December Fun

December has been a busy month as I'm sure you can tell by my delay in posting, but when is it ever not? We have had a great deal of fun and are all eagerly awaiting the celebration of the birth of Christ. My parents gave us a book, Jotham's Journey (published by Kregel Publications :-) ) , that has greatly enriched our advent experience as a family. I would highly recommend it to families of school-age children. It's the story of Jotham, a small boy in Israel and how he journeys searching for his lost family and finds and experiences the birth of Christ through that journey. It brings the story to life and our kids have begged for more each time we've read it together.

Here's a picture view of some of the fun we've had the last week.

I was responsible for all 3 of the kids parties this year. A friend and I are working as a team to be able to cover both of the girls classes as she has sons in each of their rooms. We plan together and then switch back and forth for the actual parties so I got to be at both Bryan and Elizabeth's parties this year. Here Bryan is working on a popsicle stick Christmas tree.

and decorating his cookie,

and expressing in his own special way his admiration for his teachers whom he really does love!

That evening we all enjoyed attending the girls' school Christmas program. They both did a great job with their special parts.

Elizabeth was thrilled to have a chance to play the xylophone and did very well.

Two girls all dressed up for Christmas.

Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa Kregel...

...and Grandma and Grandpa Tower.

We are so proud of our girls. :-)

The next day, Elizabeth's class made spiral Christmas trees.

and played a fun gift exchange game.

Off to Great Wolf Lodge 1 day later. Eric's parents treated the family to our 3rd annual Great Wolf get-away in Traverse City. Mark and Christine were able to join us the first day which was a rare and special treat.

Part of the fun includes all of the children receiving disposible cameras from Grandma and Grandpa which they can fill up with any pictures they so desire. They filled them up quickly with lots of full face shots, as well as the lovely carpet in the room and the ceiling in the lobby. We always get a good laugh when the pictures come back, but it is a highlight of the trip for them.

The girls playing a fishing game with Christine.

With the whole week off from school for everyone, we took advantage of the time and stayed an extra night at the Lodge. The kids played the Magic Quest game which is a scavenger hunt in which you find items that are activiated by the wave of your wand. They had a really good time with it.

Of course, swimming in the middle of winter is always a highlight and we were all waterlogged by the time we needed to leave.

Bryan and Daddy having a water fight.

Bryan just kept coming back for more.

Elizabeth was much more understated in her excitement.

You'd best watch out for this one though.

Time to go home. Everyone has had a wonderful time.

Oh, that life was always like this. We'll take in when we can get it. :-)

Have a very Merry Christmas from our house to yours!!!!!

Catch up

This post is actually a mix of about 5 events. Unfortunately, when I uploaded the pictures it put them all out of order and because it's 10:30 and I'm tired I've decided not to change them.

Bryan had his first ever Christmas program tonight. He is in 3 year old preschool this year and until tonight we had no idea he was anything other than the perfect student. This picture captures the essence of our child. What it doesn't capture is the many times when Bryan turned to the child on the other side of him and pinched his (the other child's) nose!!! He told us later it was because he kept saying honk, honk, and what else should you do when someone says "Honk, Honk?"

This picture was from Thanksgiving. Lauren and Bryan are enjoying their favorite spot with one of their favorite people.

Thanksgiving also brought a visit from our dear friends the Wiley's. Our children have come to look forward to their visits as much as the adults.

This past weekend brought a very special trip for me as my wonderful husband freed me to go spend some much anticipated time with my sister and brother-in-law and their wonderful family. My mom also did a lot to make it happen and lighten the load for Eric which was much appreciated. It was soooo much fun to just enjoy being an aunt for a weekend. Alivia, James, Josiah and I had a wonderful time together. We started the weekend with a visit to Build-A-Bear where they chose their Christmas presents from us.

James saw this frog and immediately said "Fwog." We knew it had to be the one.



Alivia is into all things pink and made a very wise choice!

Back to the Christmas program.... Thank you for coming Grandpa and Grandma Kregel.

Thanks for coming Grandpa and Grandma Tower. Here Grandpa is matching Bryan's silliness which was a bit out of control at this point. Just check out the next picture :-)

This was the best we were going to do for a family picture.

Back to Indy... Shari decided to set up a photo shoot with Josiah and ended up with some pretty amazing pictures. She bought a large piece of black muslin on Ebay which we used as the background.

I love this precious little boy.

Can you tell????

Shari and Stephen are such amazing parents. Their three beautiful children don't yet know how blessed they are but they will someday.

We were very busy with lots of crafts. Shari often tells me how much Alivia is like me but I got to see first hand how true it is. Her firstborn characteristics shine through. As I was getting ready to leave, she got a bit of a scowl as she announced her disdain that I had not yet helped her clean up the toys in the basement. When I assured her that I had indeed done it all by myself, she quietly slipped away as Shari and I were saying our goodbyes and came back to announce that I had been telling the truth. The little rascal had gone to check up on me. :-)

Baking Daddy's favorite sugar cookies.

What a precious, precious boy! He almost always has a smile or a giggle.

As part of the photo shoot, Shari had me bring our nativity costumes. The result was pretty amazing.

Need I say more.

Don't you just want to pick him up?

More crafts :-) This was an unforgettable weekend. I was excited to get home and hug my own little (or big when compared to these) ones, but it was fun to make some memories. I'm thankful that Shari is only 4 hours away as for a few years she was about 24! Thanks Shari and Stephen for a wonderful weekend. I love all of you!!!

Back to two weeks ago...Bryan got to go bowling on a field trip. Wow, taking 16 3 year olds bowling is a very looooong process, but they sure had fun.

Bryan's preschool class

A SURPRISE like no other!

Last weekend I was the recipient of the best surprise ever. On Friday night, as I was in the box office selling tickets for Eric's high school production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, I saw Stephen's head poking around the corner with my 2 week old nephew peeking out of his baby carrier! I almost passed out with the shock of it and spent the next 3 hours with him in my arms watching a fantastic show that his Uncle Eric directed. I can't even tell you how absolutely floored I was that they had come!!!! The rest of the weekend was awesome.

Of course, with all of us together, we had to squeeze in a family picture for the upcoming Christmas letters. We were pretty happy with the final result.

Six precious grandkids

All admiring their new brother and cousin.

On Saturday, we met up with the rest of Hudsonville to watch the Santa Claus parade. This is my precious nephew, James. He warmed right up this time and was in my arms minutes after seeing me for the first time. This boy has a smile and a giggle that can light up the worst of days.

These children are all focused on....... a worm :-)

What a rare and special surprise to be able to share a weekend with my sister and her family! Even more exciting is I leave on Thursday for another special weekend in Indianapolis which made it MUCH easier to say goodbye. I am so thankful for this woman for the influence she has in my life and for the constant source of encouragement she is to me. I can't imagine life without her. If only I had known that years ago when I could be such a brat. :-)

My sweet niece, Alivia, wanted to be in the picture.

Five children eager for the Santa Claus parade to begin.

This is James "cheese" stantz. He absolutely loves having his picture taken and knows just what to do!

My dad enjoying a morning out with his wife, both daughters, and almost all of the grandkids-a rare occasion indeed. :-)

A very blessed and happy aunt!

James enjoying exploring God's creation of worms.

Alivia and Bryan making REAL lemonade with Grandma.

What a precious little nephew. I got to enjoy him through a play, a church service and a morning spent with Shari and just couldn't seem to get enough. This is not a sign of things to come. :-)

Could anyone ever get enough of this????