Christmas 2009

We felt very blessed as a family this year. We shared time with wonderful friends, ate tasty treats, and we weren't sick at all! What a gift! We would like to thank everyone who made our Christmas a memorable one this year! Thank you so much for your love and support!

And without further ado...the pictures! I hope they bring a smile to your heart as much as they brought laughter to our home!

The stockings were stuffed with goodies like Pop Rocks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and clementines! Oh the joy of new toothbrushes and their own tube of special kid toothpaste! WOW! Such lucky kids! They also got "warm" goodies like cocoa with marshmallows and Jack is modeling his new rice bag (he has yet to try it out but the other kids have already tried theirs!).

Speaking of Jack, he slept through the excitement of the day and woke to enjoy all of his presents unwrapped for him. He didn't have to do a thing! The kids got to love some of his toys for him first, but that's alright. They were just "breaking" them in for him.

Bekah was loving her toys! She loved her tea set (which we named a hot cocoa set since she was given cocoa for Christmas too). I think she was the most excited about her bicycle and wanted to ride it as soon as possible.

Kelsey fell in love with everything! She got lots of princess stuff (puzzles, games, bubbles, etc) but I have to say she was most excited about her Barbie! Mom was a little hesitant about getting something with so many accessories that could get lost or choked on, but Grams did an excellent job finding one where the shoes and necklace were permanently attached. Thanks, Grams!

John has gotten to the stage where he doesn't want to wait for his presents to be given to him. He wanted them all now and then to help everyone else open theirs too. Ah well. He did a good job waiting to ride his new bike outside. But can you say "Pure happiness" when you see him with his helicopter?

And on to the bikes...

Two lucky bike riders! John and Bekah were so excited about their new bikes! They even knew exactly which bike went to which person. And I think the bow on John's bike is still attached to it. And since this entry is so long...I think I'll save the "Bike Ride" for another day. Keep watching!

Happy Turkey Day!

I know this is a BIT late...but we wanted everyone to know the fun we had while Grandma Sue and Great Grams came to visit. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the kids with the grandparents (bad me!). But the kids still talk about when will they get to see Grandma Sue and Grams again! Good memories for all!

I did get some pictures of the girls and then the traditional spread of pies on pie night! Thought I'd share the love, even if it is a few months late!

This picture is actually from Kelsey's first bus ride at school. It happened shortly before Thanksgiving. Believe me, the kids' harnesses for preschool are a curious thing. They are difficult to get the kids into and even harder for me to believe that they would really save a life. I think they're more of a restraint system to keep kids sitting down than to keep them safe....I guess that helps keep them safe too. Ah well.

Seeing the sights with Grandma Sue

Next stop, Dunlap to see Grandma Sue. And boy did we do a lot of stuff! I think we ran everyone down to exhaustion because of what we wanted to see and do! Ah well...we had fun!

First stop, Nauvoo. It was the first time back since we'd started our adventure as the Colloton family, and we've increased our numbers. Does the following picture look familiar?

The last time we were here, we only had Mommy and Daddy touching the door to the temple. This time, we had three little hands with us! The kids loved being able to touch the temple and see where we started our Forever Family.

We toured a few of the sights in Nauvoo...not very many because the kids' attention span isn't much for the tours that aren't hands-on. At the ox wagon, the girls weren't much for touching the animals but they did join us for the ride in the wagon. John was a little leery of the big animals but at least he got closer than Kelsey did. Oh well. Maybe next time we'll get a horse carriage ride for Kelsey.

We stopped by the blacksmith shop for our Prairie Diamond rings. John claimed the horseshoe the senior missionary made for Grandma Sue. Silly John! Both he and Kelsey were very concerned if they lost track of their rings.

Next stop, Pioneer Activities for the kids. It has great activities for the kids to do...to show them some of the ways kids in the 1840s played. Bekah and Kelsey were great little moms as they made dinner, took care of the baby dolls, and even fed the sheep and horse.

John and Daddy played ring toss, climbing bear, tops, and stick pull...mostly boy games, of course. But John did want to ride the horse too...and show us all how he could spell his name on the chalkboard in the little schoolhouse.

We also saw the rope making, candle making, and bread making demonstrations in the Family Living Center...but the kids wanted to be up and doing rather than listening to what the missionaries had to say. They loved the cookies in the Scovil Bakery and the brick from the brickyard. All in all, Nauvoo was fun...and such nice weather too! Much better than the crowds and heat of summer.

We then took the kids (and Shawn) to Wildlife Prairie Park in Peoria! We saw bison, wolves, red tail hawks, great horned owls, bald eagles, foxes, bobcats, cougars, elk, cranes, cardinals...and several bus loads of grade schoolers...lots of native wildlife of Illinois.

We took the train around the loops and the kids had a blast on that! But I don't know who was more excited about all of the slides in the park: Shawn or John? Everyone had such a great time!

We had so much fun at Grandma Sue's house! We'll have to go back after Jack Jack arrives and gets big enough to enjoy some of the fun stuff in Peoria.

Visiting Great Grams

Grams was wonderful...is wonderful! Her food was amazing as ever and we loved just "hanging out" with her. The kids picked up some fun toys (Grams was well stocked with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and crayons when we arrived!). I think the bubbles and the thunderstorm were the hit of her house with the kids...that and the unlimited supply of soda or apples.

The kids loved showing off their skills in the hotel's swimming pool. Grams was a great audience and kept thanking them for letting her come see them swim. They loved it!

I couldn't get many good pictures of John jumping off the side of the pool, but this was his favorite game. He's practicing kicking and doggy-paddling.

Bekah wouldn't have much to do with the pool. She get in at the top step and get back out again. She didn't want anyone to hold her or even sit in her floaty ring. She didn't get very wet but she did get lots of loves from Grams.

Kelsey is trying so hard to be big like John. She tried to do everything he did. She doesn't quite have the arm movements down but she's trying. We'll work on the swimming stuff in the clubhouse pool this summer. Maybe the next time we head for Illinois, the kids will be expert swimmers!

We were all sad to leave Sterling...but we're already thinking of when we can come back! We love you, Grams!