Well, Christmas was a week ago today and it's been a fun "week after Christmas". We started it on the night after Christmas by going out to dinner with the adults in the Byers family . After dinner we went to our house with everyone and played games. The adults and children had a great time playing games together. I think the hit of the night was "Do you love your neighbor". On Monday afternoon we packed up for a few days and headed to the cabin. We went up with Lisa's family and my mom and dad. Paul's family was there with us for a few hours. I always love going to the cabin. It's such a great place to be. Somehow the boys (and Brooke) got a game going where they were sitting in a circle tossing 2 footballs back and forth. They were very serious about it. They got a plan of who was going to throw to who so that both footballs were continuously being thrown. Both balls are in the air in the above photo. It was fun to watch them have so much fun together.
On Tuesday night, Sandy and her kids came up. They were nice enough to let us stay at the cabin for part of their time. We had a great time playing speed scrable while some of the boys played settlers. I'm horrible at speed scrable but still had fun. It was snowing all day Wednesday (about 10 inches dropped) and we had to drive home in the snowstorm. Luckily, it doesn't bother Dale like it does me and I don't have to drive in it. Right after we got home, we turned around and left to go out to dinner with some of the adults in my family. We went to Texas Roadhouse and it was so yummy! It was also fun to visit without kids needing one thing or the other every 5 minutes. The next day I spent the day taking down all the Christmas decorations. As much as I love Christmas, I love taking it down. It makes my house seem so clean and roomy.
My brother Paul and his family are currently living in Georgia and they came home for Christmas. They came over to spend New Year's Eve with us and we had a great time. We had dinner and played games. It's always fun to see the cousins having fun together and it was nice to visit with Paul and Amy and hear more about Georgia.
We played a few board games and then spent some time playing the WII together. It was so much fun to watch the kids compete against each other!
We stopped playing the WII for a few minutes and came upstairs at 11:45 to watch the ball drop and celebrate the new year. Jadon found some streamers for us to throw and we all celebrated at midnight. There were quite a few fireworks going on outside. We played the WII for another hour then went to bed.
It was a very fun week and I'm sad, but excited, to get back to a regular schedule again. I have high hopes for 2010 and think it's going to be a great year. At the end of this Christmas season, I feel so blessed. I'm so thankful to have such a great family. I'm thrilled that everyone is healthy and happy. I am so thankful for all the wonderful things in my life!
Today Katie is 14 months old. The first picture is representing her attitude the past couple of days. She has been crying every time she doesn't get her way. She is definitely use to getting her way. Everyone in the family loves to give her what she wants to make her happy. For the past couple of weeks when she gets mad she hits herself in the head. Sometimes it's just a little tap. If she's really mad, she will smack herself with both hands. That's what she was doing when I took the picture. She was mad because she didn't want to get dressed. I guess I should be glad she's not hitting anyone else. I don't think she wants to get older and have to be told "No" sometimes.
Luckily, today was a much better day. Katie was the sweet little baby we are use to having around. She must have been having PMS or something. She is getting big so fast! I just finished scrapbooking her first year. I was looking at her first photos and it seems like just yesterday that I was in the hospital holding our new baby girl. Here are some of the fun things Katie has learned recently. She has just started walking. She will only take about 4 or 5 steps then decide it's much faster to crawl. She can say a few words. She says Ya, No, Mama, Sometimes Daddy and Kara. She loves to eat and gets very excited when she manages to sneak into the pantry where she knows the fruit snacks are. I'm embarassed to admit this but she still sleeps with her binkey. She is by far our oldest to have a binkey. When we ask her if she wants to go to bed. She says "Yaaaaaaa" because she knows she can have her binkey. She has 4 binkeys and they are all in her bed. When I get her up, she has one in her mouth and one in each hand. She just sits there and switches them all around, giving them all a turn to be sucked on. I want to take them away but I don't how to do it. She still loves dolls. She especially loves it when Kierra will let her play with her American Girl dolls. She absolutely loves Kyson. She will find him and wrap her arms around his neck and just sit and hug him. She does it a lot and doesn't ever seem to get sick of it. Of coarse, everyone is jealous of Kyson and he loves it! She loves to dance with her Daddy. When he turns the music on, she will come sit at his feet and reach her arms up to him to let him know she wants to dance. She loves the fast ones and the slow ones. She has fallen asleep several times on his shoulder while he dances with her. She is always on the go. She doesn't sit still much. She likes to explore all the time. She doesn't like it when the kids go downstairs without her. She will stand at the gate and try and yell their names so they will come get her. When you to tell her to "smile" she makes the cutest face trying to smile. We sure are enjoying her (except when she's crying all day) and can't get enough of her sweet cheeks. 
