Christmas Day

The kids were excited for Christmas morning.  We told them they couldn't come up until 6:00. They were very ready by that time.

The calm before the storm

The kids rushed in to see their loot

Ready to take a look

Oliver got Skylanders!!!!!

 

Parker got trains!!

Julia snuggled Grandma!!

Taking a closer look

Julia checking out her pile

She got a tea set and bracelets

Chugging some trains

Swapforce

Santa brought 9 swords!!  Next year I think the adults might ask for them :)

Captivated by the glow of skylanders

Trains again!

Painting his new train book

Feeding her new baby with Grandma

After Christmas morning, we went to Eric's Shook grandparents to celebrate and then to Eric's parents' house to celebrate with the DeLong side. 

Julia with her cousin Grace (Eric's cousin, Sarah's little girl)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve day started with lots of cousins playing.  Our kids were there, along with Randy & Kara's six, and George & Eleanor (Joe & Renee's) came to spend the morning.  The kids all had lots of fun playing together.

Parker playing with his cousin Eleanor

 We celebrated Christmas with Eric's immediate family around noon on Christmas Eve. 

Parker with his presents

Oliver with his presents

Julia with her presents and Daddy

Julia got lots of clothes and she was excited for all of them

Parker playing trains with Grandpa. 

Sierra and Savannah helping Oliver with a Lego set

Grandma and Grandpa with six of the grandkids- a few cousins (Alexis, Tanner, and Braden) weren't able to make it that day

 After lunch, presents, and fun, we headed back to my mom's house to get ready for church.  We went to Mass that evening and then had a crew come back to the house for pizza and fun.  Randy read a story to the kids while they were anxiously awaiting presents.  Our kids each got a few presents that evening.  It is always a fun time!  Shortly after presents, it was time to head to bed so that Santa could come!

Parker's Birthday

Pictures from Parker's birthday are out of order, but you can see he had fun.  We started the party with sledding at the shop.  It snowed the night before so there was fresh snow, but it was very cold.  Parker had a lot of fun though and I think all the other kids (and adults) did too. 

 

Playing trains after opening presents

Enjoying hot chocolate and cake

Opening presents- trains seemed to be the theme :)

Parker got to go for a snowmobile ride at his sledding Parker.  Marcus (my niece Jessica's husband) brought his snowmobile up to the shop and took some kids out for rides.  Parker loved it and still talks about going.

Parker's birthday cake- None other than Thomas the train- (Big thanks to Wanda for baking the cake for us)

My sister-in-law, Kara, got a few more pictures from his party- see them on her blog:
http://stayingconnected-kara.blogspot.com/2014/01/christmas-day-2.html

 

This is terrible, but this is the only picture I have of Parker from his actual birthday.  We went to the OP for lunch with a big group.  Parker had a lot of fun playing at the OP and fell asleep on the way home. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Parker!! 
We love you!!

 

Eric's Graduation

We headed to Illinois on Wednesday, December 18th for Eric's graduation.  We spent 3 nights in a hotel and the kids had fun eating in the hotel and swimming in the hotel.  We swam about an hour each night and they loved it (and it made them sleep well at night).  Eric met up with some former colleagues to do some work on Thursday and Friday.  The kids and I met up with a few friends and spent some time relaxing.  I went out with a group of friends one night- it was great to catch up with old friends.  Friday night, we had some friends come and swim and then we ordered pizza.  My mom, Donna, Coco, and Eric's parents came Friday night for the Saturday morning graduation.  The ceremony was at 10:00, we dropped Julia off with some friends because I don't think she would have tolerated the ceremony very well.   We went to the ceremony and the kids did pretty well.  Our friends dropped Julia off so we could get some pictures with her.  We ate a quick lunch at McDonalds because the weather was getting bad.  Then we headed back to Iowa. 

Enjoying lunch in the hotel room

Fun in the pool

Prior to the ceremony

Parker proud of his daddy

Julia with her doctor daddy

Eric with his parents

Our family

Eric and I

Oliver liked Eric's hat

Julia tolerated it- Parker did not

Oliver wearing Eric's hat and hood from the ceremony