December was a busy month for us, just as it is for nearly everyone! As usual, I'm running terribly behind on this post, but some of the pictures and videos were too good to skip over :) We began the month with a photo shoot with both sides of our family! Also, fair warning, this could be the longest post in history (primarily because of Davey's annual anniversary present to me of a video montage of our year!)
TIS THE SEASON!!
Just like every other December, we were excited to go to the Principled Technologies holiday party! It has been at the Umstead Hotel the past several years, and it is always a wonderful evening :) I always try to make my rounds and take a few pictures of the couples I know. It used to be the entire company, and now it's only about half of the people (if that)!
And, just like every year, my parents watch the boys while we're at the party! It looks like the boys enjoyed having Granddaddy around for the evening this time!
Same facial expression :)
The next morning, we were off to Wilson, NC to do an early Christmas celebration with my Dad's side of the family! My Mom had bronchitis/pneumonia, so she couldn't come, but Dad was happy to sit right in between the boys for the trip :)
My Dad and his brothers: Jack, Tim, and Bill
Grandma Shelby was getting the ham ready!
LOLLLLL--Tommy's face :D
Ethan was happy to get into the frosted Christmas cookies!
The boys with their cousins: Cheyenne, Haleigh, Gracie, and Austin
Ethan passed out on the way home!
The following Tuesday, we had our final week of MOPS for the semester, and it was a fun one! Each table took their turn at decorating one brave volunteer as a Christmas tree!
My table-mates working hard to dress Tamlyn "up"...there was a method to the madness!
The theme this year for MOPS--"A Beautiful Mess!"...I think we captured it!
I still cannot believe we didn't win!!
After decorating a person, an actual tree was a piece of cake!! The boys really got into the ornaments this year--it was so cute to hear them excitedly proclaiming what each of their ornaments were as they unwrapped them <3
The boys helped Grandma decorate her tree first...
and, helped her with a bit of Christmas baking!!
Haha, a little mixture of both--cookie ornaments!
Now, it was time to decorate our own tree!
You will see Tommy's "smile" a lot during this month--open to any suggestions on how to get it back to his natural sweet smile when a camera is in front of him!!
Tommy and Teddy <3
The boys were very excited for one set of their new ornaments for the year--Sully and Mike Wazowski from Monsters U!
the finished product!
Next up was the Christmas program at the boys' preschool, Woodhaven. The place was packed out--I guess everyone wanted to see all the littles in their Christmas outfits and costumes! I must say, everyone looked adorable, and we were so glad that my Mom, and Granny and Papa could join us!
Getting ready...how cute are tighty-whities on 3 year olds!
Risky Business, anyone?!
All dressed up and ready to go!
Even Ethan isn't a fan of Tommy's new smile!!
A quick pic with Grandma by the tree!
There's my tooty's sweet smile!!!
Ethan was up first with his other 3 year old classmates! As expected, his participation was very minimal, but he sure was cute! First though, you have to watch this "special" video of my little Ethy-bear....and they said Tommy was most similar to Uncle Nate! I only wish I had the video of Nathan to put up beside this one, each of them flapping their little arms like little crazy people! For the record though, Ethan WAS waving at me, as I had moved to the side and front to try to snap a few pictures of him!
Ethan did do the "shhh-ing" sound :)
This was more indicative of his participation ;)
and this....
and, definitely this!
At least he's a cutie pie!!
Then, they cleared the stage, and made way for the 4 year olds, who were all dressed up in manger costumes--SQUEEEEELL!! If you look closely at the following small video clip of Tommy's entrance, you can see when he notices us in the crowd and read his lips saying, "I see my Daddy!"
I almost passed out from the cuteness when I saw Tommy walk in <3
The shepherds!
And, look at those cute little angels!
Here was the whole scene...the cuteness was almost too much!!
Tommy was an active "participant"...Mr. Social Butterfly!!
My sweet shepherd!
Tommy and his buddy, Leo, looking at baby Jesus :)
Clearly baby Jesus is hilarious.....
Tommy singing away!
Ham that he is....he heavily exaggerated any "ooohh" sound :P
After the Christmas story, and a few songs, the 3 year old classes made their way back onto the stage for the grand finale!
The honey badger didn't seem to care too much....
Until it was over, and then he was happy to give them a hand!!
Tommy was quite proud of his efforts!
Tommy's best friend, Patrick, made an adorable wise-man!
And, of course, we had to get a picture with Baby Jesus!!
Thanks for coming, Papa and Granny!
2 peas in a pod :)
Thanks for taking this family photo, Mom!
The next afternoon, the boys had another treat coming their way to celebrate the end of school for the semester--FROZEN!!
Daddy and the boys walking up to meet me and Grandma!
Grandma had to sit in the middle so she could spoil the boys with popcorn and reese's pieces equally!
Speaking of Grandma, she was pretty much a life-saver in December. I can't even count how many times the boys went over there, AND she is responsible for probably half of the pictures in this blog!! I just couldn't get my picture-taking act together!!
Again, the favorite seasonal activity--changing window clings!!
Ethan loves a good snowflake!
Playdate at Grandma's house with the neighbors!
The boys think they're so special when they get to eat at the coffee table!
And, there were PLENTY of crafts for December!!
Ethan's are on the left, and Tommy's on the right (and middle)...isn't he doing such a great job coloring these days!!
Getting ready to repeat the past! Nolan and I made these little gumball wreaths when we were little, and Grandma wanted the boys to make them too! So sweet too, because she wanted Grandmother and Granny to have them for a homemade present from the boys <3
Peek-a-boo!! Didn't they do a great job on their wreaths?!
The boys loved decorating their own personal trees!
The finished product!
The kids also did a TON of crafts at school in December, but I decided to just share my favorites!!
Ethan's handiwork!
This little thumbprint reindeer card was my favorite...
isn't that too cute?! And, Ethan is starting to trace letters now too!
And, Tommy's crafts! His Christmas card was adorable as well--I was so proud of how carefully he colored that tree!
On December 23rd, I was so excited to go to the airport to welcome home one of my favorite people, Amy Humphrey!! She selflessly served for 6 months on the Africa Mercy in the Congo. WELCOME HOME, AMY!!
Sarah could NOT have been more thrilled to see her big sister <3 Unfortunately, my other pictures didn't turn out, but I'm so glad this one did!!
The next day was Christmas Eve, and this year we spent the entire day with my side of the family!
Merry Christmas!
Mom made us all a delicious meal as usual--beef roast, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, roasted carrots, and cornbread! Everything looked and tasted great!
Tommy played blackjack with us big kids, and he loved it!
Granddaddy dealing and teaching us all about hearts, poker, and blackjack
This picture is great on a number of levels :D
Ohhhh, Tommy :)
Ethan playing with his first little present--a spiderman bank and figurine!
Super heroes are all the rage right now in our little household, so the boys both couldn't wait to put on their new Spiderman slippers!
New PJ's to match!!
Batman and rudolph = classic combo :)
And, the big gift (Granddaddy picked these out!)...Tonka Rescue Force police SUV and helicopter!!
Tommy was so proud to look "just like Uncle NoNo!!" in his new basketball jumpsuit from Nolan and Laura.
Ethan got a Bobcats jumpsuit too, and they are now their favorite outfits by far!
For Christmas morning, we were back at our own house. We took our time getting up and ready, and then it was time to see what was under the tree!
One shot of the presents under the tree on Christmas morning!!
Who would've thought the wrapping paper would be such a big hit?!
Speaking of big hits, check out this video of the boys opening their present from Grandma Jan!! I only video-taped it because she wasn't able to join us this year--so glad I did!!
These things are GOLDEN!! If I ever see more, I will get them. It's the toy they've played with the most, and they were $8 each!! They're called "My Busy Books" and it is a short story recap of popular movies, with an extra large playmat folded in the back and like 1 inch miniature figurines of all the major characters in the movie!
This was the "big" present of the year...soccer goals!! Although, when Tommy opened it, he said "It's a.....Spiderman Tent!!" They thought the webbing was something to hang their super hero figurines in!
A little soccer game on Christmas morning!
Tommy also enjoyed running around the "field" I made out of the orange cones!
Ethan came out, but he wasn't quite as in to the soccer game as Tommy ;)
Go Tommy Go!!
Haha, Ethan was content to play on the "pirate ship" (aka play set)
Down goes Ethan!
Like I said, Ethan doesn't quite have the hang of soccer yet!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, from the two of us!
After we came inside, and got dressed, it was time to head out to Goggi and Papa Bill's house for our final Christmas celebration!
That's one sharp monkey!
Ethan can always be found where electronic games are close in hand!
Okay, this picture is CLASSIC!!! We were playing Catchphrase, and Bill had just dumped it off before the buzzer sounded!
Ethan was a little too excited to get to the present-opening by round 3!
Yayyy!! Despicable Me 2 from Aunt Becky and Uncle Steven!!
And, it's not only girls who love to get shoes for Christmas!! The boys LOVE their new Crocs from Uncle Nathan and Aunt Sarah!! PS--if you guys want to give them crocs every year for Christmas, you would hear NO complaints from us!
Christmas was over, but there was still a couple of big days for our family. The first one was December, 27th. I was supposed to have my third child on that day, but it was not meant to be. I was so blessed that Donna and Emily Howard treated me to my very favorite food, SUSHI, and of course to their wonderful company <3 <3 <3
So thankful for these two beauties, and the yummy sushi!
Sooooooooooooo good!!!
The very next day marked the final "big day" for us of 2013, and it was an important one to us. As I just mentioned, I miscarried our third child earlier this year. As I prayed and meditated about how to honor God and my child through this loss, an idea came to me. All of us here (everyone alive)--we all have the chance to leave our own legacies. Since my child, who would have been named Samuel (Sam) or Eliana (Ellie) depending on gender, would not have that chance, we wanted to create that for them. At the same time, we wanted to bless others--in particular, others who have suffered more than we have. We chose two families (one local, and one in Colorado) to try to be a blessing to. One family had lost a young mother and wife in September, leaving behind a husband and 2 little girls who were only 6 and 1. The other family had 2 sons (one at 2, the other at 35 weeks), and another one is dying (6). As I have always loved the idea of the festivals in the Old Testament, I wanted to just have a big party on or around my due date. Every year, instead of throwing a birthday party for Sam or Ellie, we will just throw a big party that we named the "Sam & Ellie Legacy Jubilee". Instead of bringing a gift for a kid, the idea is to bring something to bless one or both families instead! It was so so nice to be surrounded by friends and family this year on December 28th. What was even sweeter was that we were able to raise a combined total of over $1700 for the two families, not including presents!! We were so incredibly humbled by everyone's support--it meant the world to us <3
The dessert table (and, I had to get Davey's handiwork in of hanging up our new pictures!).
A friends and family fave--smoked salmon pinwheels and caprese bites!
Hi Mom and Dad!
S'mores Pops
Cake pops and mini eclairs!
Cupcakes, peppermint chow, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and white chocolate oatmeal cherry cookies
Two of my besties--Laura and Leslie standing behind the non-desserts!
Thank you all again for making the first Sam & Ellie Legacy Jubilee a huge success!!
Tommy hydrating in his new gear before we head to Monkey Joe's for a little New Year's Eve morning celebration!
As usual, social butterfly Tommy made a new friend very fast!!
That smile is one great way to end 2013!
So, as I mentioned earlier, Davey always makes me a video for my anniversary present. This year we celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss! And, because someone (me!) took so many pictures this year, this was the longest video yet, which I didn't mind AT ALL! I have to say, one of the coolest things has been that this video is the boys FAVORITE thing to watch on TV. They beg and beg to watch "Mommy's Video", and even better is hearing Tommy beginning to belt out the words to the inspirational music that plays in the background of the video--ENJOY!!
