Golden Anniversary

It's been 13 years since we said "I do." So in honor of my husband, I will write 13 things I love about him.

1. I love that he works so hard to provide for us, so I am able to be home for awhile and be the mom I want to be.

2. I love that he loves his kids so much and worries about them constantly.

3. I love that he looks out for me, makes sure my car is warmed up when I have to go places, the driveway is shoveled, and that I am safe and sound.

4. I love his goofy side and how funny he can be. Mostly when he falls backward on the rocking chair or one minute he's watching TV leaning on the coffee table, and the next minute he is draped over it sleeping (:

5. I love that he loves babies, especially ours, and how excited he is to be a father again.

6. I love the long conversations he has with his boys about tractors, farming, or whatever they are interested in that day.

7. I love that he takes Alaina out shopping or running errands to stay connected with her and how giggly they are when they come back home.

8. I love that he always smells good.

9. I love that he always scratches my back-without even being asked!

10. I love that he has a hard time sleeping without me in bed.

11. I love how helpful and sweet he has been the last 2 months because I have been so tired and sick.

12. I love that he is not concerned with material things and is happy with what we have.

13. And most importantly, I love how much he loves me and I feel it every day.

I love you so much and hope you always know this. Here's to many, many more years together. Happy Anniversary!

Thanksgiving

Well Christmas is fast approaching and I need to start posting some holiday pictures and am, as usual, behind in getting this blog updated. So here are my Thanksgiving pictures, finally.

We spent Thanksgiving day at the AG church as usual with my mother-in-laws side. The food was delicious as usual and I always wish I could eat more or take a plate home for later, but then we usually go over to Karen's house later for leftovers anyway.

Here is my family enjoying the delicious food.



One of the uncles is a photographer and brought his camera to take pictures of whoever wanted them done. Here is the matriarch of the family. I love these pictures of Jon's grandma. She is such a sweet lady, and I plan to eventually print these pictures out.




And here is the whole crew-all ten of them!




We also had our annual gingerbread house making. Alaina and Kate decided to work together this year.




Jonnie's masterpiece and his chipmunk cheeks full of candy!



Sawyer's uh, house? He is always so proud of his creations. He put a "tarp" on the top of it to keep it safe (:



And the girls made a high rise. Good job ladies!



The next day we headed over to my mom's. It was a quiet year over there as only two of us made it home. It was nice, though, in that we got to catch up and hang out-it's been way too long. We had a delicious meal (my mom's turkey was awesome), played games, had dessert and chased a 1 year old around! It's always fun for the cousins to play together.

And here they are. Just hanging out waiting to eat. Liam is adorable and so busy! He is either climbing on something or whipping down the stairs at lightening speed and he would be in the basement before we knew it! I loved it, and him (:



Onto dessert-YUM!




Sweet Nevie.



Sawyer took a picture of Grandpa.



We also enjoyed music throughout the day. I really want to get piano lessons for Sawyer. He always seem be drawn to the piano.



As always, it was a fabulous Thanksgiving, and there's nothing like spending time with family!

Birthday Girl

We celebrated Karen's, my mother-in-law, 60th birthday. We made Chinese food, played oldies music, had pictures honoring her life, and Melanie decorated her house for the festivities. None of could have predicted that the first snow and ice of the year would fall that day, but we still had a good time!



Here's the Birthday girl!



Alaina and I also made tye-die t-shirts with the grandkids "number" on the front and their names on the back. Karen's favorite color is yellow (:









It was a great party honoring a great lady!

Little Sister

I am thinking Alaina would love a little sister, don't you?





Sawyer's usually embarrassed when she dresses him girlie, but this time he loved it (:

Halloween

Well, I am finally getting my Halloween pictures on here. It only took a couple weeks.

Here they are the night before Halloween carving pumpkins. The boys wear gloves and hate touching the "pumpkin guts" and Alaina loves touching and playing in it with her bare hands.

Drawing their designs....



Scraping the guts out....



Starting to cut.....



And here are the finished results...






Halloween this year turned out to be pretty nice. It was in the 40's and no wind or snow, so we were happy.

Here are two of my nephews looking for candy (: Tucker-shark and Levi-giraffe



Here are my boys. Sawyer-spider man (surprise, surprise)and Jonnie-alien




Another nephew, Hunter the cowboy.



Alaina and her friend dressed up as Goth fairies. They had a lot of fun getting dressed up.



Their wings...



Alaina says it's her last year of dressing up, but we'll see. She loves it!



Now onto Thanksgiving!

My entrepenuers

My kids love making money, so any chance they get they are trying to earn it. I love it because they always have money with them to buy gum, etc. that they want and I don't have to buy (:

It was enterprizing kids at the mall again and this year Jonnie decided he wanted his chance to sell. So him and I made candy necklaces-little trains and scarecrows and his business was named "Candy Cravers." Very appropriate for him don't you think? He ended up making around $80, but he had to pay back his suppliers (aka me) and it was a great lesson to learn about how businesses run.




Alaina and her friend Rossy teamed up again this year. They were in a tough location and didn't make as much as usual this year. Their friend Angelica was with them and they all worked so hard. At least they had fun together and learn new things every year. Their store name was "Sweets and Co."

Alaina made over 50 pairs of earrings!!




Also, the day before Halloween the kids sold pumpkins along the highway. They were out there most of the day and made $20 each! Not bad, and I love seeing them work together. They are great friends again when they are out working together!



So proud of these two!

Cool Bassist

Jonnie had his first orchestra concert last week and he did a great job! I was so, so proud of him up there. Jonnie plays the Double Bass and what a cool sounding instrument. It is so low and not squeaky at all-I love it! He is doing really well with his first instrument.





The Bass is bigger than him and probably weighs about as much, so it's been interesting watching him carry it around (:




Great Job Buddy!