Christmas at our house

Christmas has passed for another year. I have to say, that although in terms of material gifts this year may have been less in someways...it truly was the best Christmas ever in all the ways that really matter. Our oldest kids- Laci, Misti and Jordan all stayed the night Christmas Eve, so for the first time ever we had all 7 kids here in the morning when we woke up. It meant so much to us and made the day special. At one point, I had my back to the window and Craig said, turn around and look...It was snowing. It didn't snow long and didn't stick, but it just added a little something extra magical to the day. Christmas Eve we had most of the family over and a big spread of food and plenty of gifts. We are marching on towards 2008 counting our blessings!!

Here are some pictures from our festivities...

Christmas Eve
Ashlyne opening a gift from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Brooke, with the help of cousin Rhianne:

Brooke and I on the couch helping the little ones, Ashlyne, Rhianne, Laney and Jordanna opening gifts.
I tried to get a picture of Laney with her new Dora doll, but when I asked her to hold it up, this is what I got...lol

This is the moment that Jordanna and Cortney opened the gift they most wanted, Nintendo DS game systems from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Brooke. Priceless!

Christmas Day


The tree in the morning, surrounded by gifts...

Laney and Ashlyne opening gifts...

Cortney got a new pink Seahawks jersey..

And her autographed Sue Bird Storm jersey framed..

Ashlyne when she stopped jumping up and down and screaming over her new Barbie Jeep!

Laney lost in a sea of gifts...

Laney and Ash sitting in the Barbie Jeep when Dad finished putting it together.

And out riding in it in the backyard.

We hope that you had a magical Christmas and we wish you all the best that life may bring in 2008! Happy New Year!!

Our family :)

My friend Angela came over here the week before Christmas and we had a fun picture taking session...ok, not so fun as Laney was asleep when she got here, and if you know Laney, you know we don't wake her up, for good reason.
Not only did we have to wake her up, we had to change her clothes too. She was not a very happy camper! But since its so difficult to get all 9 of us together, we just went with it. Angela is an amateur photographer, and I think she did an amazing job and was so patient with us all.

We have had pictures of just the kids done before, but none since Laney has been born. And the last "family" picture was of just Craig, Me, Cortney and Jordanna after we first got together.
So... Here are our first ever FAMILY PICTURES!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours...

All my children..

Jordanna, Ashlyne and Cortney (Laney was not havin it at this point...)

Misti, Laci and Jordan

Me and Craig

The whole family...we bleed purple and gold! ;)

Misti

Laci- the last picture we had of her was from her Sophomore year of high school, she was overdue!

Jordanna, my first born, and I.

This is where this whole thing began...a girl met a boy..

Our creative shot:

The only time she wasn't crying or hiding her face...

Let me know what you think. :) And if you want some, let me know as well. Happy Holidays to all of you.

Long overdue Holiday pictures!

I will have a couple of posts probably to properly categorize these. Christmas is over (whew!) and New Years is tomorrow. It has been a blessed holiday for us so far. Our christmas was great, we had all the kids stay overnight Christmas eve which was incredible. Between Christmas Eve and Christmas day I believe just about everyone in our family was here at some point, with the exception of our family that is out of the area. We are counting our blessings, trying to find a home for all of the new gifts the kids received, and enjoying the time with family.

Here is a picture of Craig and I at his work Christmas dinner. It was a great time and a nice evening out.....

Here is a picture of our house with Christmas lights, and you can see our tree lit in the front window:

So with our vaulted ceilings in our front room, I was determined to get a big tree. I and the kids went one evening and came home with this 9.5 foot tree. It was a bit of a pain to get it in the house and up in the stand and straight. Then came the realization that we did not have enough lights for a tree this size. So Craig ran to the Rite Aid down the road and bought 4 more strands of lights. Every year, we get about a 6 ft douglas fir and we never use all of our ornaments. Well this year, we used every single ornament and the tree still looked bare. I was talking to Craig's Aunt Vivian and she said she had lots of extra ornaments. So at a family luncheon the following week, she brought us a bag of ornaments. Then the week before Christmas, a package arrived with instructions on the outside "open immediately". It was a package of ornaments from Craig's other aunt Gayle. :) So THANK YOU to Gayle and Vivian for helping to finish decorate our big tree. Now its so beautiful I don't want to take it down.
Here is a picture of Laney and Ashlyne next to the tree so you can sort of get an idea how huge it is!!!

Comin up next.... our first entire family pictures :)