a little holiday spirit like walking through your local park decorated in lights, listening to Christmas music, and being bundled up with the ones you love sipping hot cocoa. I could not believe how fast summer had transitioned into fall this year, and before I could even turn around,the stores were all decked out in Christmas decor and merchandise. I DID NOT feel ready. I just wanted to freeze time and stay in fall for awhile. But just as soon as I finished that last bite of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving night, the countdown to Christmas had begun, ready or not. So, when I read in the paper that our local favorite park was having a lights display (Im a sucker for free family fun events-much to my husbands delight) I bundled everyone up and off we went! It did the trick... the lights, the Christmas music over the loud speakers, the brisk air, the hot cocoa, and even the cheesy looking Santa all did the trick. We were all singing fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-lala the whole way home, ready for the holidays!

The kids loved walking , okay, skipping down the trail with all the lit up trains, sleighs, reindeer, snowmen, and little villages.

The kids were excited to see Santa Claus even if he was a little cheesy looking for a Santa.

Caleb was happy to see the lighted up horse!

Anna was enjoying it all so much that she kept saying she didn't have to pee-pee. You can be the judge from this picture if she was fibbing or not...

This little girl couldn't wait to get her hands on some cocoa.

Well, actually all three of these people were a little pumped about the hot cocoa.

and once we could convince this little boy that it was warm and not hot, he gulped it down. The girls kept calling it hot cocoa which convinced him that because of its name it is always hot!

Highlights from 2011

Another year has come and gone. I am so thankful for the blessing of another year we had to watch our children grow, their little personalities blossom before our eyes, all the ways they made us laugh, and for moments in time that are forever imprinted in my memory. Jeremy and I truly savor all of these moments and try not to take any of them for granted, because we are becoming more and more aware of just how fast time slips from our fingers. I didn't do a very good job updating a blog in 2011. I think I was too busy just enjoying all the moments and then cleaning up the aftermath of all the moments after the little ones were finally tucked in at night. So, I just decided to post some highlights of 2011 in pictures and hope for a more updated blog in 2012! :) We can always dream, right?

January of 2011 brought a BIG snow and we had a blast sledding and playing as a family.

We had such a special start to 2011 when al three children were baptized and we were able to profess our commitment as parents to always teach them of Gods purpose for their lives.

We celebrated Jeremy turning 32 in February. We are all so blessed by his life.

Kate started off the year losing a tooth, and she continued to lose and grow many in 2011!

We added a new member to our family in March and surprised the kids with "Daisy"

Spring was eagerly welcomed with celebrating Easter, fresh spring air, and lots of bird nests.

April was a little scary when Anna kept breaking out in a strange rash and had to have lots of testing. We were so relieved to find out it was only a "mild" egg allergy.

Little Anna also discovered a love affair with asian noodles in 2011.

We had a scary hail storm that brought lots of damage and yard work in the Spring, but were thankful that was all when we witnessed the much more devastating destruction bad weather brought many other families this year.

and the positive side of the storm, was a new van!

In May, little Kate completed her first year of Kindergarten.

We had our first family vacation to Disney World where so many wonderful memories were made that we will all treasure forever.

We enjoyed a few days of one on one quality time with the girls and then had a few wonderful days with Pops, Nana, and Caleb when they joined us.

The girls were in awe and wonder of all the "magic". Priceless.

and we will NEVER forget sweet Anna's reaction to meeting Snow White in person.

Caleb loved all of it. It was so much fun to see his reaction to everything.

June brought warm summer days and lots of ice-cream!

and we had a lot of summer fun in the water as a family.

I enjoyed my quiet Saturday mornings while daddy made special memories at the build and grow workshops at Home Depot with the kids.

In July we made a trip to Ohio and it was so fun to watch all the cousins get to play together.

By the end of our trip, the were best of friends.

Caleb celebrated 4th of July in style!

In July we celebrated our little Kate turning 7. Parrots were her big thing this year, sparked by watching "Rio".... Her spunk, and passion for life is a joy to us all.

and 6 days later we celebrated our sweet Anna turning 5. She has such a kind and tender heart and is growing into a beautiful little girl. She loves butterflies, so that was her pick for her special cake.

At the end of the summer we hiked Abrams Falls, our family favorite in Cades Cove. Pops and Nana even joined us for the 5 mile adventure and we spent a wonderful day, talking, picnicking and playing in the streams.

Our "baby" turned 2 in August and his love of horses brought us to a horse farm for a day of fun and sweet memories.

Anna started Kindergarten, joining her big sister in school! She is growing so fast and is so smart.

It has been such a special year of school for the whole family. The girls have loved being in the K-1 class, sharing life together on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we have enjoyed our days teaching them at home three days a week, watching them blossom. It has been a wonderful year and we are so thankful for Cedar Springs church that developed this program.

We had a wonderful trip to West Virginia in early fall, finally meeting Jakob and enjoying the whole family being together under one roof for a few days. Many wonderful memories were made.

October brought lots of pumpkin fun, scarecrows, fall leaves, bonfires roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, walks in the fall brisk air, and preparing for a Thanksgiving feast at our home.

All 3 kids developed a love for Star Wars this year. So, of course they were their favorite characters for trick or treat. Princess Leia, Padme, and Yoda are a very big part of our home!

We went to the Virginia Creeper Trail for the first time on Fall break. This may be our new fall tradition. We had the best times riding bikes as a family, enjoying the fall colors from our Creator, and staying in a little cottage in a quaint little town.

Anna learned how to ride on the tag a long with her daddy for the first time. She was so cute perched back there, and can you believe Kate rode the entire 13 miles by herself! She loved it.

and Caleb enjoyed his cozy ride kicked back in the bike buggy. He enjoyed all of our rest breaks when he got to get out and explore.

We ended the year with a wonderful Christmas break and Holiday season, which was especially memorable this year with all three children at ages to really participate and enjoy each aspect of the season. December pictures will be in its own blog post, because there are so many good ones to share.