And a Happy New Year!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

We had a great time visiting our families in Las Vegas for Christmas. The boys were absolute angels on the flights there and back, and were really great during the entire trip. They both had so much fun with both sets of grandparents. Jake is especially into both of his grandpas right now - he'd walk around going "Grandpa, where are you?" at both houses. But he certainly loves his grandmas too :) It was also wonderful to see our many other family members and friends - thanks for helping to make our visit as awesome as it was! (Note: I apologize for the lack of pictures from Chirstmas Eve, I forgot my camera that night. As soon as I get some pics from that night I'll post).

All the goodies Santa brought for the boys.

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Earl's Christmas tree

Jake opening a few of his Thomas trains

Ben perusing his new interactive Pooh Bear book with Grandpa Earl

It's my first Christmas!

Ben cuddling his new stuffed giraffe


Ben with his new teddy bear and push-over penguin


That says it all, doesn't it?

Ben's first Christmas :)

Jake-speak

There'll be a Christmas post coming up soon, but I have to write these down before I forget. Feel free to comment and guess what these Jake-isms actually mean, I'll give the answers in a later post (there are some actual words down there, but when Jake says them they mean something else).

1. Presidents
2. Patter killer
3. Alligator
4. Zoom
5. Emery

Tis The Season...

Jake's Letter to Santa

In case you can't read Mom's stellar handwriting:

Dear Santa Claus,

I have been a good boy this year. For Christmas, I would please like:

1. a Thomas tent
2. some Thomas trains
3. puzzles
4. a mailbox
5. books
6. Hungry Hungry Hippos game
7. a jacket

Thank you so much for my presents. I will make some yummy cookies for you, and I hope your reindeer are feeling well.

Love,
Jake Parsons
(Jacob in yellow - written by Jake!)

PS. I'll get some carrots too for your reindeer.

(Jake picked all those items out of a catalog, except the jacket, which he threw on the list at the end to my surprise! He was also insistent that I include the part about the carrots ;))

Like His Father and Brother Before Him...

... Ben is proving that he can hang with a noisy crew (beware - this is kind of loud so you may want to turn your speakers down first then adjust accordingly):

Thanksgiving Smiles

I'm thankful for...

These guys :)

I'm also thankful for God and His blessings, a loving husband, an occasionally crazy but mostly lovable dog, two beautiful healthy children, an incredible family, wonderful friends, a place to live and food on the table when so many people are struggling right now, and the opportunity to pursue a career I know I'm going to love.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And thank you to everyone who's made my life as wonderful as it is :)

Ben's First Bites!

It's hard to believe Ben is old enough to be eating baby cereal! It's no surprise that our little linebacker loves "big boy food" as much as he does. In about a month we can start trying fruits and veggies - I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by!!

"Hmmm, what's going on here?" (as an aside, can you tell he's 18.5lbs?)

Our cheerful little guy, smiling and getting ready for his first bite!

Here comes the airplane..

Mom, your hand's in the way!

Not bad, not bad!

Happy Halloween!

We had a very nice Halloween. We went trick-or-treating with Uncle Roger, Aunt Diane, Jenna, and their neighbors. Jake wasn't in a costume-wearing mood, but he still had a blast collecting candy. I was a little disappointed that we left out candy in a dish for people who came to our house, and when we got home the whole thing - dish and all - was gone. Also disappointing was the fact that someone(s) kicked and destroyed two decorative Halloween signs I'd put in the yard. They also threw Jake's little pumpkin, but somehow it didn't break open or even crack. Darn kids.. Oh well, it was still a nice Halloween, and I hope you all had a good one too!

Jake in his Halloween shirt (though you can't tell from this pose).

Jake and Ben in their Halloween shirts.

Brothers!

Boo!

Jake wanted to be James from Thomas the Tank Engine for Halloween. I must admit, this was taken the day before Halloween. He wasn't in the mood to dress up on the actual day, though he did enjoy Trick-or-Treating with Jenna and her friends.

Ben was a Peapod. Super cute (and practical - that thing was nice and toasty!)

I'm biased, but I think he's just adorable!!

We decorated our window for Halloween. We put up lighted pumpkins and sticky ghosts, pumpkins, and spiders. We also carved a pumpkin and Jake picked out a pumpkin for each member in our family. We had two HUGE pumpkins, and two tiny ones.

These PJs are the same ones Jake wore on his first Halloween. The hat is new (and cute!).

Ben all decked out. Jake also had pumpkin socks, but he's a lot more mobile and thus harder to get pictures of.

Boo again! Did I scare you?

Full body boo! PS How HUGE is my child?!

Aww I'm so cute!

Jake in his light-up Spiderman shirt. Note the amazing cowlick - he's got the exact same one today as I write this.

Horse School

Making a horse to ride on.

Feeding the horse some "hay".

Playing with toy horses in the dirt.

Feeding the horse an apple.

Making new friends in the hay pit.

Ben's Baptism

Dad, Mom, Ben, Aunt Diane, Uncle Roger, and Father Phillip

Drums!

Making Ghost Cookies