Our Michigan Christmas

So it's been quite a while since I got on here to blog but it's not for a lack of pictures or activity.  We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and are finally getting back in to the swing of things around here.

We spent Christmas here in Grand Rapids with our little family of four since Michael had to work.  I have to admit I was a bit sad leading up to it about not being with our extended family, but it really was special to start some of our own family traditions this year.

 We made cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and both little helpers seemed to enjoy it. 

 We went to Christmas Eve service at church and attempted a picture before. This is the best we got. 

Christmas morning Luke was up around 5:00 but we convinced him to go back to sleep so Santa had a little bit more time to come to our house.  ;)

We got to see what Santa brought first thing. As you can see Luke was pretty excited!

Then we took a break to have "Happy Birthday Jesus" cinnamon rolls.

And the rest of the day was spent opening and playing with fun presents and of course Skyping with both of our families!  Thank the good Lord for Skype!

Langley loved her first American Girl doll from Nana and Papa who looks strikingly similar to her I might add,

And Luke loved it all! He was so overwhelmed we had to take a break for a while so he could play with each thing as he opened.  Pretty safe to say we were all spoiled by our families.

Michael was on call Christmas night but thankfully didn't get called in until pretty late which gave us plenty of special time as a family.  So thankful for our little and big (extended) family and most thankful for Jesus - Emanuel.  

Merry Christmas

A Langley Grace update

Sweet little miss is already 4 months old! Hard to believe, and for the sake of documentation:

She's in the 90th percentile for height (25 1/2 in) and 75th for weight (14lbs 10oz).  Big and healthy baby girl!  :)

 

 She rolled from her tummy to her back right before the 4 month mark.  This was the official first roll, and she was not too excited about it but I was happy I got it on camera.  Please excuse the dorky commentary. 

She loves: her big brother....

smiling ("smiling's her favorite") and squealing.

standing up on your legs, and sleeping.  I don't know how we got so lucky but this child is a champion sleeper, and for that I am so grateful.  She generally goes down for the night around 8:30 or 9:00 until 6:30 or so, much better than my oldest child did.   We love you Langley Grace and are so glad you are in our family.   

Buck Fever

A little while back, as a birthday present, Michael got to meet two of his very best friends from high school in San Antonio to deer hunt on an awesome lease.   I could tell Michael was beyond excited about getting to spend a weekend hunting with his buddies and I suppose he should have been because he shot two big bucks and Jay and Caleb each shot one too.  All in all a great trip from what I understand.    

Although it might have been through gritted teeth that I agreed to let him go, I am glad he got away after all of the long hours and hard work he's been putting in lately.  Love you honey bun!

Warning: If you are at all squeamish at the sight of hunted animals I wouldn't scroll down, but I know there are a few people who would like to see these.  Namely my Grandaddy.  :) 

                                       

Raise your glass...

Last weekend Langley Grace and I took a whirlwind trip home so I could stand next to one of my very best friends from high school in her wedding.  As expected Kelly was a gorgeous bride and the wedding was perfect to every last detail.  It was wonderful to witness their true happiness as they became husband and wife.  So glad you found your "lobster" Kell!   It was so fun to get to spend time with "the girls" again and it really did feel like not much had changed, except everything kind of has.  :)  

Although it wasn't long enough Langley Grace got a lot of lovin' in while I was busy with wedding fun.  I didn't take enough pictures but she got to see Nana and meet Uncle Jordan too.  The shortness of the trip wasn't quite as bad knowing we will be heading back down after Christmas.

Let it snow!

We had our first decent snow of the season last week and Luke was pretty excited about it!!  When he woke up and saw it all he yelled "I gotta find my boots and go make a snowman" without any prompting.  The snow was pretty wet so any attempts at a snowman fell apart but we still had fun playing in it.

Langley didn't even notice a difference really.  Just a little more cozy than usual.

Kirby was giddy as can be.

and just like last year the snow came right around Michael's birthday.   

Happy Birthday Daddy(it was Friday)!  We love you and are so thankful for you!  Thank you Lord for giving us the perfect husband and daddy for us.   Love that I've known you for 11 birthdays.  :)

Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..

For the second year in a row we headed out to Hart's Christmas Tree farm to find the perfect little tree to chop down.  I was always a pre-lit Christmas tree fan before (and still am if I'm honest) but I have to admit there's something special about chopping one down and bringing it home to light up and decorate.  

This year felt extra special because I couldn't help but remember that the day or two before we went last year was when we found out I was pregnant with Langley Grace.  Now a year later here she was all snuggled up in the Ergo on the adventure with us.  Thank you Lord for her little life! 

 On the hunt

 Found it!

 Daddy got to work

 Wasn't in to taking pictures

 Taking it home