Was the Santa picture successful?

I didn't have high hopes after the catastrophe we had this past Easter:

(Please ignore me in all my 8-and-a-half-month pregnant glory)

But, to my exceeding joy, we had semi-success!

John Morgan had a ball! He loved every minute of it and couldn't get enough of Santa! Levi was a little hesitant at first, but once he realized he was safe, he kept saying "cheese" over and over! I'm not sure who invented the phrase, "Say Cheese!" when trying to get someone to smile...obviously their child didn't look like this:

This was the best "cheese-face" {as we lovingly like to call it} of the bunch. Overall, we're very happy with it!

More to come later, taking a relaxation break :o)

Hope you enjoyed yours as much as we did ours!

(p.s. John Morgan took his first steps tonight...video to come)

Happy Father's Day!

What did this daddy get for Father's Day this year? Why, what every dad wants...

Flowers, of course!

Easter Fun

We had a great Easter! We spent the evening at Grandma's house with the family and Levi had a blast finding the eggs they hid for him! We didn't think he'd catch on, but he was running around looking everywhere and would scream with glee every time he found a new one! So cute!


Then we had our own Easter last night for FHE. It was a fun time. Levi doesn't really get the whole Easter Basket thing, but he likes playing with the gifts he got :o)




After Levi was asleep Joe-Z and I had our own FHE where we did the Resurrection Eggs activity. We each hid eggs for the other to find and then did the lesson that went along...it was really fun! And we sang all the Easter hymns since it only comes once a year :o)










Hope you all had a good one too!

Simply Havin' A Wonderful Christmas Time!

Hi there! I know it's been a nice long while since you've heard from us...sorry about that! Here's an overview of how our Christmas Season unfolded. Lots of fun, lots of family, and lots of toys :o) We hope you all had a great time too and that your New Year is happily underway! Here are some pictures from our various stops along the way:


Christmas at Home

We had a great Christmas. We did NOT wake up early (so nice that Levi doesn't know the anticipation of presents yet!) and took our time opening presents. Levi wasn't all about ripping things open. Actually, we think he would've been fine with just the first present he opened! After that it was mostly me opening the presents and saying "Look Levi...don't you love it!?!" At which point he would meander his way over, look at the toy and decide if it was worth leaving behind his other newly-found toy(s)! He liked them all, but we think his favorites were definitely the rocking horse and the toy kitchen! Yay!

Christmas at Grandma Sherri's House

We had a great time at Grandma's house. The whole family got together for Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful dinner (thanks Cris - it was a joint effort, but Cristy orchestrated it all!) and had great fun opening presents. It's always nice to be surrounded by family for the holidays, but this Christmas was extra special...I know we are all grateful that Grandma is doing so well and that things continue to look up!

Family Christmas (Grandma Irene's Side)

It's always nice to get to see family you haven't seen in awhile. We had fun mingling and of course the food was delicious! Levi got to meet Santa and loves his new guitar!

Gingerbread Fun

We went and made gingerbread houses at John & JoDell's house. I think we'll try to make one every year from now on...as a little family tradition. The kids had tons of fun playing and the adults had some fun of our own trying to keep our houses together, let alone making them look pretty!

Trick-or-Treating

Last night was Levi's first time trick-or-treating on Halloween! He dressed up as a Lion (for Grandma's benefit party his daddy was the Scarecrow, I was Dorothy, and his little teddy bear was the Tin Man)! He was the cutest little guy!

We think he had a good time...although he was pretty somber most of the time! :o) Since it was sooo cold out, instead of taking him all around the neighborhood, we took him up to a local church that was doing a "Trunk-or-Treat" activity. It was super cute! They also had all kinds of games, refreshments, a costume contest, and a cute "Photo Studio" that had a little background where you could sit to take your own pictures. Levi has always been intrigued by other little kids, so I think his favorite part was seeing all the kids dressed up in their costumes!

He kept throwing his candy bucket on the ground...we were afraid that he was going to dump out all the candy, but once we got to the first car and they gave him that first piece of candy, he just kept the bucket in his lap and let them fill it up! It was really cute to watch! Once we got home, he took out each piece of candy, one by one! He would look at it, nod his head, put it on the ground, and reach for the next piece. We dumped it all out for him to look at, and he was soooo happy! If only he knew what candy was all about!

Grandma Sherri even had fun staying at our house and giving out candy! :o)

We all had a great time! Hope you did too!

Happy Halloween!