Christmas!

Christmas!!! We scaled WAAAAAAY back from last year and the mountains of gifts they got. Instead they got a few toys that they should really like. Ethan got a guitar, a bike, a lock box, clothes, gum ball machine, and (his favorite) yarn and fruit loops. He's going to make necklaces and sell them. From Grandmas he got some science experiments and a cool rock. From mom he got some kamas for karate and from Dad he got spurs gear.

Seth got an electric drum set, Iron man action figure and gun thing, gum ball machine, clothes, and a Razor ez roller. from mom he got a fart gun, from dad he got spurs gear, and from Grandmas he got play dough and sockem bopper swords.

Roxcy got a little bike, and ariel doll, a stroller, and clothes. From mom she got an elmo (that I bought 6 months ago and she's played with it in its box up until november when I hid it away). From dad she got spurs gear, and from grandmas she got a baby and necklace, and a minnie mouse.

Each of the kids got a homemade pillowcase from grandma barb. Seth is convinced it's actually a mat that goes on the floor. 

Santa didn't disappoint and it's been a fun morning. These kids are the highlight of my life. :) Funny side note, Roxcy has (already) started not liking clothes that I think are cute. She screams 'not pretty!' if I try and put something on her. I had to bribe her to get her cute spurs dress on. Thank heavens for gum balls and brothers who will share.

So proud of this boy!

Family reunion

We had a SUPER FUN trip to lake Michigan for a family reunion. It was kurt's parents, all of his brothers (minus 1) and their families. We had a blast playing on the beach, running down tower hill, going to Oinks for ice cream, and just spending some good quality time together. It was especially good to see our Ohio family that we only see once a year! I'm not going to label all the pictures, cuz they're pretty self explanatory. I will, however, label the tour of our cottage we rented. It was cute. It was quaint. It was extra squeaky. The design of the house was actually pretty cool!

There were antique cameras which we had to block off. Very cool, but not meant for children.

There was this box hanging on the wall that held antique printing press letters. (this was my favorite!)

Other cool furniture.

And then this....

Some creepy death mask that made me scared to sleep at night.

And a dead armadillo turned into a basket.

Also, there were only two rooms, so we had to put Roxcy in the kitchen. It was full of windows, but we fixed that as good as we could.

And for my last 'labeled picture', this is how the kids woke us up in the morning. Ethan said it perfect:  "Get off...... my face!" (ice age)

Little Haley realized her mom wasn't close by....