It's not me, it's you!

I haven't posted in blogger in some time and I have forgotten how primitive this program is. Does anyone have any suggestions on perhaps a new method of blogging? Downloading photos is a pain, and forget about organizing or rearranging them after uploading! It's a logistical nightmare that reminds me something of tetris. Trying to highlight & move images and if you don't get them just right it tosses the image to the bottom of the page and then you have to scroll them back up to the top, hopping one photo at a time like leapfrog. UGH! So frustrating! And, then for some reason it uploads photos sideways and I can not figure out how to rotate the photos. Again, you fellow bloggers, what am I doing wrong? Certainly there's a better method out there than what blogger is offering now! At this rate I may never get caught up with my blog... or quit it all together.

Oh, come let us adore Him!

Christmas 2011

Our Christmas card this year

Finally got a picture of the boys all looking & smiling & dressed cute!

Love this photo!

The Santa Baby tutu I made for a photo prop. Used it on a sweet baby girl just 4 days old for her Christmas picture & then gave it to the mom for her keepsake box. Now I need to make another one for next year because it was so adorable! I totally picture it on a toddler with some candy stripe babylegs!

Our gingerbread house, the boys made with Daddy's help.

I LOVE matching Christmas jammies and I plan on making them wear them every year until they refuse! I love the excitement on their faces.

Adorable wrap job by Jared on my presents.

Stocking stuffers

A special gift sent all the way from China!

It was a hard to find, limited edition, toy from Mario brothers, I don't even know who he is. But, I know he's cool & Logan loves him!

Hunter & Logan are excited for video games! DS & Wii

Awww!

Grady (the boys) got a train table!

I got a new lens!!

Well, sort of! I love my mock lens mug!

Hunter performed in his first Christmas pageant and he ROCKED it!

If I can figure out how to load a video onto this thing I'll show you a clip. It was song/dance/play and he did all of his parts with gusto. We were so proud!! (He's the 2nd in from left on knees, playing the part of a wise man delivering gold)

Oh the Santa Sack! LOL

The Billings' side of the family Christmas Eve

The newlyweds Dale & Pam on this end of the table, Congratulations you two!

The boys had a blast playing with Uncle Dale! Maybe a little too much fun...

The Brown's side of the family Christmas Day

Grandpa Ken & Marjorie made the trip for Christmas day! We had dinner with them & our parents, it was a nice treat!

Hunter with his hoot owl I made. ( I made a dozen of those this year to give out to the kids & some of their cousins.) They are so adorable & easy to make! I may have a tree full next year.

The boys at my parents house the day after Christmas.

The gifts just keep on comin'!

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me.. 

A bag full of reindeer poop?

Hunter got an ipod! He loves it, and it makes him look so grown up!

 My mom made us all gigantic, soft blankets! We LOVE them!

Grady, after all those presents, what's he decide to get into and play with? Floss from my purse. ha ha

That night we got the Poole side of the family together and snapped a quick pic in the yard.

Little Tyler was napping, I need to photoshop him in! And we're missing about half of the family but it's a great shot of those that were there!

We had a great tantric Christmas, that stretched from the eve of Christmas Eve to the day after Christmas day. The boys were spoiled rotten & we all stuffed our faces silly! It is always great to be surrounded by family & friends who we don't get to see very often.  Thank you to everyone who made time for us & were generous with our boys!

My friend, Laura & her 2 children popped in for a visit and it was great catching up with her & letting the kids play. Though I never got to snap a picture! :(

And, our cousin's Cabe & Caroline came to visit a couple times during their stay and we were able to spend some quality time with their kids. In fact, little Mackenzie actually had her first sleepover with us! Her & I got to play princess, do our hair & nails and had some fun crafting! She fell asleep in my arms cuddling on the couch watching cartoons and I loved every minute of it! It was so nice to have a girl in the house for a while to counter balance all those smelly boys! ;o)

I hope all of you enjoyed Christmas!

Bethlehem Town Lyrics

oh, mary, joseph, rest your eyes

try not to think of the ending

world full of empty, He will die

but tonight He is still just a child

the silent night drifts all away 

and the angels are dancing around you

there's the joy of knowing He'll save the world

overshadowing the pain that He'll go through

have you cursed at the wind, 

have you cried to the heavens

have you fought with this mercy you don't understand 

when the wise men kneel down 

to kiss the hand of this king they found

in Bethlehem town will you hold back the years a while

will you dream that this man could always be a child

and never carry all the weight of the dirt and

the distance and the company we keep

 and did the stars shine much brighter that night you gave birth to the death that would bring us to life 

and did the mystery keep you awake was the sound of His little heart too much to take

when the wise men kneel down to kiss the hand of this king they found

Lefse 2012

The week before Christmas we loaded up the car & drove to Vancouver, WA to attend the annual Ellertson Lefse Feed. Jared's family (& mine) are Norwegian so they have hosted for many years a potluck style meal that revolves around the traditional way of making lefse. For those of you who may be unfamiliar it's basically a potato crepe or tortilla, it's warm and soft & you slather it in melted butter & a topping of your choice. Usually this entails brown sugar, cinnamon, peanut butter, jam or whatever else your heart desires.

Last year we stayed with Jared's cousin's Brad & Tina (and had so much fun letting the cousins play!) But, this year we opted for a hotel room with our growing brood.  On the way there we stopped in Portland to visit Jared's best friend Eric & his wife Graznya who recently added a new member to their family! Maya was born on my birthday August 6, 2011. We had yet to meet her, not even a photo!

I'm pleased to introduce to you, Maya! She's adorable and looks an awful lot like her Daddy!

She was the happiest, quietest baby ever! It figures, both her parents are pretty laid back.

She was a sharp contrast to our boisterous boys who managed to find everything breakable or off limits within minutes of our arrival. In fact, as we were attempting this group shot you can see Grady has just discovered a hidden bag in the window sill that has a pair of sharp, tiny sewing scissors and is about to make some adjustments on their curtains if it hadn't been for Jared's eagle eye spotting his impish desires.

The happy family!

Maya

After our visit with our friends we met up with family the next morning.

Here's John & Kim's newest member of their family! Another baby we had yet to have the pleasure of meeting, Ryder!

He's so cute, just like his big brother, Chace. I fell in love at first glance.

I think he looks a lot like his Daddy, though most people think he looks more like his Mama.

Big brother, Chace is growing up so fast!

Cousin Caden

Remember this little doll? Another adorable Mya!

Mya & her Mama Tina

Logan gearing up for the lefsa feed!

Jonette brought her famous cupcakes

Uncle Lawrence flipping some lefse

Oh my, this sweet little thing is Audrey. Our family has had a lot of babies this year! I love her name, it's what we would have named our daughter, had we had one! Well, Hunter & Logan would have been Madison Lynn, but Grady was going to be Audrey Monroe.

 ♥ One of my most favorite people in this world & her babe Ryder. ♥

Grammy & Grady

Ron & Brad

The happy hosts Grandpa Ken (right) & his brother Rod.

Grady getting some lefse... I realized as we drove home that we drove 4 hours for this event & I forgot to eat any myself! :(

Most of the cousins together!

Chace, Ryder, MacKenzie, Kendra, Mya, Caden, Logan, Hunter, Grady, Ava & Jacob

Mya checking out how much Jared looks like her Daddy.

The famous Frimpong-Ellertson's :)

Another cute little cousin- Marley

Her sister- Cedelia

The boys watching Hunter play his DS in our hotel room... we left town for 3 days and forgot to bring ANY TOYS!! Not even a book! :( Luckily Hunter brought his DS and we had our cell phones, so the kids could pass the time with some Angry Birds. I couldn't believe we had no activities for the kids all weekend... rookie mistake!

Uncle Mark & Aunt Barb bought a new house and was the place to be all weekend. Here are the kids playing with their planes, trains & automobiles.

Andrea set up shop in the back room for the diva's to get their nails done. :)

This weekend was so much fun, I'm glad we've been able to go 2 years in a row now. I really hope we keep this family tradition going because we feel like we don't get to see our family in Portland & Vancouver nearly enough! It's nice to know at least one weekend a year we will see them. But, our goal is to make this trip more often, regardless of lefse being at the table or not.

It was great spending time with you & seeing our children creating bonds & making memories.

Love you all!