Year of Blessings

What a wonderful year this past year this has been! Having our babies has definitely made this the BEST year of my life! My good friend, Amanda, put this on her blog last year and I LOVED it, so I decided I would steal the idea and put it up on my blog this year. Here are some pictures of the babies this past year, month to month. I can't believe how much they've changed!!! It's amazing what a year can do! I hope and pray for another wonderful year in 2010! Many blessings from our family to yours!

January

FebruaryMarch

AprilMayJune July

AugustSeptember OctoberNovember

December

And as a fun thing, please leave me a comment and let me know which picture you like the best from the past year!!!

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas day at Greg's mom and dad's house. It was a big day because Greg's brother and family flew down from Oregon. It was a HUGE surprise to his parents and it was VERY hard to keep it a secret for SO long! =) It was nice to have them around for Christmas-- it's been 5 years since we've been able to spend the holidays together. Greg's aunt and uncle and grandparents joined us all for a yummy meal. It was fun watching all the cousins play together and interact. The babies got some great gifts, including brand new car seats from Grandma and Grandpa! Yay! What a great day! =)

The gang greeting one another as we arrived!Auntie Kimbo (preggo with baby #2), Ella, and Uncle Rob Time for presents! =)
Grandpa with a new toy-- inspector gadget? =)

Bean and Buddy. If you look close you can see Evan with a small piece of tissue paper he ripped off! =)

Mommy helping them open gifts!

Uncle Kevin, cousin Capri, Ella, Evan, and mommy

Uncle Rob. Interesting. Found this picture in the middle of all the Christmas pictures! haha =)

Uncle Mark, Aunt Joyce, Grandma Norie, and Papa

Fun, fun, fun!

Attemping to get a sibling/child shot...

...and then someone thought it'd be a good idea to bring me in-- didn't help much on our end. Makes for funny pictures though! =)

Rob and Carmen

The Pryors with their oldest son

Stroller Ride

Having fun in Ella's baby stroller! =)

Christmas Eve

Tonight we went to my mom and dad's for Christmas. It has been the tradition the last 5 years or so to go there for Christmas Eve and spend time with our in-laws on Christmas day. We love that we can see both sides of the family each year! =)

We got to my parent's house later that expected because the babies decided to sleep longer than usual at their afternoon nap (any other time I'd be in heaven!). Our schedule has been really off and is just now getting close to normal since they've been sick. Unfortunately, I have caught a cold as well! :( It hasn't stopped my Christmas spirit though!

We had a great dinner, trying something different this year-- baked potato bar! It was super yummy! We opened presents and had lots of laughs. Ella still isn't feeling that great, but Evan had a WONDERFUL time following everyone around and "helping" them open gifts, whether they needed it or not! =) The babies got lots of fun toys, including a radio flyer wagon with an umbrella attached to it from Grandma and Grandpa! Should be a fun thing to switch to during our afternoon walks! =) Daddy's favorite gift that Evan received was a Dallas Cowboys beanie and mittens! =) I think the babies' favorite gift was visiting with family (especially cousins) though-- they love to give lovies and kisses to everyone! They are seriously the sweetest babies EVER! =)

We got home and quickly placed the sleepy ones down for the night and then Greg and I opened gifts from each other. Afterwards I changed into some comfy pjs, gathered up a blankie, and we laid on the couch to watch Christmas movies together. Can't think of a better way to end the evening! I hope everyone is enjoying their CHRISTmas! How blessed are we to have our God send is only son down for us! Looking forward to celebrating Jesus' birth tomorrow! Merry Christmas!

Ella (not feeling so well) and Uncle Ian Ella and Grandma

Evan and Auntie Mommy, Evan, and Grandpa
Evan LOVED the tissue paper!

My strange parents =)

Ella introduced to some tangerinos (sp???)

Grabbing and shaking everything in sight...

Ooh... blocks!

...and a teddy bear!

And they love their Storybook Rhymes toy!

Cousin Kayli show Ella how to use a slinky-- still needs some work, but she had fun! =)

Buddy in his new Christmas pajamas!

And poor Ella in hers... her poor little nose... it's been mommy's full-time job lately to wipe that tiny thing up! :(

Here Comes Santa Claus

We decided that it would be fun to take the babies to go see Santa this year. They saw him at the mall one time as we were walking by and Santa walked up to say hi to them. They were fine, but then again, Mommy and Grandma were holding them-- WAY different scenario! Ella and Evan have a Santa music box that plays Christmas songs. It's been sitting on our coffee table for much of the season. My sister was getting rid of it and Evan fell in love with it, so it came home with us. Ever since then, he points and grunts at it every morning when he gets up and from his nap. He gets a big smile on his face when it comes on. It has a dog laying next to Santa and when you ask him where the dog is, he'll makes his way over to that music box and point to the dog-- too cute! =)

The babies have been sick, but we decided that since they were doing better we better do it tonight as this would be our last chance. The Bass Pro Shop takes the pictures for free so we headed out to Santa's Wonderland there. The line was pretty long, but I was able to occupy the babies with Puffs (never leave home without them!).

I'm thinking that the pictures would have turned out a little differently if it wasn't the end of the day and if they weren't just getting over a cold, but who knows!? I think the crying pictures are pretty funny and will be comical later in years too! =)

Take 1: Ella isn't going for it! Take 2: Evan was staring at Santa after the first picture and it was pretty cute so we thought we'd try again, but Ella was just as scared as she was the first time around! :(

The musical Santa that sits on our coffee table.

Waiting in line for Santa...

... and enjoying some puffs along the way!

Wearing one of her Christmas dresses!

Funny Face