Happy 5th Birthday Carlie

Wow this post has taken me a month to get done!

For some reason I've been having problems with posting.

Carlie turned 5 January 3rd!
I was just looking back to when she was born, she was a beautiful baby!

She had light brown curly hair and was 7lbs 9oz!

Gus and I decorated for her little get together with her Grandpa's and Grandma's and Uncle Sam of course!

She had a Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting!

She loved opening her presents!

Earlier that day her CTR teacher Sister Arnell came over to tell her Happy Birthday and give her a gift! Carlie loves Sister Arnell she is such a great teacher and she is very thoughtful!

For her birthday, Sarah Jane and I took Carlie to the movie Tangled!

The girls were so excited!

We went to the new Edwards theater out by our house!

We had great seats... Popcorn and a Drink... and lots of FUN!
Carlie was even wearing the Tangled shirt she got just before the movie!
We love you Carlie Elaine!

Christmas 2010

This Christmas was a lot of fun... our kids are old enough to really get into all of the fun! We headed over to my parents house for Christmas Eve! We do a draw-name gift exchange with almost all of the grandkids (50 some kids from 0-18 years). It is a crazy party... then we have a Christmas feast, a talent show or program followed by the nativity. Then we sing songs and Santa comes for a visit! We finish off with Grandma reading Twas the Night Before Christmas. We had a great time!

The kids with Santa... Grady was a skeptic.

Carlie loves Santa and was so happy to see him!

Sarah Jane liked Santa this year... Yay!

Grady and Santa weren't too sure of each other.

The gift exchange... this was only a small part of the circle of family.

Waiting in line for Santa!

Grady got a cool dump truck from Sydney.

Sarah Jane got a Princess purse from Mindy, that she loves.

Carlie got a Fur Real bear that she loves from Isaac!

The Nativity... Carlie was a Sheep and Sarah Jane was a Shepherd.
Grady was wild!

Grandma reading to the kids.

Christmas Morning was a lot of fun. We got up, or I should say Carlie got us up at 8:00 and the kids saw/played with what Santa left for them, then we got dressed, had breakfast and Grandpa Randy came over. We let the kids open their presents from him and play until Grandma Charlotte, Uncle Sam and Aunt Lissa came. We finished opening the gifts, watched football and snacked while the dinner feast was being prepared. We ate dinner when Uncle Hal came then just hung out and watched Elf.
It was a nice day!

This is what Santa left for the kids!
(notice how the ornaments are on the top half of the tree thanks to Grady!)

Carlie and Sarah Jane on Christmas morning.

Sarah Jane was a careful gift opener.

Gus with his new BSU shirt for work!
We got one for Grandpa Randy too!
We got Grandma Charlotte a Garmin... She loved it!
Aunt Lissa, Carlie, Uncle Sam, and Grandpa Randy

Grady was a wild man and loved opening ALL of the presents,
even if they weren't his!
We had a very Merry Christmas!

Below is a Christmas message from Sarah Jane:

Tiffany's Visit... catching up.

Wow, it has been quite a while since I've posted so there is a lot of catching up to do. As I mentioned before my sister Tiffany, her husband Daniel, and their kids Wesley and Katie came for a visit just before Thanksgiving. Daniel had to go back to Maryland for work but Tiffany and the kids got to stay for another couple of weeks. We had such a great time with them and were very sad to see them go. I am so thankful that they were able to come visit and hope to see them soon.

While Tiffany was here we had several get togethers with lots of family! Here are a few of us at my Mom&Dad's house for lunch.

This is Kara and Katie who are only two months apart...
too cute!

Buddies: Nathan, Wesley, and Dylan

We had a Sisters & Mom night. We had a lot of fun and good food...
We started out at Olive Garden...

Then we went to Kohl's to shop...

Tiffany is due to have a boy in February. Valerie just had her baby boy, Landon, on December 30th.
Then we went to Applebee's to talk and eat a very yummy dessert.

Molten Lava Cake before:

After: ... Yum!

The three little girls...
or at least that was what they called us when we were younger.

And here are OUR three little girls...
Kara, Katie, and Sarah Jane

Tiffany and her kids and me with mine... saying good bye.

I MISS YOU TIFFANY, DANIEL, WESLEY, & KATIE !