You're a good year, 2014!

Dearest Jax and Colton,

Our final week of 2014 was spent in Indiana visiting family.  

We stayed with Grandpa and Grandma and got to see Uncle Mike, Aunt Jess, and Cousin Hailey often.

No opening presents until we take a cousin picture : )

We played at the house, took Daddy out for his birthday, and went to church - but didn't take pictures of any of that.

However, I did try to capture y'all bouncing around at Sky Zone (a trampoline park) one day.  Not an easy task as you barely stopped moving!

We also tried to photograph your first adventure in ice-skating.

  

Jax, you gave it a good try but didn't enjoy falling on the cold ice.  Colt, you sort of tried it but spent a lot of time crying on the sidelines.  We just thought you were anti-skating.  We soon learned that your mood was thanks to a nasty cold! It came in just in time for our 15 hour trek home. We ALL got it and the drive home was less than ideal, to say the least.

Hopefully, we can recreate this group shot again soon -- but at our house next time!  : )

Despite ending the year with sneezing and coughing, we all agreed that 2014 was a good one!

Christmas

Dearest Boys,

Christmas morning was simple but joyful!  We slowly opened presents, ate breakfast, then played with all the new things.  

We cleaned up before going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where the fun process was repeated.

This basketball goal was their big gift to you, Jax.  At first, you didn't get it and just thought they had borrowed it from their neighbor so that you could try out your new basketball!

Colt, your big gift was this dino-bot.  He's quite interactive and loud!

Of course, y'all are our "big gifts"!  : )

Traditions (Take: 7)

Dearest Boys,

So pretty, right?  I could leave it at that and have you thinking that December was a beautiful month full of wintry wonders.  Or I could be honest and tell you that I'm typing this from MARCH 5th (2015) and that the picture above was taken just hours ago!

I've practically abandoned this little hobby but I'm not ready to give it up entirely yet.  There are still memories to record, pictures to save, and anecdotes to preserve.  But it wouldn't surprise me if the Blog Book for 2015 was very sparse.

So...back to December...when we fit in our favorite traditions and even added a few extras.

Y'all helped us decorate and you wanted to be involved with every aspect of every (All 5!) tree.  Your enthusiasm for the holidays comes honest.

In a first for us, we bought snowballs!  The Harycki Fam hosted a snowball fight in their yard so we met up with the Vaughns and had at it!  

(Ironic as we had a legit snowball fight amongst our family in the backyard just hours ago!)

One of the loveliest moments of the month was being serenaded by THE Mr. Timberlake at the AAC.  Michelle and I got great seats and screamed like 13 year olds hearing NKOTB back in '94.  We also stayed in a hotel downtown and had some shopping fun the next day while everyone else was working.  This is a December tradition that I'd like to repeat annually!

 We also fit in a visit to the trains at North Park.  This is one that I feel like y'all might be outgrowing.... (and I'm actually ok with that).

 

A tradition that I'm in no rush to lose is our annual visit to Bass Pro!  Grandma came along this year and participated in the fun (but she won't let me post the picture of her on the carousel!).

I managed to miss the opportunity for a pic, but Bass Pro gave us a cute one of you two sitting on his lap.   

Another element of fun was your holidays parties at your schools.  Jax, I took a short break from my own class to pop over to your school and help with your party.  Your school has a tradition where 1st graders make these adorable snowmen shirts and then you wear the shirts for years to come on certain days.  You looked so cute in your over-sized design : )

Colt, I ended up getting a nasty stomach bug on the day of your party so I had to miss it.  Your dad was a trooper and joined you instead -- but he only took video, no photos, of the sweet songs your class performed for the party guests.

That stomach virus ended up getting passed through our family and traditions went out the window for a few days.

At the very last minute, we fit it one of our favorites --

And, before we knew it, it was time to make cookies for Santa and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!  I loved having both of you sitting between us in church on Christmas Eve and y'all loved it when the lights went down and the candles were lit.

What's crazier than all this fun?...Is that we packed even more into our final week of 2014!  Maybe I'll tell y'all about it in a few months...

Another season - Another ICE!

Dearest Jackson and Colton,

We started our annual holiday traditions early this year and headed to ICE! on one of our days off during Thanksgiving Break.  The Gaylord was crowded but it still looked beautiful with all its decor!

 

We met the Vaughn Family there and they made waiting in line so much fun!

 All bundled up and ready to brave the arctic...

We spent the most time in the sledding room.

 

 

And then found ourselves on the snow(ice?) globe!

 

 The last room is always my favorite.  (Except when we lose you, Colton, and spend the whole time trying to locate you.  Turns out, you passed by baby Jesus and headed out the exit while I was taking this photo!)

For the first time ever, we let y'all do the tubing hills.  This is time consuming fun and the Gaylord is so smart to put a bar right across the hall -- therefore, we all had a fabulous time!

 

 This was the perfect start to the holidays!