Dinosaur Party

Jonathan had his first ever friend party!  He talked about his party for MONTHS leading up to the big day, and he knew just what he wanted...a dinosaur party.  Jonathan wanted a dinosaur cake with a working volcano, and he told just about anyone who would listen.  We kept the party pretty low key, and decided to invite friends his age from his sitter's house and church.  Because of the time of year, we didn't get quite the turnout we had hoped, but it turned out to be just fine with a few close friends. 

Jonathan decided that he wanted aqua tablecloths and napkins, along with pink and purple plates.  We served pizza and his favorite fruits - pineapple and mandarin oranges.  My sister, Lori, played a key role with decorating the house, filling the goodie bags, and creating a dinosaur cake. 

I filled "dinosaur eggs" with stickers, small toys, and treats, and the kids had to search the house for them...kind of like an Easter egg hunt.  We also made dinosaur ornaments.  The rest of the time was spent playing and eating.  Not too many activities because of the age of the kiddos.

Jakob found some dinosaur eggs!

He found a dinosaur sticker in an egg!

Nick and Kyla checkin' out their loot.

Nick, Beth, and Ava.

Future pilot?

Yummy sucker!

Best buddies.

Dinner time!

More interested in his party than in eating.

Awesome cake.

Kyla getting her craft on.

Dinosaur Cake

I'll post more later about Jonathan's 3rd birthday party, but I had requests to post a picture of his dinosaur cake.  My big sis did an AWESOME job of salvaging this cake!  (More about that later, too!)

Complete with a working volcano!

Fun in Solsberry

Buddies

Play fighting.

Still going at it!

We were snowed in at Grandma Jeank's house...literally.  There was a blizzard on Christmas, and the winds howled throughout the night.  Believe me, I couldn't sleep!  We awoke to tons of snow and four foot snow drifts.  Snow in the country is absolutely breathtaking.  Jonathan's favorite part was getting to play in the snow...his first time!

The snow wasn't very good for packing, so we could only manage a small snowgirl.

Meet Crystal.

She got new Skittles eyes because her other eyes were too big.

 Side note: As soon as this picture was taken, Jonathan hit "Crystal" knocking her head off.  He then scooped up the Skittles off the ground and ate them.

"Helping" make his birthday cake.

So done with pictures.

Christmas 2012

I have been blessed with an extremely large family, which means we have more-than-the-average-family holiday celebrations.  We celebrated Christmas four times, which is the new normal for our family.  We used to try to cram three family Christmases into one day, but it got to be way too hectic, and we couldn't share in much quality family time.  Dividing the celebrations up certainly makes the holiday season less stressful and more enjoyable!

On December 23rd, we joined my mom's side of the family for Christmas in Ross.  It was a lot of fun watching Jonathan play with his cousins (and there wasn't too much drama). 

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with our church family at the annual Christmas Eve service at Bridgetown Church.  I am so thankful for the many volunteers who worked with my husband to make the service magical.  One of the best Christmas Eve services EVER!  After the service, we went to my dad's house to celebrate with my siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  This is one of the few times we are together as family because our family is so big.  The crowd was much smaller this year, but we still had a wonderful time!

On Christmas morning, Jonathan decorated three small birthday cakes for Jesus (one for me, one for daddy, and one for himself).  He had so much fun planning what his cakes would be like (small, confetti cake mix, chocolate icing, sprinkles, and a pink and blue candle on each one), and we loved teaching him about the meaning of Christmas.  After decorating the cakes, we sang to "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and then Jonathan blew out the candles.  We enjoyed having cake for breakfast, and then opened some gifts.  Jonathan helped open a gift for Owen, and he wanted me to "open up" my tummy so that Owen could have his new clothes.  :O) 

So serious.

Look at those cakes!

So incredibly excited to find Spiderman PEZ in his stocking.

Later that morning, we headed over to my dad's house to celebrate with my dad and step-mom, sisters and their families, and "Big Grandpa".  I ate a LOT for breakfast, but I made sure to eat lots of fruit before eating my egg, sausage, and bacon...oh, and a donut.  Present opening is always memorable on this side of the family.  We start with everyone choosing a seat and piling their gifts by their designated seat.  The youngest gets to open the first gift, and then we proceed by age until everyone has opened one gift.  Then the process is repeated over, and over, and over again.  I love it.  It takes a LONG time, but it is so much fun to draw everything out so that we can see what each person received. 

I don't really look pregnant next to my sister...

We'll fix that!

Liam modeling his Broncos t-shirt.

Jonathan rockin' his new guitar!

Preparing to fire at Daddy!

Oh, Kaylee.  A normal picture would be wonderful.  :O)

Grandpa Dan singing into Jonathan's new microphone.

Gavyn modeling his Broncos shirt.

...and Amanda with hers.  This family is a bunch of traitors.

"Big Grandpa" joined us!

Thomas "booing" the Broncos' boys.

New bling!

We headed back to our house and unloaded our car in the early afternoon.  Then we packed up the car with everything we needed to take to Indy to celebrate with Darin's side of the family.  Jonathan took a nice nap in the car...which we were grateful for!  He certainly needed his rest before celebrating Christmas with another family!

Out in Indy at the Hudson home, we enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner.  Mama Jean certainly outdid herself once again!  (The company was pretty fantastic, too!)  We don't get to see the Hudson side of the family very often, so this trip was much anticipated!  The best part was that we got to spend the remainder of the week in Indy.  

Adam and Papa Terry.

Rolling a present along the floor...much more fun than opening it!

Best cousins!

Baker Sienna.

Aunt Sondra, Nate, Uncle Rob, and Maddy.

Opening his new Bible!

Cousin Nate.

Jonathan roaring at Maddy.

Buddies!

We are extremely blessed to have such a wonderful family, and we love that we got to spend the holidays with our loved ones.  I hope all my readers had a fantastic Christmas, too!