Visit from the Cousins

Ah, another month has come and gone..... We are slowly getting our lives back after this surgery. Lee just began to be able to bend his leg and be brace-free, though he is still on crutches and non weight bearing for six more weeks. However, this has meant no more CPM machine and some normal life back! He can finally shower on his own, and even drive! Hallelujah! Anyway, we are rejoicing in these small, but big steps toward recovery. Though there is still a long way to go, we are grateful to have the past 6 weeks behind us....

Anyway, this month we got to enjoy a 2 week visit from my brother, Brad, and his wife, Tanya, and their kids Brynn and Owen. They moved to Wisconsin a little less than a year ago, and it was the first time we have all been united. Aaron was in heaven to have his Brynnie and Owen around to play with....

We spent a great deal of our time at my parents hanging outside and enjoying the wonderful weather.....

And as you can tell from the pics, the kids spent a lot of time driving around a jeep my parents had found abandoned - a new battery and suddenly, hours of fun. Spending so much time watching them drive the jeep led to some creative ideas from the adults....

Noel certainly enjoyed and adored her older cousin Brynn - I think she especially appreciated having someone to do girly things with.....

Of course, she is still quite influenced by that brother of hers.....

She stays tough and doesn't let him get away with too much either.....

Our Month

Can't believe my last blog post was about Christmas..... WOW. Well if you are on facebook or around us at all you know that pretty much our past month has been all about this....

Sorry for the disturbing picture. =) And if you didn't know our month was about this - Well the short story is Lee had a reconstruction surgery done on his knee called an "ACI." (You can read more about this procedure and his thoughts on his blog here: http://themilliondollarknee.blogspot.com/

It definitely has not been easy for any of us and we are looking forward to getting these weeks behind us. It is a long healing process and lots of rehab. We have been sooooo blessed by our families and our church family with a lot of help and support - I really can say that we would not make it without so many of you. God is being faithful to sustain and supply ALL of our needs!

So anyway, we won't beat that subject to death anymore. But this month was also stinky because we had to say goodbye to these people.....

I stole this picture off of their facebook as it is the first one I have seen of them in their new continent. My brother, Kyle, and his wife, Sarah, have departed from Arizona to be missionaries in Uganda, Africa. We are so proud of them and this venture they are taking, but we are so sad to be far away and will really miss them. I know the kids already miss them though Aaron doesn't like to always talk about it - When I brought it up one time and was displaying some of my own emotion, he changed the subject to the fact that his middle finger is the longest one on his hand and that that was the case with everyone's..... =)

Anyway, those have been the main points of the month. I hardly have had a moment's peace to take pictures, much less blog about them. But for those of you that just get on here to see the kids, I will comply.....

The day Lee came home from the hospital....

My pretty, happy girl....

With Daddy out of commission, that leaves haircuts up to Mommy. Which means a short buzz cut for Aaron because I don't quite trust myself with anything else....

We haven't gotten out much until this week.... We got to go to church and then last night, to Cold Stone.

Though it is a big ordeal for us to get out, it sure is a special treat. We are looking forward to being more "normal" as the weeks go by..... We have so much to be thankful and appreciative of, and we

have not lost sight of that.

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas (now, almost two weeks ago - Yikes!) so I figured I better document it!

The big present for Aaron this year being a Wii..... Our whole family is enjoying this perk!

Noel loves to model any new fashion pieces she receives.....

A picture at church on Christmas Eve.....

Auntie Serina and Uncle Steve came to town to visit so the kids enjoyed visiting with their cousin, Abigail Grace....

Noel is taking care of all her new babies that she received for presents..... She is very busy with all of their needs, and is so loving.....

Abigail Grace got to enjoy some entertainment from Aaron that he is always happy to perform.

We had fun with all of our family and friends. And one of the best presents Lee and I got was a 2 day "getaway" kid free that our church so graciously sent us on. It was so refreshing and a very meaningful time for us. Thank you to my parents for keeping the kids and spoiling them for our return =) Hope you all had a merry Christmas as well!

Trip to Cali and Walking

December is such a fun and great month - We have been busy with so much and computer time just hasn't been a priority.... Anyway, to catch up a bit - My 97 year old grandmother passed away this month and though it is sad for us to be left behind, it is wonderful to know she is with God and healthy and happy. Aaron and I were able to take a quick trip to northern California for the funeral and it was so nice to have that time together and to see some of my extended family.

One of the more recent pictures of Grandma Fox. She left quite a legacy and it was nice to reflect upon her life and our memories of her....

It was fun for Aaron to get to meet some of my cousins' kids and play with them.... (Is that second cousins??) He enjoyed especially his cousin Alli and they got along beautifully....

Also this month, especially in the past week or two, Noel has decided to be a walker officially. Here is some video of her in action.....

She loves to try to keep up with big brother. She is changing so much and is really trying to talk. It's funny because she sort of gradually begin to say words all together so it is hard to say what her first word is..... Lee and I agree that besides mama and dada, it is probably "shoes." She is so girl =) She also says fish, baby, and Aaron which sounds more like "Awah."

Speaking of that big brother.... He is all about making her laugh and she is happy to comply....

Thanksgiving and Post-Thanksgiving Traditions

Barely making it, but wanted to get my Thanksgiving post on the blog before December 1st.... Get ready for picture overload....

Aaron's preschool welcomes the Thanksgiving holiday with a feast for the kids where they get to dress up as Indians and Pilgrims and eat together. It is seriously super cute. Here is Aaron's class below:

Just had to sneak in a little picture of Aaron's special friend that happens to be a girl he is not related to, Grace is her name.... =) They seem to be quite fond of each other.

As you can see, Aaron has to always act in strange ways to try to get her attention. I'll keep you posted if anything serious develops between these two. ...The important thing is that Aaron did tell me that she loves Jesus, which he knows is my main requirement when it comes to little lady friends =)

On to Thanksgiving Day, which is so chaotic with 30 something people invited, but it is a total blast....

Aunt Nancy bought all the kids gingerbread houses to make and they had a good time creating....

The best part is having people come into town for the day that you haven't gotten to see all year. It makes it that much more special to have them there to celebrate with....

All the cousin kidlets..... Not too shabby of a picture considering it was the end of a long day together.

And this is one of the many reasons why we will miss Uncle Kyle and Auntie Sarah in our future Thanksgivings while they live in Uganda....

Noel was obviously nervous just watching this craziness.... =) Love my family!

The day after Thanksgiving seems to already contain some traditions for our young family at this point. We are ready to begin looking toward Christmas so that means getting the decorations out as well as the tree.....

It also means the beginning of Papa Bob's light display at his church, which the kids love to be a part of. Aaron gets to help "flip the switch" for opening night and it is a "vewey impotant job Mama!!!"

Thus, Thanksgiving weekend in a nutshell. We had a lot of fun with our family and friends!

Birthday Bash

We are fortunate to be surrounded by much extended family, so anytime there is a birthday, we try to celebrate it together. The first birthday of course, is no exception.....

And we got to celebrate a combined bday with Noel's cousin, Lincoln, who is just three days older than Noel....

Noel with Papa Bob and Grammy....

The birthday kids with their beautiful grandmas....

The big boys together.....

Such a fun night! So glad Noel can grow up being loved by so many!