BFF's

Katie and Caroline making snow ice cream outside.

Our good friends the Gillems came to visit us from Oklahoma last week. We were friends before we had kiddos and now we have matching families. Katie and Caroline are 3 months apart. Levi and Gray are 3 months apart. And Grayson and Ben are 5 months apart. Katie and Caroline kept up laughing the whole time. They are cut from the same cloth. Both oldest girls with sweet and STRONG personalities. Within 5 minutes of their arrival the girls were planning slumber parties and playing dress up. It is so much fun to see your kids being such good friends with your closest friends' kids! Even though they ended the week with a stomach bug, we had the best time having all of them visit!

 

Katie and Caroline during just one of the many nail sessions.

 Sledding! They swapped clothes the whole week and we couldn't tell them apart. Who wouldn't want to wear your best friend's undies?:)

 "Show me a sweet smile."

 ...and their true selves.

We miss you Caroline!

 Oh yeah, we did have some other kids hanging around too.

2012 Scrapbook

So in 2011 I scrapbooked once a month. When January 2012 rolled around I made the finishing touches and ordered my book. (Go me!)

 My 2012 book has been started on 3 different sites and I got to about May.

Tonight I finally decided to go with Blurb, which is a site I can just load my blog onto, edit a few things, and call it good. That being said, my blog got pretty sparse just after Kevin and Lydia's wedding. I blame you guys! So get ready for some Halloween and Christmas posts in March!

New lens.

I got a new lens for Christmas from Taylor. I am excited to keep playing with it. I am also looking forward to playing with photoshop, which was another gift from Taylor...thoughtful guy.

Here are some of my favorites.

 I just missed this shot of the two of them snuggling. Katie loves her brother so much and he usually puts up with, and loves her, too.

 Love these two sillies.

Thanks Taylor!

Christmas morning

The kids spent the whole month playing Mary and Joseph. They did add in the occasional crucifixion just to spice things up.

 Looking for Santa. They were actually pretty terrified. Levi wouldn't go downstairs in the morning until I checked that Santa wasn't still lurking downstairs.

 Christmas morning.

 A remote control car that they wore the batteries out the first day.

 Reindeer pancakes for breakfast.

Lights and Jammies

We had the sweetest night tonight. I gave the kids their matching Christmas jammies and we went to look at lights. Before we left I couldn't resist a few pictures. While we were looking at one house that choreographs the lights to music, Katie was sitting in my lap singing "Joy to the World" with me. I love this stage with them so much. Things are magic and faith is easy. I love that they bring me back to that excitment with the. We can't wait for Santa to come tomorrow.

My favorite picture.

Totally posed. Guys point to the star:)

 The best of the 3 of them.

 What most of the rest of the pictures look like.

 Trying for a jammie shot was really pushing my luck.

 Love the jammies and boots.

 The average shot.

 Grayson is learning to voice his disapproval. That is probably a good thing.

One.

Grayson Taylor is one. This year flew by so quickly. From a little peanut who loved snuggling to a slightly bigger peanut who is into everything and loves climbing he has filled our lives with so much love and joy. He is the true baby in our family. We all dote on him and love to get him to laugh. He is pretty reserved and you really have to work to get smiles and laughs from him. He still loves snuggling and his Mommy. He says, dada, mama, katie, love you, uh-oh, night-night and knows some signs. This week he has started standing from a squat position and today he took his very first step! He has one lonesome little tooth and it was a pretty miserable week while it took its sweet time appearing. 

Happy Birthday little one. We love you!

An atv from Nana and Papa.

 Sweets and treats for the crew.

 Bears in a bubble-bath cupcakes for the kids. Marshmallows make a no mess frosting!

 Gray halfway through cake demolition.

 Obligatory family pic.

 I thought he would eat a little of the cake and then move on. He ate almost the whole thing.

 Face smashing.

 Sugar over-load.

 Birthday banner I made.

 Snuggles with Grandma.

 Opening presents with lots of help.

 He loved this peek-a-boo birthday card.

 More help from the crew.

 Loving his new scooter. I totally recommend this toy. All 3 kids love it.

 Good job buddy. Pretty neat for the amount of cake he ate...just like his Dad.

out of storage space.

Blogger just told me I am out of storage space to load more pictures. Anybody know what to do about that. It looks like only my picasa albums are full and I haven't used any of the other space?? How do I access that.  Thank you!!!