lights

Last night we met Brooke for dinner and then we went to the BioPark to their annual lights display.  They had lots or really cool stuff and we had a great time...despite the cold.

Jake LOVED the T-Rex one.  He just stood in front of it and watched the hands move up and down and the mouth open and close.  Then he would imitate the dinosaur.  After we saw all the lights, he wanted to go back and see the T-Rex one more time.

Grace slept thru most of it.  She was nice and bundled up.

And here is Kung Fu Jake.  Earlier in the day he was eating some banana slices and chose to eat them with chop sticks...like Kung Fu Panda.  He is always making us laugh.

a Merry Christmas

I was reminded very nicely yesterday by Aunt Brandi and Grandma Tomi that I had yet to post any pictures from Christmas.  I promised to come thru with those today...so here you go.

Our Christmas was dElightful.  When Jake woke up and came in our room, we all laid in bed for a bit, talking and reading from the scriptures the account of the birth of The Savior.  Then, we strolled on out into the family room to open gifts.  It was fun to watch the excitement (over either new toys, in Jakes case, or in playing with wrapping paper and bows, in Gracies case) .

Jake LOVED his Hulk hands and wanted to Thank Santa for them. (I'm so glad he remembered his manners) 

Poor little Grace was so tired after all the excitement, she fell asleep sitting by Dad on the couch.  

It was a fun day.  Now all the decorations are down and things are returning back to normal.  Well, almost normal.  We will be moving in about 2 months, so there is alot that needs to get done and life might get a little crazy, but we plan on having fun in the process.

Grace

I wanted to get some pictures of Jake too, but he fell asleep in the car on the way home from church and went straight to bed.  So, these will have to do.

we got a package!

Yesterday When we got home there were two big boxes on our front porch.  It was from Aunt Brandi, (Thanks Brandi!) so there were lots of gifts and LOTS of packing peanuts.  Who knew a box full of packing peanuts could be so much fun...but they were.  Jake had fun sitting in the box and grace had fun watching him.  Here is a few shots of the good times.

Snow Day!

Last night we got more snow!  We were hoping Brooke wouldn't have to go into work, but we weren't that lucky.  He did get to go in later, so we had some fun in the snow before he left.  Gracie and I were still in our p.j.'s, but we stayed warm.

Brooke got his snowboard out and gave Jake a few pointers.

Then while Dad shoveled the driveway, we built a snowman.  It was a fun morning!

Burrrrr!

We've been getting bits of snow over the past few days.  Jake went outside to play in it today and Grace and I decided to stay warm and watch him from the inside.  

And here are a few pictures I took of the kids this morning.  I tried to get some of them together, but that did NOT work out.  Either Jake was too wiggly or Grace got grumpy.  Maybe another time they will cooperate. 

a little laughter

These kids continue to make me smile and laugh.
I love that they have such a fun time together.

Its a Christmas miracle!!!

Saturday we went to a kids Christmas party on base.  It was pretty fun!  Santa flew in on a helicopter (how cool is that?!).  All the kids went crazy when he flew by.  The helicopter flew by 3 times then....

Santa slid out of the helicopter on a rope.  Once again, very cool.  I've got to say though, that this was a Santa stunt double.  How do i know this?  Well, it so happens that I know who the REAL santa was talking to all the kids, promising gifts and asking if they had been good this year.  

It was Brooke!  The best lookin' Santa i've ever seen!  And this is where the miracle comes in.  Jake hasn't ever wanted anything to do with Santa.  At the Mall he keeps a safe distance and the most interaction we can get Jake to do is wave to the big guy.  Brooke and I were both shocked that he agreed to sit on Santa's lap.  I think he wanted to make sure Santa knew what to bring him.  We weren't sure if he would recognize his dad, but he didn't seem to and didn't say anything.

Then we added Gracie to the mix and she had no problem with Santa.  We think she may have recognized her Dad.

While we were waiting for Brooke to finish up his Santa duties,  Jake had a blast in the bouncy castle and walking around to all the different booths that were set up. 

Today I was taking a few pictures of Gracie by the tree and Jake decided he wanted to jump in.  This is his Blue Steel.

jake/spidey/horse

This morning I was finishing up my candy lights project...i guess i should explain that first.  So, When I was getting out all the Christmas stuff, Jake spotted a string of lights with one light wrapped to look like a piece of candy.  He thought it looked pretty cool and wanted me to finish the string of lights.  I got the supplies I needed and started working on it yesterday and finished up today.  It was supposed to be a project for US, which turned into a project for mom.  Jake would help every now and then, but i guess his toys looked more appealing.  Anyway, they are done...here is a picture.

So back to this morning.  Jake was being spiderman when he decided he wanted to be a horse.  He put shoes on and then another pair on his hands and galloped around the house.  Here he is "horsin" around.

Brooke is getting over a cold.  Gracie has had a very runny nose all day, so either she is teething or she is getting a bit of what he had.  Hopefully, whatever it is, it doesn't last long.