christmas eve (part 1)

christmas eve holds a great tradition for our crew.   north coast calvary offers a sweet experience for families to come see livestock and a manger.  what a great way for us to catch  a glimpse of the real christmas story.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

  “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:8-14  

not a huge fan of the animals.

a typical picture for us.

ran into the huffmans.

this was the best family shot we got.  i especially like the sign behind us.  we're classy like that.

"...'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices..."

blast off

auntie allison wanted the boys to open her gift a few days early.   

they were thrilled with their new hideout.

funny house...

last thursday night grandma chris and papa alan came out to see the boys.  grandma chris had to miss ryder's birthday due to a nasty flu bug, but still had cans for ryder to drop at funny house.  

christmas break

my mom is on christmas break!!  can i tell you how great it is to have gaga around to love on the boys?!   life is so much more fun with an extra pair of hands!  they made rolo/pretzel desserts(heavenly!),  hit up the airport for lunch and airplane watching(thanks, mom!), and returned an accidentally stolen bracelet(love that my boys think i need new jewelry and add it to the diaper bag;)) to banana republic.  let me also add that as we entered banana to apologize for the stolen goods, isaac knocked over a mannequin.  we've officially made our way on to the "do not enter list" at the banana outlet. 

fortunately legoland still lets us in!  the boys have loved the christmas decorations and snow!

our dancing machine.

try and find santa.  ha!

the "store"

oh what fun...

this weekend we decided to walk the neighborhood, looking at lights.  this house happens to be one of our favorites.  too bad we knocked off a few of the lollipop decorations in all the excitement.  the next day we dropped by the house to apologize and thank the family for decorating such a cool house.  the dad was AWESOME!  he didn't seem to care about the minor mess we had made and was thrilled to hear how much the kids enjoyed their house.  he promised our boys there would be even more decorations on his house next year.  we'll be back!

ryder now 3 and andy 33!

happy birthday, ryder!

saturday we celebrated the third birthday of our spunky second born, ryder!  we learned that ryder does much better with a smaller group of friends for his party.  he invited a few little boys that he sees regularly, to jump, collect bugs and eat cupcakes with him.  ryder had so  much fun that he wanted to know where all his friends went after the party.  FINALLY we threw a party that he truly enjoyed!  yay!

this year ryder asked his friends to skip the presents and hook him up with some cans for funny house(a house that we LOVE to drive by 365 days a year!  they go all out with their christmas decor and the boys love it.  they accept can donations for an organization called interfaith.  when the boys caught on to the fact that some people don't have food, ryder was all about the cans for his birthday!).  he was pretty excited to collect the cans as his friends rolled in.  ryder loaded the box with pride(picture of the delivery at the bottom of the post).   to be totally honest, we are NOT in NEED of anything in our house.  we are well fed, well clothed and have a warm house.  we want our boys to know how fortunate we truly are.  i hate that i have to remind myself of this fact... often!  

totally his pick on the theme!

the day of the party this character decided to walk.  he has been cruising with a few steps, but saturday he kicked it up a few notches.  looks like someone doesn't want to be left behind.  watch out world!

our can collector.

showing off his alien tattoos.

sawyer showed up with a bag of cans(thanks, friend!) and a candy cane for each brother.  he knows what these boys like... sugar!

baby cooper, one of the youngest party people.

ryder requested an alien bug hunt.  what's that?  good question!  it's a  regular bug hunt.  

stew played a game with the boys, throwing them into the jumpy over and over again.  the kids were elated and the moms were holding their breath.  this might have been ryder's favorite part of the party.  i love that i can always find my husband playing with our boys.  stew has his faults, but he's one hell of a dad(husband too)!  i am so grateful!

the first attempt.

he might have spit a little:) 

saturday night we headed to funny house to make the drop.  the owners of the house came out with candy canes for the boys and shared with us about their connection to interfaith.  the mom and her daughter have worked with this organization helping people get back on their feet. 
 as it turns out they almost didn't decorate this year, but their college aged daughter insisted!  so glad!  we would have had two very sad boys.





ryder,  you are a truly your own person.  you love to make us laugh and you love to try daring things that make me gasp.  you have really come out of your shell.  you talk about your friends and look forward to seeing them.  you could spend all day outside running, jumping and collecting bugs.  it thrills me to see you be kind to others.  i love when you notice that baby asher is in need of a toy and you share.  you love to tease your brothers!  your favorite color is orange and you remind everyone else of their (assigned)favorite color.  tomatoes are an absolute favorite of yours, along with most other fruits and vegetables.  you are willing to try most foods and aren't too picky.  you seem to pick up on other peoples feelings, even in movies and want to know the why behind them.  "why?" is your favorite question.  when we talked about funny house collecting food for people without anything to eat, you were concerned.  you have spent most of the past few months reminding us that there are people without clean water and food.  even at 2 you are teaching us to think about others.  you are a pistol with a tender heart.  i look forward to seeing what God does with your enthusiasm and fearlessness.  i love you so much and am so proud to be your mom!