SNOW!!!

It finally snowed! We were stuck at home for about 4 days - mostly due to ice after the snow.
The kids enjoyed it but wouldn't stay out in it for long. There was lots of complaining from Mary of it being too cold.

His exact words: "It's snowing!!!"

Our little apartment cloaked in snow with all the neighborhood kids congregating there to play (they moved too quick to capture them all).
There was lots of snow fights and snow angels then they would come in for breaks to warm up.

Our snow bunnies

Monster Trucks

Josh won tickets to the Monster Truck Rally in Raleigh.
Mom and the kids had never been to anything like that before. We ended up next to our friends the Hollomans.
It was a blast and VERY LOUD!!!

How in the world Carson fell asleep is beyond me!!

Mary and Joe were mesmerized! They didn't care too much for the noise (especially Joe who hates loud noises) but they still had fun. Mom and Dad's favorite part was the stunt bike and atv riders. That was some amazing stuff!!

Yet another party for Mary

We had another family party for Mary so Daddy and a few others could celebrate.



See the Cookie Monster cake Mommy made!
When Mommy was a little girl her mom made a cake a lot like this one for her. It actually turned out pretty cute!

Aunt Cheri and Uncle Dave made sure the princess had a gown to go with her tiara and shoes. She loves it! We think her favorite princess is Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Our baby girl LOVES clothes. She got lots of clothes for her birthday. You can always tell if she likes an outfit by her immediate reaction to it.

So mothering. She was helping cousin Jacob button his shirt. She was very concerned that his shirt wasn't right.
Nurturing just comes naturally to her.

Mary's 2nd Birthday Party

Mary's 2!

We had a combined princess birthday party with a friend (Addison). It was a lot of fun! Check out the awesome cake Beth (Addison's mom) found for the girls.

I like to call these two partners in crime. Just look at the mischeif seeping out of them.

Baby Abby got in on the sugar fest. Look at the way she is attacking that sucker. Yum!!

Our gorgeous princess. She is cute and she knows it.

Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Ok. So Joey thought it would be fun to wrap a brick up in different sized boxes. It took forever to unwrap and the brick was filthy dirty. His gift to us was actually a gift card under a false bottom of the last box. Good one Joey!

All the kids went together for Mom and Dad's gift. We gave them money toward a Washington D.C. vacation. They have always wanted to go and spend some time there but never have been able to. To make it a little more fun we purchased a bunch of items you would use for a long car trip. Each thing was individually wrapped with a 5 dollar bill. They had fun unwrapping all the silly little items. They are planning to take the trip in February. We love you Mom and Dad!!

Overall we had a great Christmas! We loved spending the time with family!

Christmas morning

Christmas Morning at our house
We had a fun Christmas morning. Grammy, Papa, and Aunt Shana usually come over to watch the kids receive their gifts from Santa. We opened all our gifts ending with the gifts we have chosen to give Jesus this year. Josh got cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for us for breakfast.

More of Christmas Eve

Hangin' out with Jacob and Abby!

The beautiful princess!! Thank you Kylie for the gift!

Uncle Dave's gift to Joe-Joe. Now he's an Army guy like his Uncle Dave!

Uncle Jared, Grammy and cousin Chelsea

Christmas Eve 2009

We spent Christmas Eve at Grammy and Papa's. Papa reads the Christmas Story and the Hanukkah Story every year. Then we light the Menorah and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Last of all... presents!

My 2 beautiful kids!

She loves her cousin Tyler!

They had a good time with their cousin. We sure missed Kylie this year.

2009 Visit with Santa

We went to see Santa and Mrs. Claus at Nashville Library back in December! Joe was excited but Mary was very unsure. She wouldn't go to Santa at all but Mrs.Claus was ok. I think it was because Mrs. C. had a pretty broach that Mary liked.

He must have been telling Santa something funny.

Smiles all the way around.

At this point Mary loved Mrs. Claus! The way to our girl's heart is through her stomach.