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