Dad and Little man

 

Here's a Dad

And his little man

Just hanging out

Enjoying the beautiful weather

Soaking in the fresh air

Watching a soccer game

Christmas Day

Santa came!
He brought each monkey the "thing" they wanted most which made for four happy monkeys!
The Big Man Upstairs brought me what I wanted most! Which was a beautiful Christmas with my amazing family! Aside from a bit of a cold a few of us have we are healthy, happy, and enjoying all the blessings He gives us every day!
I couldn't ask for anything better!

Ben and Santa

A couple weeks ago Ben and I headed to the mall.  Ben was SO EXCITED to see Santa there!  We waited in line for a few minutes so Ben could meet him!

 

Oh the MAGIC in the moment was almost tangable enough to touch!

I LOVE this picture!  Ben was telling Santa what he wants for Christmas and Santa listened intently.  So sweet!

Thanks Santa!  Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2012

I know I haven't been the best blogger so most likely there aren't many people who check on here, but just in case,

 

 

I wanted to say

 

 

From our family

 

 

To yours

Have a Very Merry Christmas

 

And may your new year

 

Be blessed and wonderful!!!

Gizmo

Our sweet Gizmo says

Merry Christmas!!!

Santa Claus

Is coming to town!

Just because

I love these pictures and want them on my blog!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was WONDERFUL! It was spent with all my siblings , their spouses, and every single niece an nephew I have! I can only describe it as amazingly beautiful!

The Christmas season

I love this time of year! The Christmas spirit is wonderful in our house!

Fall

I love parts of fall and really dislike other parts.
Warm days and cool nights are bliss.
Cold and windy days not so much.
The colors of the beautiful leaves are breathtaking.
The mess they make in the yard not so much.
Raking leaves into a big pile for jumping is oh so fun.
Raking them to get them out of the yard is not so fun.
Being overcome with the beauty of this time a year and the special season that comes with it is wonderful.
Knowing winter is next, oh yuck.
Well, just like life, you can't have all the good without a little bad.

Hmmm? Wonder why I didn't publish this a month ago when I wrote it??? Better late then never!

Love our cozy...

I LOVE our cozy home.

After a very chilly night at the soccer field it is so nice to come home to a cozy, warm fire.

 

LOVE IT!

This was last week when you convinced me it was a good idea to crawl through the McDonald's play structure with you.  You asked me and I tried to explain that I was too big.  You didn't buy that so I took you over to the sign that said the structure was for kids 3-12.  But.....  Right underneath that it said, "For moms and dads too"

Wait!  What?!?!?  Ok, I know you don't know how to read but I don't lie and now that I knew I was allowed to go in my whole excuse went right out the door.

It was fun seeing your happy face and listening to your happy squeels but my sore knees and claustorphobic self only went through once!

 

Take note of your long hair above.  Well, it's kinda hard to tell I guess but it was really long around the ears and you needed a cut!

 

 

When the barber finished cutting he asked if Ben wanted it spiked up and he said yes. It was so stinkin cute!  Ben thought it felt so funny and spent the rest of the afternoon gently touching it. 

Oh so handsome if I do say so myself! 

Good bye JJ

This is Katelyn and her beloved guinea pig, JJ, enjoying one of the final warm days of the year just last week. Sadly a couple days later we came home from soccer to find that JJ had passed away while we were gone.  We knew that he was coming to the end of his life because he was 6 1/2 and had lost a lot of weight.  He just looked different and felt different the last couple months.  He was still happy though and squeaked for fruits and vegis any time we were in the kitchen.  But, even though we knew he was seeing his final days it was still very, very sad to find that he had passed away. 

Maggie found him.  As soon as we pulled in the driveway Maggie asked if she could bring JJ out because it was so warm and beautiful and I said yes.  We were going to walk down to a neighbors house with JJ and let the little guy eat as much grass as he wanted!  Sadly that didn't happen.  We buried JJ in the back yard woods and had a little memorial for him.

 

Almost right away Chris asked the kids if they wanted to go get a new guinea pig and they all wanted to.  I'm not sure if that's the best way to deal with the loss of a pet but that's what we did.  A couple of Katelyn's best friends came along.  We went to an early dinner and then to the pet store to adopt a new guinea pig. 

We were all happy to find this little fellow.  He's just a baby, probably no more then a month old!  He settled right in when I held him at the pet store which was very important to me.  JJ was just the best guinea pig, so well socialized with kids, and we want our new pet to be the same.

 

He is skittish for sure.  But, he is already settling in nicely!  He's starting to eat treats out of our hands some and doesn't run away when we put our hands in his cage.  Just like any baby he loves to be closely snuggled and seeks small cozy places for comfort!

The kids absolutely adore Gizmo! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that his name is Gizmo.  I do have to remind them that he is just a baby and they have to go really slow and gentle with him.  They were so used to being able to pretty much do anything with JJ.  Not that they were rough with him or anything but he was such a laid back guinea pig and so used to kids that he pretty much just hung out when they would play with him.

Whereas Gizmo bolted under the couch when Connor set him on the floor this afternoon!  Fortunately he didn't get hurt and I was easily able to get him out.

 

 

So, RIP our dear JJ, you will be missed! 

And welcome to the crazy house we call home Gizmo!