These pictures are of Christmas morning at my parent's house. The kids each got a bouncy soccer ball. It was a morning full of excitement.

The one and only picture I took of Christmas morning at our house. I guess I was busy with the video camera.

By the way, not our only Christmas tree. Our real tree was downstairs. I just didn't want to wake up to the boys having already opened all the gifts without us.

These pictures were taken at the Hill Christmas party. The boys each got a gift from great-grandpa. Josiah got the tag reading system and Isaac got the v-smile kids camera. Thank you great-grandpa.

Cousins

We tried our best to get a picture of all 6 grandkids for my parents. As you can see it was a lot of work! Leah is 1, Logan is 2, Adam is 3, Isaac is 4, Josiah is 5, and Tulsa is 8.

5 Years

5 years ago we were in Guatemala waiting to travel home with our first child, Josiah. Were has the time gone? The first picture is us on his offical gotcha day in Guatemala. The second picture is our Angel in the pageant at church this past Sunday. We are so blessed with both our crazy wonderful boys!

Santa

Here are the boys telling santa they have been good all year along with their wishes for Christmas. Still no sign of the vanishing present.

Mom is upset!

This year we had the boys each pick out a small gift for each other this Christmas. They also picked out gifts for grandmas and grandpas. They wrapped them all by themselves, Josiah wrote out who they were to and from, and placed bows on them all. They have been sitting under our tree upstairs for a week now. Just today I came home from running an errand and I noticed through the front window the tree was over on its side resting on the chair. So inside I go to yell and put the tree back up. So now I have to rearrange the gifts under the tree when I notice one is missing. I have searched all over the house and no is fessing up to what happened to it. I have not seen any evidence of the presents contents or wrapping. Of course, this is an edible gift that contains a mess if they do eat it. So I should know if they ate it. Let you all know if I find it.

Oh, by the way this comes just after we went to see santa, to whom they said, "Yes santa we have been good."

Last night we attended a Christmas Party up at Fricanos in Muskegon. Josiah was fasinated by the paino player, Al. He stood and watched him for most of the night. He even got a few lessons from Al. I think we need to get him some lessons. The top picture is prety dark, but if you click on it you see Josiah standing by the guy again.

We had a wonderful family trip to Chicago yesterday. Dan and I took the kids to Michigan City where we boarded the South Shore Line and road the train into downtown Chicago. We walked around downtown and looked at the Christmas decorations. The boys really enjoyed the lego store. They each brought their own wallets to buy a toy. Go figure, Josiah picked hot wheels and Isaac a thomas the train toy. All the way to Chicago to pick out those. We ate dinner at Ed Debevics and the kids enjoyed razzing the waiter there. We had such a good time.

Dinner

Today Josiah had a family feast at his school. He got to sign up to have mom bring what he wanted. So of course he signed me up to bring p.b. and jelly sandwiches. Only at school they have some kids with peanut allergies, so they were jelly sandwiches. The teacher asked me to make 20 sandwiches. So he came home with many left over. I set them on the table and told them they could eat some jelly sandwiches for dinner. Then I turned around to get them the healthier part of the meal, and this is what I found when I turned back around. They had divided ALL the jelly sandwiches between the two of them. Yuck!

Mom my head is stuck!

Happy Halloween!

Hot Cocoa Night

Nothing better to do on a cold and rainy night. So with our mugs from Aunt Audri we enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa. The boys think they are big stuff to use such big coffee mugs.

Veggie Tales Live

Tonight my mom and I took the boys to see Veggie Tales at Central Weslyan Church. We had great seats and they really had a good time.

The Mystery Trip

Sunday we took a road trip with the kids and Dan's parents. We called it a mystery trip, because only Dan and I knew where we were taking them. Since the boys love old fashion cars, we found a place in Hickory corners called The Gilmore Car Museum. It was very impressive! They had so many classic cars in very well kept barns. Some of the barns were two-stories with cars in both. They even had a 50's diner, and many places to bring your own lunch and picnic. We went out for dinner at Fricanos in Kalamzoo. It was a fun day.

Tonight we attend the annual Holland Police Reserve Banquet. Dan was given his 5 year service award tonight. It was nice to see him be awarded for the 5 years he has been a reserve, and all the time he puts forth.
I am proud of him for having his full-time job, his reserve job, and
being a wonderful father!

Pumpkin Fest

My mom and I took the boys out to the pumpkinfest in Zeeland this week. Josiah loves bunnies, so he was so happy they had some to hold. Both boys took a turn riding on Jake the donkey. Saturday we took them to the parade and Aunt Audri joined us.

Josiah and I went on his class field trip to Post Family Farm today. The weather turned out to be beautiful. He loved the bus ride. In one of the pictures they are tellling a story and Josiah is on the end portraying a bumble bee. Josiah is on the rocks with his lady friends. The one we hear the most about is Shontea. She is the cutie in the middle of the girls. They all got to eat donuts and apple cider. The parents all got to try the donuts as well. They were very good! We all got to pick a pumpkin. The pumpkins we chose were pie baking pumpkins, so we may give that a try...anyone with a good recipe?? We hope you are all having a great start to the fall season.