Now that it's January 26, I guess it's time to post our Christmas pics! :)

We cut our own tree again this year. This time my expectations were lower, and we hiked further up into the forest. We got a beautiful tree (by forest-cutting standards)! This year, there was hardly any snow, so the hiking was a bit easier.




Carter loves decorating the tree. With the lodge-pole pines, the branches aren't very sturdy, so I had to monitor and assist the placement of ornaments (particularly the heavy ones).




We had an unseasonably warm day on Dec. 13, so we went to the Denver Zoo lights. It was a perfect evening! There were hardly any people there and the weather was awesome. We had no idea that Santa would be there! Carter was so excited to tell him that he wanted a rocket ship toy with a truck that pulls it. Anna had no idea who Santa was, but enjoyed the experience anyway.



The 4 Sundays preceeding Christmas, we like to celebrate Advent with friends. So, we hosted 4 other families in our home, and had dinner, a Christmas project (family handprint trees, felt advent calendars, decorating cookies, and making hot chocolate cones), singing Christmas carols, and a short devotional, . We were so busy each week, that I hardly took any pics. Here are some of our family handprint trees, though.







We celebrated our small family Christmas the Saturday before CHristmas. Carter woke up at his usual 7:00, but Anna slept until after 9:00. We let Carter open his stocking, and see his Santa gift (rocket ship with truck), but he had to wait until Anna got up to open his other presents. It drove him crazy!!! We try to really portray the true meaning of Christmas, and one way we do that is that our kids get just 3 gifts each (since Jesus received 3 gifts). It really helps me stay focused too and not just buy everything I think the kids would like.

We had a wonderful time, spending 11 days in OK with family. It was our first trip from CO to OK with Anna, so we didn't know what to expect. She was great--only fussing a few times the entire trip. SO thankful that we have 2 great travelers! We stopped at the nicest hotel in Salina on the way--it was my b-day, so I wanted a nice place to stay. Carter was excited about it because he got to swim.

Our Christmas schedule was as follows:

Dec 23: arrive in Claremore, have birthday dinner at Molly's Landing with Phil & Katie Goodson

Dec 24: Christmas Eve service at BOston Ave. Methodist Church, family celebration with Philip's extended family (great aunts & uncles, etc), family Christmas with Philip's grandparents

Dec 25: Christmas morning with my family, Christmas with Philip's Mema

Dec 26: Christmas with Philip's family, Christmas with my dad's side of the family

Dec 27-29: stayed with Philip's parents. It was so fun to see all the cousins together!

Dec 30-Jan 2: stayed with my parents (we saw lots of good friends and family during this time).

One special playdate we had was with Michelle, Maddox, and Helena Krueger. I was Michelle's maid of honor in her wedding, and she was my matron of honor. Fast forward 5 years---her son Maddox was born 5 days before Carter, and 3 years later, Helena was born 3 days before Anna! Crazy! It was fun to see our kids playing together!

We drove home straight through. I think it took about 13 hours total. Again, the kids did great. Once we got to Denver, there was TERRIBLE traffic. We were all so cranky because we were just ready to be HOME! Carter had his one and only meltdown, as he needed to go potty, but we were totally stopped on the highway. He didn't like the 2 options I gave him: go potty on the side of the road, or let me put one of Anna's diapers on him. It seriously took us 45 minutes to go 2 miles. We were so happy to finally pull into our garage!!! What a wonderful month of December we had with friends and family, celebrating the birth of our Savior!!!

The Last 2 Months in a Nutshell. . .

Instead of completely catching up since my last post, I'll try to do an overview on what has been going on in our family lately, and of course share some of my favorite pics of my kiddos.

September:

I had an appendectomy. Yuck and yuck! It was of course a complete surprise, but we all survived. I had to stay one night in the hospital, and had my first ever CT scan. Thankfully my baby does well taking bottles, I have a wonderful husband who took over the role of 'mom' for a few days, and my parents were able to drop everything and come help us.

Carter started preschool. He LOVES it and has 2 favorite friends--Hunter & Jacob. He was invited to his first b-day party where I have never met the parents (so weird). My parents happened to be here on Carter's first day of school because it was the day after I was d/c'd from the hospital.

Anna has also been working on her studies.

We went to Gypsum, CO with friends and stayed at their family ranch. It was a fun and relaxing trip, even with 5 kids 3 yrs and under.

Anna & Brooke (3 weeks apart)

First OU game day

Anna turned 3 months old.

We took Anna to Oklahoma for the first time. She did excellent on both flights. She is such an easy and happy baby! Seriously. I thought Carter was easy, now I have an even easier baby. God has truly blessed us. Our time was booked in OK for 11 days. We stayed with Philip's parents 4 nights, went to Edmond for 2 nights, and then back to my parents for 5 nights. While there we had several family dinners, saw old friends, had a hair accessory exchange party (now I'm officially addicted to making hair accessories for Anna), had a Sip and See to show off Anna to my mom's friends, went to a pumpkin patch, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and saw lots of family! Unfortunately, I don't have pics of Carter playing with his cousins because I couldn't find our camera. I should've know Philip packed it in the golf bag!!!

Karsten & Carter are still good buddies

Anna & Luci: They don't know it yet, but they are going to be BFFs. See, they are already trying to hold hands!

Anna, Carter Lillie, and Luci Capucille

Playing at Pumpkin Town


Carter and the Tallon trio!

OCTOBER:

Sip and See with Gram and her friends:
















Anna and her great-grandmothers:

Anna & Nina

Family gameday picture!

A few weeks ago (Oct. 7) we went to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey circus. It was so fun. Carter loved it! Anna slept through most of it.

We went to Boulder to see Katie & Dan on Oct. 9, and went to a pumpkin patch there. While there we managed to pick out 4 over-priced pumpkins (one of which has already been destroyed by a squirrel), pop all three tires on our stroller with goathead throrn things, Carter & Katie went on a wagon ride, and we all had BBQ. It was a fun day, despite the wind.

Last week we went to the Littleton Historical Museum. I can't believe we have lived here so long and had never been before. It was so neat, and FREE! They have a 1860s farm, house, & school, and a 1890s farm, house, and blacksmith shop. Carter had a great time, and so did we. Carter's favorite things, of course, were all the old farm equipment. He had to sit on EVERYTHING!

Anna had a fun time too! How cute is this face?

OU is ranked number 1 !!! I had to get a picture of Anna in this because Carter wore it when he was a baby (actually, he wore it for the first time on a trip to Colorado).


Anna turned 4 months old . . .



. . . . and got a new toy.



We are definitely keeping busy. There is rarely a weekend that isn't packed with fun things to do. Before we know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here. Hopefully I'll have time to post before then. :)