Santa Came Early!

Santa paid the kids an early visit Christmas Eve to bring the kids their new Christmas PJ'!

Nathan was apprehensive at first until Jared pulled his beard so Nathan could get a sneak peak at who was under the attire! When he realized it was a familiar face he ran right to the big guy!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever....

Our church's live nativity didn't run on Christmas eve this year so it gave us an opportunity to do our own! Jordan, our little organizer had Jared narrarate the story on the microphone.

Nathan was the dilinquent Joseph who wouldn't keep his costume on and spent most of the time drinking fresca!

Jordan, of course, was Mary and was very impressive. She played the role perfectly and was very reverent!

Britt, Caleb and Jared had to double up on roles and the shepherds and the wise men, they too were fantastic and great sports:)

More Christmas Eve Fun!

Everybody involved was very serious about putting together the masterpiece of a gingerbread house.

Christmas Eve Day!

Christmas Eve was a beautiful day so we couldn't resist the opportunity to take the kids out and play! Unfortunately the snow was way to powdery for building things but we did manage to put this little guy together - our first snowman of the year.

Early Christmas With Grandma and Grandpa King!


Grandma and Grandpa King came over the week before Christmas for a visit. The kids are always thrilled to see them. I had to work one of the days so the kids were lucky enough to be "babysat" by Grandma and Grandpa. The brave grandparents ventured out to the community pool to take the kids swimming - one of their favourite activities. When Jared an I returned after work we asked about their day. The kids had a blast swimming and then grandpa proceeded to tell us that Nathan loved the waterslide and went down all by himself. Jared asked if he had a life jacket on and Doug replied "oh no, he just went down and we caught him at the bottom." We started laughing hysterically because the waterslide at the pool is a FULL size slize with loops and things and we couldn't imagine our little boy, a week from turning two sliding down the slide by himself with no life jacket! It was no surprise that Nathan would do it, he's fearless; but it
is hard to imagine any lifeguard allowing him to do it. I guess the lifeguard kept tell him to stop spinning on the slide to which of course Nathan said nothing because he can barely talk!
The kids also opened their Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa which was a great warm-up for Christmas. Nathan got the coolest excavator that works just like a real one and Jordan got a beautiful baby and bassinet whom she takes very good care of!
Thanks guys!

Christmas Tree Hunting......

The kids before we found our perfect Christmas tree

Jordan was satisfied with the first tree that she found at the Christmas Ranch. Unfortunately her mom and dad are a little more picky. At one point, as a joke, Jordan said "Hey mom, dad, I found the perfect tree!" and pointed to an overgrown weed. I think it was a cattail.

The kids after we picked out our perfect tree

We have this fantastic Christmas tradition of going out to the "Christmas Ranch" in Whitevale to chop down our Christmas tree. It's the best place ever! Hot chocolate, pony rides (they call it pony rides, but it's actually quite a large horse), beautiful trees, a reindeer trail and hot dogs. What could be better? They even have a nice warm lodge with a decorated Christmas tree andtoys for the kids to play with.


The Kiddos

Nathan is 23 months and by no means potty-trained. However he often gets the urge to go and sit on the toilet. He'll usually say "mom, peeeeeeeee!" and then proceed to run to the bathroom and sit on the toilet fully clothed. Most of the time, he doesn't let me take his diaper off for this. I know, he's missing a very critical part. Anyways, the other night we were at my parents and Nathan was off playing. One of my brothers walked by the bathroom and heard "Help me!!" and looked in and Nathan had fallen in the toilet and couldn't get out! Apparently, he had sit on the toilet but the the seat was up, and being the novice that he is, he sat down anyway. So we have a little ways to go, but hey, it's a start.
Jordan is as busy as ever. Lately she loves to play restaurant. She'll give us a menu and take our orders, and then proceed to make our food. She does get quite angry if Jared doesn't pretend to eat it. Sunday night we were at my parents house playing games and it was getting quite late. Jordan was sitting at the table with us and let out a huge yawn. My dad, jokingly said "Jordan, was that a yawn?" Jordan, after thinking for just a moment, very seriously replied "No, I was just letting the air out of my mouth." Why is it that kids can never admit to being tired and adults can't stop talking about how tired they are?