The best Christmas present EVER!

We had such a wonderful Christmas. We started out at our house opening stockings on our bed. The boys were overjoyed with what Santa put in their stockings.

 After they opened their stockings for them we had a surprise gift. We announced that we're expecting OUR THIRD!! Needless to say, they were very excited. We solicited their help in keeping it a secret until we told all the grandparents.

 It was really hard to do.

 Okay, not too hard.

 When we finally got the boys to settle down long enough to share our good news they anxiously looked through the photo book and proudly waited until the last page where they could spill their secret. I had glued our Christmas card in to the back of the book last minute which shared that we're adding to our growing, wild, crazy, wonderful family. 2011 is ending with a bang.

 And the surprise was greater than we could have expected.

We're so excited to announce that we'll be expecting our 3rd mid-August. What a Christmas blessing and the very best possible Christmas present EVER.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Ryan, Greta, Kadyn, Kai, Boulder
AND BABY #3 on the way!

Something magical about Christmas Eve.

There is something magical about Christmas Eve. The festivities are beginning (one of my favorite annual traditions is having everyone to our house for Christmas Eve fondue) but the excitement is still there. The anticipation is high. This was the first year that both kids knew what was going on. They've been prepping with The Elf on the Shelf for a month, they've reached the last day on their advent calendar, they know all about the true meaning of the season and were very excited to go to church to celebrate Jesus, and they were eagerly anticipating Santa's arrival. This year, for Ryan and me, the anticipation of the big day was even higher...we had something special planned for Christmas day.

Our annual group picture at the end of the fondue evening. 

We had a great time at our fondue party. Two of our great friend families joined us. Of course, I was so busy having fun and entertaining that I didn't remember to bust our the camera until our annual group photo after everyone else had left.

And of course the night wouldn't be complete without milk and cookies for Santa and the reindeer food.

After the children were all snug in their bed (notice Kadyn's own Christmas tree that Santa brought him last year).

Santa!

The boys were having a really hard time deciding what they wanted for Christmas...Kadyn especially. They know Santa only brings 1 thing so deciding what was the most important one item was difficult when 3 things were desired. The boys were so cute when they actually sat on Santa's lap. They held hands walking up to Santa, plopped down on his lap, then froze. They couldn't tell him what they wanted because they still hadn't decided (that and they were paralyzed by fear). Still managed 2 cute photos though :)

Sunday we loaded up the kids and headed down to The Old Mill to try to get pictures taken with Santa. Little did we know that the entire town of Bend would be there and we would have to wait upwards of an hour and a half. We couldn't make the wait as I had somewhere to be, but we did sneak in a mini family date and got some really cute pictures of the boys.

 The good news is that we were able to see Santa today. Both boys froze when Santa asked them what they wanted. I'm sure for Kadyn that was in part because he still can't decided between his two choices; the Batcave and a Transformer.

Santa picture to come soon :)

Happy 5th Birthday Kadyn James!

I feel like yesterday I had a newborn and I woke up today and I have a 5 year old. Sometimes I really hate blinking. But mostly I cherish that I have gotten to spend the last 5 years with this incredible little boy. I think I learn more from him than he learns from me. We love you so much Kadyn James.

Globe Boy

Kadyn had a preschool production last week. He had the special honor of being "Globe Boy." He was chosen from his class because he knows where all of the continents are and could lead the class and all the guests in reciting them. The production was very cute (once I got over the panic that my son was missing. Because he got to be Globe Boy he had a special grand entrance-- something we were not told about beforehand--he came in a whole song after everyone else so I spent the entire song thinking something was wrong).

Some of the art that he created in his class.

Christmas Parade