Christmas Morning 2008

Christmas morning continues to be more and more fun every year. The boys are so totally into it, and just light up on Christmas morning. Shouts of "this is exactly what I wanted" and "Santa brought me what I asked for" have a way of taking me back in my mind to how I felt on Christmas. Each present was a cause to stop, inspect it carefully, and then beg to "open it right now so I can play with it it's what I always wanted..."


Kate in the meantime sat by observing the chaos and trying to figure out how that silly tree in the morning room grew a pile of presents overnight. She continued to be most fascinated by the wrapping paper and tissue paper, but her toy piano was a hit and quickly had her attention. The boys joke around calling her "Katie whack whack" since one of her favorite games is to have them sit close by so she can "pat" them vigorously on the ol' noggin'. Thus the piano made a great alternative to a big brothers head.

It didn't take long for new costumes to be tried out, and soon Teenage Mutant Ninja Owen was on the loose....


With presents opened it was time to get ready to join the family in c-bus for even more Christmas cheer. Thus, time to get the little princess all dolled up in her fancy christmas outfit and head on out. Gosh I love gratuitous 'cute-baby' photos. :-)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. A few more pics on picasa as well.

Christmas Eve 2007....

Christmas Eve morning started off with Patrick volunteering to hold his baby sister. Always time to get a little more 'good' in before Santa arrives.


By Christmas Eve, everybody was excited for the holiday. Grandma and Grandpa had everybody over to their place for dinner and family gifts. With everybody in their Christmas best, it was a perfect time for a rare photo of the entire family together.


You could feel the kids excitement in the air, which made their patience during 'aren't these kids cute' photo sessions all the more amazing.


I even managed to get on the other side of the lens with my little princess.


It was fun to share in Aidan's first Christmas Eve, and awesome to have Mike and Betty Ann in town with us.


Pictures of eager helpful kids bringing out the gifts, Kate enjoying the tissue paper most of all, and other pictures out on Picasa. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

'twas the weekend before Christmas...

...so what could be better than packing in more activity than you can shake a stick at. Mike, Betty Ann, and Baby Aidan headed into town, running on 'we've got a new baby'-time.....way late. ;-) Saturday before Christmas saw us heading to my cousin Brian's wedding. Before the wedding, I took the kids over to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where they showed off their duds in front of the Christmas tree.


Brian and Noelle had a beautiful ceremony.


At the reception, the 'gang' of girls got together for a great picture. Thanks to Melissa for opening the gates, and look at the pretty girls that are following her into the family.


One great day deserves another. Sunday brought Kate's baptism and a baby shower for Aidan. Big brother's Patrick and Owen were proud of their baby sister on her special day.


Aidan, the other star of the day, enjoyed having lots of family around to help he and Kate celebrate their special occasion. Aidan even got to meet his great Grandma Betty....


Of course, he also got to meet his Aunt Beth, and after the part she wanted to see how much her new nephew weighed. Too bad the scale was in the cold car. We let it warm up, but Aidan was definitely not happy about this adventure! YIKES!!!!


Once again, lots more pictures out on Picasa, including "babyseat row" and of course, more pics like this of Kate.

From Visitors Wedd...

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Before I get too far behind, here's some great pictures leading up to the holidays. Patrick and Owen were big helpers this year, taking on almost the entire task of adding decorations to our Christmas Tree. They did a spectacular job, and Mom and Dad only had to add the trimmings and a few ornaments near the top. Dad of course had the job of putting the angel on top.

Owen was a hard worker, and loved putting up the "disco balls".


Even working hard on the ladder, Patrick still had time to smile for the camera.


Kate of course thought the whole process was quite amusing, especially daddy on the top step stretching to get the Angel straight at the top.


The season continued with a visit to the "North Pole Express" train. The boys loved the 'long' ride to the north pole, complete with the conductor, and balloon making elves. Here they are getting ready to depart.


Warning.....gratuitous cute baby photo ahead. Kate was all bundled up and looked adorable as she took in all the excitement on the North Pole Express.


The ride was a huge hit, especially since the whole gang got to sit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The boys both told Santa what they wanted while baby sis checked out Mrs. Claus.


Several more pictures out on picasa, including a tuckered out Kate with her head band falling down. That plus the following cute picture are a reason to check them out.

From Its beginning...