Mid December

Jim hung Christmas lights on the house this year- I think they look great.

Jim received a promotion earlier this year- which means he was invited to the Request Foods Christmas party.  Here we are all dressed up ready to head out.  What a great work party it was- good food, good drinks, and great gifts!

We had a Christmas party at my brother's house the weekend before Christmas.  Ethan had been sick the day before and was still a little under the weather during the party.  The sickness that he had eventually spread to me, Jim, Francesca, Jarrod, and my dad.  Lucia somehow managed to stay healthy.  

Ethan received a new sled from Oma and Grandpa- now all we need is a little snow!

I came into the kitchen a few weeks ago to find Lucia stuffing herself into her father's lunch cooler!  It was pretty cute!

Carol Johnson

Francesca and I took the kids to see Carol Johnson preform a few weeks ago.  For those of you who don't know, Carol Johnson is a local singer/songwriter in Grand Rapids- mostly of children's music.  She has been around a long time- I grew up listening to her!  It was great watching her preform- I think Francesca and I got more out of it than Ethan and Lucia!  When she started singing some of her songs I started to get a little emotional thinking about how I listened to her with my parents and now I have kids of my own.  It was a lovely morning!

Thanksgiving- a little late

We had a huge family get together this year for Thanksgiving.  Close to 70 people came!  Here's a family shot- it was the best one, even though we are all not looking at the camera!

Ethan was not too thrilled with his Thanksgiving plate- he managed to force a few bites down.  When did I get such a picky eater?

My handsome brothers. 

Kerri brought a caramel apple bar- it was great- Ethan had so much fun stealing the candy from the bowls. 

The feast is ready!

Ethan after enjoying his caramel apple the next day- he worked on that thing for a good 30 minutes!  

The Santa Claus Parade

Jim and I took the kids to the Santa parade in downtown GR a few weeks ago.  It was actually a pretty good parade- there were even balloon floats!

Ethan thought the sirens were pretty loud on that fire truck. 

Nicholas, Sunny, and Ivana were there too- Nick and Ethan enjoying some hot chocolate and the parade. 

Lucia and Grandma Sue- Lucia did pretty good too- she loved the big balloons when they went by her!

Like this elephant- the people holding the strings had to pull it down so it could squeeze under the stop lights. 

Lucia and daddy enjoying the parade. 

The floats were pretty good this year- I thought this one was pretty cute. 

I thought this one was pretty funny!

This one was a little creepy- something about it's face . . . 

The Grinch was there too!  I did not get a good picture of Santa- but he was there too- along with some reindeer!
Ethan had a great time collecting the candy- though you could tell it was one of his first parades because the other kids around him were much quicker at picking it off the street- there's always next year!