Merry Christmas to All

 On Christmas Eve, our family joined Trailhead Church for their Christmas Eve Service. It was beautiful- focusing on praising Jesus with carols, reading of the Scripture

 and a great message by Trevor on the hope and redemption that Christ brought to the world. 

That night, we had some friends and neighbors over for Prime Rib! 

 Christmas Eve morning we spent with Grandma and Grandpa eating breakfast and opening gifts!

 All the kiddos have fishing poles now- bring on summer! 

 Sophia got her Iphone! (It was an eraser:) I love Grandpa's humor! 

 Ari has been scouring the planet for this Animal rescue series that is out of print since last Christmas and Grandpa found her the rest of the stories to complete her collection.  

Christmas morning started with Luke 2 and talking about what the birth of Jesus meant for the world! Then presents with the hamsters and relaxing till dinner at Uncle Kenny and Aunt Mary's. 

 Wearing our matching Christmas leggings from Justin and Erika! 

 Did I mention how much I love having my family in Colorado? Dinner with my Uncle and Aunt. 

 LEGO building fun and ice cream sundae's for dessert! 

 Came home to snow Christmas night! It was so pretty! 

The day after Christmas, we celebrated with more family and good food! 

It was a wonderful holiday! 

Thanksgiving 2015 Memories

Thanksgiving was an icy, cold wintery mess this year! 

We spent the day with 7 kiddos! (ours plus 3 foster kiddos) It went well and we were so glad to be able to include these kiddos in our celebration! So thankful for family who don't blink an eye when we say we are bringing extra kids! We really have the best family! 

Thanksgiving Day was spent at my uncle and aunt's house in Co Springs

The day after Thanksgiving, we spent with Mark's family. 

 Its' never too cold to jump on a trampoline! 

I made my first apple pie completely from scratch and it was AMAZING! 

My Brother's Epic Surprise Visit!

 It was a normal Wednesday night. We were gathering at our house for our community dinner and it was nearing 7'clock when our foster kiddo was coming back after visiting his family. There was a knock on the door (which I assumed was our foster kiddo) and when I opened it- my brother, Justin, and his wife Erika were standing on my doorstep with my aunt and uncle! Best. Surprise. Ever. I've been trying to get them to come visit since we moved here, 8 years ago, and it finally happened on a Wednesday night in November! It was great! 

We had a blast visiting catching up and hanging out! Cant wait till they come back again! 

Featured on Diners, drive-ins and dives

 The kids loved having them visit and all the kids knew about the visit
and didn't say anything to me!!! Impressive!  

 Saturday night, Mark and I got a date night in at the Broker!!!! It was fabulous! 

 We also got to go to 2 different conferences- Soma One Day with Jeff Vandersalt (AMAZING!) and we got to hear N.D. Wilson and Andy Couch that night! It was awesome!

our elders were all matching on Sunday! 

  Sunday, we got to visit with Uncle Kenny and Aunt Mary- it was gorgeous out!
 Uncle Kenny took all the kids for a ride in the convertible with the top down:)

Can't wait till they visit again!