More answered prayers

After opening presents on Christmas morning, we drove up to my sister's house to spend Christmas day. She made lefse, an amazing dinner, and my mom brought her famous apple pie for dessert. Nothing beats good food and hanging out with family on Christmas... especially when my husband is there to share it all with.

Maddie is soooo sweet with Casey.
She even feeds him for me! I think I'll keep her.

We had some amazing auntie and niece bonding time this Christmas. I painted her nails, she painted mine (they still have pink and white stripes as I type ;), we shared headphones on her MP3 player and sang Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs... I love my boys, but I sure am grateful for a niece! :)
Not bad, huh?
My mom makes the BEST sugar cookies and it has become a tradition for the cousins to frost them on Christmas day together.

YUMMY!

Maddie was trying to get everyone sitting down and calm before opening presents.

Jacob was excited to help Grammy open the present he picked out for her.

This is my sister's dragon lizard (or something like that). I have a video of him eating a live cricket. I think everything about him is SO disgusting, but everyone else (including my sister) loves him.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Answered prayers

Don't these faces look happy? That's because their Daddy was home to spend Christmas with them. It is actually a pretty cool story. Adam was scheduled to leave on the morning of Christmas eve, but we had lots of people praying that somehow our family would be together for Christmas. I thought the situation was pretty hopeless, because Adam was alerted and left our house just as scheduled. God had other plans though. Just as the airplane was about to take off, their crew got a call that the weather was terrible where they were headed. So not only would the flight be delayed for Christmas, but they didn't have to come back for three more days. (There has only been one other time in our marriage when Adam was alerted and ended up coming home.) When Adam called me, I was screaming in excitement and tears of joy filled my eyes at the same time. Yeah God. When you think your husband is going to be gone for Christmas and he ends up being home, it is the most special Christmas ever.

Casey's jammies say, "Dear Santa, I can explain..."
Adam captured this picture of Christmas from upstairs
Even Sy was full of joy and kisses for everyone

I have this same picture of Jacob, Gavin, and now Casey climbing down the stairs on Christmas morning.
This Santa guy is the best!!

I'm hoping this will keep Casey away from Mommy's cell phone. :)
One last dance with Santa...We love our Papa and GG!

The Great Wolf Lodge

We are officially big fans of this place (especially since it is only 45 minutes away)! Jacob made so many fun birthday memories with his cousins... and had a huge, priceless smile on his face the entire time.

Not surprisingly, the boys wanted to jump in the pool as soon as we got there so we immediately changed into our swimsuits to check it out. There is a toddler area full of toys and mini waterslides, which kept Casey entertained for hours. For the bigger kids, there is a fun pool to swim in, a wave pool, two medium waterslides, and four big waterslides. Thank goodness Gavin was exactly 42 inches, so he was able to go on almost all of the waterslides. There was only one that the boys weren't tall enough to go on, so we all took turns with the kids and the adults tried it out. It ended up being my favorite by far.





After the kids had their fill of swimming, we came back to our hotel room for cupcakes and to open Jacob's presents.






There were magical wands that unlocked treasure chests, made framed pictures talk, and other things light up throughout the hotel. The boys couldn't get enough of it. :)



Right before bedtime, there is a story area where characters popped out and sang Christmas songs with the kids. When the last song was sung, magical "snowflakes" fell from the ceiling... which Jacob tried to catch with his tongue. :)


For those of you who know Casey, you know he NEVER falls asleep in people's arms. So he was pretty exhausted from all of the excitement.

We stopped at Red Robin with my sister's family on the way home...
...and ended the day with Jacob's favorite thing of all time.

Six years of Jacob

My baby is turning six. SIX. How does that happen? We are leaving tomorrow to take him to the Great Wolf Lodge for his birthday. He is sooo excited to play in the water with his cousins and spend the night in their wolf den. :)

Here is a look back on the last six years.

6 months
First birthday

Two years old

Three years old


Four years old


Five years old

Lord,

Thank you for blessing us with six years of Jacob. His smile, his laughter, the way his eyes light up when we are doing something fun, his curiosity, even his quirks... I wouldn't change anything about him. Thank you for the way he loves his mommy and that he tells me so everyday. Thank you that he would still rather stay home with me than go anywhere else. I will always remember the special night when Jacob was born. I remember how scared I was when his heart was racing and when I was being wheeled into the surgical room... but I also remember holding him for the first time and falling in love. I fall more in love with him everyday. I pray that he falls in love with you in that same way.

Amen.