Christmas Morning

Nothing quite as exciting as getting a new bike for Christmas!
We all got bikes so we can go on rides together.

This year, Parker saved up his allowance and bought a gift for both of us!

Parker's face is actually one of pretended rapturous sleep,
after he opened his gift from Grandma Williams.
He loves ANYTHING to do with Utah.

Yay more remote control cars!

Sleepy but excited!

Making stuffed mushrooms for the Christmas Day Feast

Hudson opening a BIG present!

Angela's oh-so-mysterious present from Jeremy.

Katie, Isaac, Hudson, and the bump that shall be known as Liam.

"Mail me to Utah, Mom!"

Traditions, Part 4

On Christmas Eve, we make sure we finish up the rest of our traditions:

1. Decorate cookies that we never end up eating

(ewww!)

2. Open a Christmas Eve gift
(a new robe and slippers for this kid, who has outgrown his old one!)

3. Finish watching all the Christmas movies: Garfield's Christmas,
Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
Frosty the Snowman, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas

4. Drive around listening to Christmas music on the radio
and looking for the tackiest, most overly-decorated houses we can find!

Traditions, Part 3

This is a particularly awesome tradition, because it involves
both shiny things and delicious things: Christmas lights
at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and donuts.

Freezing our butts off in 30-degree weather...the only time you'll ever see me wearing a hat.

Oooh, sparklies!

Mysterious men....

Loves!

Train exhibit inside the Conservatory (where we got warm!)

This is where they make the donuts- Krispy Kreme in Richmond.

We watched, mesmerized, by the waterfall of icing.

Our selections: chocolate cake, chocolate cake with peppermint bark, frosted cinnamon bun, cinnamon apple-filled, and then a random one with sprinkles. They were delicious! Parker couldn't stop talking about them after they were gone. I guess that's what happens when your mom is mean and only buys donuts a couple times a year.

Traditions, Part Two

Well, the pictures on this post are all crazy,
since my computer is flipping pictures that are right-side up.
Ahem. This post is about one of the best things that happens at Christmas-
we get packages from Utah!

Basically what my mom does is carefully wrap a bunch of gifts, candy, and some homemade ornament/Christmas decorative items and then spend like a billion dollars at the UPS store to get them packed and shipped to us. This year she sent TWO packages that cost a billion dollars.

Hooray, Christmas candies!! We tear into the bag of Christmas candy,
and it's usually gone by the time Jeremy gets home,
shortly after we have opened it.

Nice hair on the kid, eh?

This year ADDIE signed her name on the package that she sent to Parker.
How cute is that?!?

This is 2010's homemade Christmas-y gift from my mom.
Thanks for always managing to cram lots of love into those packages,
Mom- it probably makes them even heavier to ship!

Traditions, Part One

This is our second year with a new Christmas tradition, Decorating Gingerbread Things.

It's more difficult than it looks to securely glue pre-baked
wafers together in a structurally sound manner,
with just a squeezy bag of icing, especially
when someone cuts a big hole in the end (oops!)

There were many fatalities in the building of these gingerbread sleighs.

I think Parker's Santa had too much egg nog before he got on the road....

Whereas my Santa looks a little TOO eager to be getting behind the wheel.

Jeremy's Santa is kickin' back and letting all the elves do the work!

Eventually, Parker was able to re-construct his sleigh....
though Santa looks like he is still trying to recover.

Ho Ho Ho!!

The Bones!

Thanksgiving 2010

This year we kicked off the holiday with a full field soccer game. We had three or four neighborhood kids join the eight of us and everybody went all out. Grandma and Grandpa both took some tumbles out there, but realized they are only 50 something and got right back up and in the game. Janell made an awesome block as our goalie, even though she had a wicked headache. I don't think any of us have spent that much time running in recent memory. It was a great way to start the day!!

After all of that we were famished! Luckily, it was Thanksgiving!

Parker, Adam, and Heather (joining the family in March!!)

Janell and Angela losing to me at Blockus.



I am thankful for many things. I am thankful for small things like text messaging, automatic car windows, and guitar strings. I am thankful for big things like my family, my wife, and my son. I am thankful for new things like my clarinet, and old things like the sun. I am thankful for small things that are big, like the oxygenation of my blood, and big things that are small, like my neices and nephews. I am thankful for things that don't work, like my own memory, and things that always work, like my love for Janell. I am thankful, filled with gratitude, and in awe of my blessings on Thanksgiving and every day. . . and then something totally pisses me off and I forget . . . but then I remember. :)

Why I Love Weddings

Last weekend Janell and I got to attend the wedding of the last member of my former band to take the plunge. It was held in a beautiful old catholic church and I was lucky enough to snag a groomsmen spot. The reception was a blast and I got to see a bunch of people I truly love. The weather was great, the food was good, the DJ sucked (but that was ok), and the bride and groom will make eachother happy for years to come.

But, that's not why I love weddings. I love weddings because I love hearing the vows spoken. They are a powerful reminder of what Janell and I promise to eachother every day. Sometimes we say things out loud. Sometimes in actions. Sometimes, we promise with our eyes or our hands. Hearing those vows made for the first time at the infancy of a couples shared love is sometimes overwhelming to me. I know that what is truly overwhelming me as those vows are made is how much loving Janell is a part of me, maybe even the biggest part of me.

I can't wait for the next wedding so I can look over at Janell as someone pledges to love their wife forever and think to myself, "me too".

Bustin' a Move

I love this picture of Jeremy that I took at our friend's wedding this weekend.
It really encapsulates his perspective on life.
He really does dance like nobody's watching,
and that is one of the reasons he is the coolest guy ever.

Camping Traditions!

We were lame the last couple years and skipped our autumn camping tradition,
but this year we got back in the swing of things.

Parker's "bachelor pad" (thanks again, Grandma W!)

Our foil dinners were very tasty!
Parker insisted that we cook hot dogs, too.
Hot dogs cooked over a fire clearly taste WAY better than ones zapped
in the microwave at home.

After dinner, we stayed up playing Racko and Blokus in the big tent,
overdosing on Oreos and Doritos.

Campfire pancakes and hot chocolate for breakfast

A misty morning hike around the lake

Parker LOVES camping.
He says he wants to live out in the woods when he grows up.