I Samuel 1:27-28 "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the Lord."
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!
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....
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!
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!
Can't believe it, but it happened - Noel turned one! And what a lucky girl - she got to turn 1 with a few other friends (incidentally, all boys =) ) so we got to celebrate all of them together this past weekend......
(Boone, Titus, Lincoln, Noel, Elliot, and Ezra)
I have been friends with these boys' moms for several years and it has been fun to share in this experience with them!
In this group is one of Noel's cousins, Lincoln....
And Ezra who is at Harvest with us.....
Noel definitely loved hanging and playing with all these boys!
We are having a family party for her later in the week but I tried to catch a few shots and do some fun things on the actual birthday (Saturday).....
Noel showing you she is 1 as she maintains a very funny facial expression....
Happy birthday sweet Noel! We love you and are so blessed that God brought you to our family!
October 31st is always a busy day for us - We celebrated Lee's 33rd birthday with family with brats before the trick or treating began.....
My sister-in-law, Sarah, is so stinkin' funny.... Here is her artwork and guacamole contribution to the meal that evening:
We are so blessed that Aaron has second cousins to trick or treat with. They had a great time together. Here is our Aaron the Army Guy, Noah the Sherriff, and Caleb the UPS guy.
Yes, sometimes UPS guys need guns, okay?
Noel was a honeybee - and a cute one at that....
She wasn't sure what all the hoopla was about, but she definitely enjoyed her sucker.
