HoLIdaYS!!

Here we are at a new year - the Holidays over...sad! But I have all of my Christmas stuff put away, the kids rooms are cleaned and put back together and I feel a sense of relief to have everything back to normal again!
I wanted to share some pics of the events during the Christmas break! We all had so much fun!!

Kaitlyn had a Christmas dance recital in which they danced to a song from the Nutcracker and dressed up like wind up dolls! She did so good! I love watching her dance! So here we are at Christmas morning...of course I had to get pictures of the kids "piles" before they got to them! Here is Bowe's pile...

And Kaitlyn's pile...

And Kylee's pile!

A view of the room!

All of the kids were so excited! They girls LOVED their new flat screen tv's with dvd attached...Bowe was a little jealous even though he loved all of his snow boarding stuff! I can see him eyeing the tv in this picture!!

Kaitlyn and Kylee made a beeline for their snuggies and instantly had to try them on!!

Yeah, Bowe smiled! :) He really liked the new DC boots we gave him!

ok, ok, so this one was not on Christmas day...but it is too dang cute! I had to sneak it in here!

Bowe at Grandma's house!

And Kylee posing for the camera!

Jordan being the good dad and hanging in the back feeding and burping Emilyn while we all opened presents!

My mom is always so silly with her requests for Christmas presents...this year she asked for 1) nylons 2) diet coke and 3) measuring cups! Obviously I was not about to JUST get my mom those things that totaled less than $10 - so layered a box of goodies. First layer had her nylons and measuring cups...second layer had a bunch of diet cokes. She was thrilled and was about to set the box aside when I told her that there was another layer...she pulled back the wrapping paper and seen a jewelry store bag and her bright smile turned into a mad snarl at me! She hates to have us spend any money on her - yeah right mom!! I had attached a poem that I wrote her with the gift. And I am happy to say that I made her bawl! Now that may sound terrible, but that is what I go for in my present shopping...to get people something that means so much to them that it brings them to tears! And this year I was successful in making my sister get teary eyed with her precious moment doll of a mom holding her new baby - Kyrstin cry with the picture project I made her which consisted of some black and whites of Emilyn, Kyrs and Emilyn and Jordan and Emilyn in black frames attached to a black curtain rod by some ribbon, and my mom with this present!!

This is what we got her...

And this is the poem...
Mom,
You are the key to my heart and the key to the family
With a warm smile, you hold us together lovingly.
I’m thankful for all you have instilled in us;
Including to always love others and to be generous.
You amaze me with all the good you do!
And I strive to have the same level of compassion as you!
When I saw this necklace it took me only a moment-
To know that this was the one that I HAD to get!
The three entwined circles atop the key –
For your three children: Jordan, Mel and Me!
We embrace in a hug being held together
By the stability of you, our mother!

Then we had another thing happen to make all of us babies cry some more! My brother proposed to Kyrstin!

They are so cute together!!

Kaitlyn had a hard time staying away from Emy!

Then we headed over to Jason's moms for Christmas there. Maguire was a happy little camper!

Even the dogs had a blast playing together!!

Kaitlyn and her money!

Bowe is putting his right into his wallet...don't want to lose the snowboarding money!!

Kylee loved her new pillow that Jade and Darlene got her!

And one of our other favorite gifts we got...Brody is a HUGE Jazz fan, so we got his a Williams jersey and some wrist bands...the second her opened the box and realized what it was, he started yelling! He was SO excited and had to instantly put them on!!

I was excited that everyone loved what we got them! It was a good year!!

Our kids loved the pogo sticks Santa brought them! Kaitlyn is now up to her record of 867 and Kylee is getting close to 400! Keep going girls!!

We also took a day to go sledding so Kaitlyn could try out her new sled we got her! it was fun until Brody ran backwards into a tree and hit a bump that threw him over in a backwards flip...and the Kaitlyn hit some bumps and hit her head a couple of times! Big babies! :) But it was fun while it lasted!!

Wheeeeee......

Here is to the New Year! Hopefully we will all have a blast!!