Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we went to church and then came home and took family pictures. This one turned out the best with both of the boys smiling! We used the timer on my camara and tell the boys to "smile at the light"!

Next, we let the boys open up a present...their Christmas pajamas! They got some Ice Age pajamas. (Not your typical Christmas pajamas, but they're green, at least:)

Josiah opening up his present!

Aedan with his pajamas!

9 years!

On December 23rd Ryan and I celebrated 9 years of marriage! We went out to eat at Olive Garden. (Super yummy!! I've been seriuosly craving italian food, and salads, so it hit the spot!) We also used some movie coupons we had to go see Blindside. It was an excellent movie, and I'm so glad we chose to see it. Thanks to the Ledbetters for watching Josiah and Aedan! They even put a little gift for each of the boys under their tree for them to open...how sweet! We're almost to double digits...WOW!

A Bathtime Question...

While the Russells were in town, I asked my boys a question while they were bathing. Josiah's response was completely unexpected and cracked me up! Here's how our conversation went:

Me: "Are you two going to let your baby sister take a bath with you? Are you going to give her a place to sit?"

Josiah: "No, (short pause) she might go down the drain."

Happy Birthday, Josiah!

Josiah is 4 years old today! I cannot believe that four years has gone by already! Josiah has grown so much. He is starting to like 'big' boy toys, even though he still has a great love for dinosaurs. (He thanks God often for the Dinosaur Museum.) Josiah loves to be around people and loves it when people come to visit him. He loves to be outside, and to race around the living room. Josiah loves fruit...especially apples, bananas, and sweetened strawberries. His favorite Bible stories include David and Goliath and also Daniel and the Lions. Josiah loves to laugh and get excited about things!

We gave him his presents from us and my mom after church today. Here are some pictures:

Josiah got some Rescue Heros and also a Rescue Hero tower.

checking out the gifts

opening a present from Gigi

Josiah likes to attach this Rescue Hero to the tower.

Birthday doughnut time!

yummy!

On Friday, we had Josiah's party with the Lowhorns. The Russells couldn't stay in town cause of the snow:(

Josiah had a "Land Before Time" cake. This is the Great Valley, with the Myterious Beyond in the corner.

Josiah checking out his cake

licking a dinosaur

cheese!

Aedan and Caleb...these to play well together. Aedan likes to wrestle him, and Caleb is good being careful with Aedan since he's smaller.

Charis and Josiah (on a date...haha!)

green teeth

She's still a cutie, even with green teeth!

Josiah still isn't crazy over cake, but he did eat some of it.

We played pin the tail on the T-Rex. They did a great job!

yay!

Evan, in our youth group, drew out this T-Rex...thanks!!!

Aedan's turn

yay!

We also did a bean bag toss through the T-Rex's mouth. Thanks to my mom for making the bean bags:)

Go Caleb!

Go Josiah!

Time for presents!

Happy Birthday Video:

Friends Week 2009

Last week was our yearly friends week with the Russells and the Lowhorns. We made our traditional trip to the Ryman to hear Andrew Peterson's, 'Behold the Lamb of God'. As usual, it was spectacular! We ate dinner at Demo's beforehand, and stopped to get milk shakes at Steak and Shake on the way back. Thanks to the Hawkins for watching our kids...and especially Coleman and Cayla for watching them during the party (which was at the Hawkin's house).
We enjoy this time with our friends and watching our kids play (and fight over toys) together. We love the Russells and the Lowhorns!!!

the guys

the girls

The kids had a blast together, and got much practice learning to share toys:) Here's Aedan and Holland in the the kitchen playing great together. They were rolling the ball back and forth, and actually sharing...yay! It was picture worthy!

Charis is stylin' as the Little Mermaid here. She is so cute, and is really growing up.

Aedan enjoyed knocking the chicken down with Rocket. He thought it was so cool and funny! See, he's a Clemson fan already...knocking down chickens:)

Rocket is in his hand and he's about to make a swing!

Christmas countdown with the Lowhorns.

Our time together was cut short by the snowstorm that moved accross North Carolina and Virginia. We were able to do our Christmas morning with the kids and also get some group shots of the kids.

opening the gifts