A Good Day...

Today was a good day.  There are a lot of ups and downs in the wonderful world of adoption.  No- we have not been chosen and No we're not getting a baby anytime soon (that we know of!)  But today our little family of four spent the whole day together, playing, working and just loving being with each other.  Sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to add to our family that we forget to enjoy the family we already have.  I have an amazing son and an incredible daughter and a husband who is not only a great father to our kids but my best friend.  So as much as we want to add a new sweet baby to our family I'm taking a time out to remember how luck I really am!!!

Basketball

This is Michael's first year being old enough to play basketball.  He's loving it!  It's so fun to watch 1st and 2nd graders trying to figure the game out.  They are actually pretty good---and more importantly they look like they're having lots of fun!  Jeremy was able to get a picture of Michael getting one of his baskets...

And my favorite part-- the cute smile looking to make sure we saw it...

I love watching my kids learn and have fun trying new things.  So far it seems like he's liking basketball a little bit better than soccer but we'll see.  Now Kate can't wait until she's old enough to play!

What a fun way to start a snowy Saturday morning!

A few New Family Pictures

Jeremy's little sister took some pictures for us a little while ago and I forgot to post some.  She did a good job even though it was a cold/windy day!

It was fun to take these pictures at my parents house.  I love all the old farm buildings and fun things that I loved exploring as a kid in a few of our pictures!

Happy New Year!

I know I'm behind in posting but I want to catch up on some of the fun things we've been up to!  For New Year's we went to my parents house for a long weekend and for a fun New Year's Eve Party.  Both my siblings live in the same town Jeremy and I grew up in and my parents still live there so it's so fun to go visit.  Luckily we don't live to far away!  My sister got Michael a tool set for his birthday so he was so excited to go build something.  He decided to make Kate a table for her dolls.

With a little help from Grandpa and Daddy it turned out pretty great!

Kate and Grandpa and some fun four-wheeler rides while Mike was working...

On New Year's Eve we spent the day playing games and eating a delicious dinner my mom cooked.  We celebrated the New Year's with little firework poppers and real fireworks outside- the best part was we celebrated at 9:00 so all the kids were still awake!

We had a great 2011 and are looking forward to an even better 2012!

Ice Fishing with Dad, Grandpa and Cousins

After Christmas and before New Year's Daddy took the kids on an ice fishing trip.  This was Kate's first time and she was so excited.  They had to wake up really early to go and you would have thought it was Christmas morning all over again!  They had tons of fun fishing with Dad and Grandpa- are probably even more fun sliding on the ice with some cousins!

Here's Kate with the fish she helped daddy reel in.

Taking a break from sliding on the ice to pose for a picture!

Christmas 2011

Michael started the day off at 1:00 by running into our room yelling Santa came!  He was not to happy when we told him he had to go back to bed at least until 5:00....  He was back up about 6:15 and was excited when we said he could wake his sister up.

Letting the anticipation build while mom and dad take pictures..

Santa thorougly spoiled our family this year!  We had a few hours to play before we got ready to head to church.  It was so fun to get to go to church on Christmas this year and hear the beautiful Christmas music and talks to help remind us what the season is truly about.  Here are my two Christmas Cuties!

Later in the day Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and spend the night at our house.  We were all spoiled again and had fun playing all our new things.  Kate had fun reading to Grandpa.

We're so blessed with amazing families and the opportunity we have to spend so much time with all of them. 

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas this year.  We started off our Christmas Eve party by going bowling like we do every year.  Michael and Kate did awesome- they both beat mom and were very close to beating Dad!

After bowling we headed home for our day of playing games and eating junk food! The kids looked a little suprised when I set out chicken nuggets, pizza,chips, crackers and cheese and told them they could have whatever they wanted-it's not really a party without throwing everyday rules out the window!  We then opened up some new games and had fun playing junior monopoly and watching a new movie together.  In the afternoon we decided to finish our gingerbread house because we hadn't gotten to them earlier.  They were both a little suprised when Dad decided they needed a little bit of decorating...

We always exchange our gifts from each other on Christmas Eve.  This year we had a scavenger hunt for Michael and Kate to find their present from us.  I think they were pretty suprised when they found this waiting for them in the garage!

After the present fun the kids acted out the nativity for us.  They made a pretty cute Mary and Joseph.

Soon afterwards as we were playing one final game we heard jingle bells outside the window so we decided we better head to bed so Santa could come!