Ice

Forgive me, I'm turning into my mother when I do things like this. I had to post some pictures of when we had ice on our trees. It's so beautiful to me, although it can cause terrible damage to trees and plants. Thankfully, no harm done to ours. This is for you mom!

Christmas...round two.

On Christmas morning, the four of us had our family time together and then later that morning we headed over to Ann and Doug's for Christmas. I'm going to post a lot of pictures mostly for Jared...he was not able to be with us this year...we missed you Jared. We had a wonderful time together and was sad to think that this one day that you look forward to for an entire year is gone so quickly.

Christmas on Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, although, once again, Joshua got croup, but was well enough to be a part of the festivities. We had great food and most of all, it was wonderful to be with family. Some pictures include Uncle Mark torturing his nephews. As always, no matter what, the cousins have a blast being together. At the end of the night, auntie Ang read the kids, those that would pay attention, the story of "The Night before Christmas."

Welcome James Joseph Leone

My 8th nephew was born on December 26th. My sister now has 4 boys...no girl yet!! Thought I'd post some pictures of a proud aunt and cousin (Emma).

1st Day of Winter

On the first day of Winter...the skies opened up and snow fell! It's wonderful that right next to our house we have a path that goes down hill. Steep enough to sled down it. Emma and Johsua had a wonderful time. They spent some time here before they headed to a larger hill around the area. I stayed home and wrapped...got everything done though. And yes, Joshua is wearing Emma's old winter snow outift...she barely wore it and I figured he's young enough to not know.

Inspired by Branson, MO

Coming back from our trip must have inspired Joshua and Emma to act like a cowboy/cowgirl. I would have to say, especially for Joshua, every time he saw someone in MO he would call out "cowboy" and then proceed to say "Wee Haa." Here are a couple pictures for your entertainment.

Branson family vacation 2009

Last week we went on a family vacation to Branson, MO. It was so much fun...every day we had something to do. From the morning until bed time, the kids and Mark and I were busy. We went to a couple shows, including one with dogs. We also went to the Dixie Stampede, that was a blast. We were also able to visit a Dinosaur museum, which worked out great for homeschooling, we were working on a Dinosaur lesson! We, of course, did Silver dollar city for two days and at the end of the week traveled to Springfield for Homecoming weekend at Evangel...Mark met up with some of his college roommates that also came in for the weekend. We spent some time at Bass Pro Shop...a favorite for Doug. Actually, it is a cool place to visit. Emma and Joshua loved every moment, especially the time spent with Uncle Jared, who we were able to see every day. Every day I was amazed at how wonderful Emma and Joshua were. They were so pleasant to be around even without naps in there! Traveling the 8 hours was a piece of cake, Mark and I were pleased, maybe we'll be able to take more road trips. I need to add, Emma is a thrill seeker, she LOVED the roller coaster rides and the "salty" feeling it gave her. Joshua on the other hand was perfectly fine riding in one of his favorite rides, the dumbo ride.