Taking down the tree...

To remove the "Christmas Bush" we had to cut the branches off of it before we removed it from our home. It actually looks closer to the size that it should have been from the beginning. Ha!Ha! =)

Merry Christmas

We celebrated Christmas Morning in our home with just our little family for the first time ever. The boys were excited to wake up and find out what Santa brought, but no one was as excited as Colton was when he saw "Backpack" from Dora the Explorer. (This picture doesn't actually do his excitement justice. Of course I didn't have the camera ready when he first saw it, but at least I got a picture of him with a present Christmas morning. I actually failed to get one of the other two children. Here he is eating candy from his stocking.)

After opening presents here, we drove up to Oompa and Nana's house to celebrate with family. Colton had fun playing with his cousin Kingston. Here he is trying to help him up.

The babies sitting by the fireplace.

Colton is kissing Kingston.

I recently got the original Nativity "dress up" costumes from my Grandma that me and my cousins used to wear every Christmas when we read the Christmas story out of the scriptures. Since we didn't have enough cousins, Aunt Rita and Jake were nice enough to fill in as a Shepard and Joseph. Colt played Mary, Kingston was baby Jesus, Logan was a wise man, and Mason was the Angel. They were all very cute and did a wonderful job.

The Christmas Bush

For some reason, I thought it would be "fun" to cut down a tree from our acreage and have a real tree for the first time as a family. It's funny how the tree looked so much smaller outside. We had a bit of trouble trying to get it into the house....

I guess you can say that we like to do things "Griswald Style." We never had a squirrel jump out of it even though we did feel that it was a possibility.

Here the boys hold the tree stand while Daddy gets ready to put the tree in. Colton looks a little unsure.

We decided the finished product looked a little too big for a Christmas tree so we decided to call it our Christmas Bush.

Deer Hunt

We headed back to Nebraska for our annual Neddenriep Deer Hunt. Here all the boys pose for the big event!

We were lucky to have Uncle Ezra fly here to join in the hunt. Ez got a doe and here the guys are getting ready to clean it.

Jake had a great time hunting with the family, but he didn't get his deer until he came back to Missouri to hunt. Here he is with his prize buck.

Our friend (and contractor/designer that remodeled our home) Paul was here and was lucky enough to get to help Jake clean the deer. =)

Jake turns 35! & more cake for Mason =)

Happy Birthday to Daddy! We love you so much! Jake is the best hubby and daddy ever! Here is Jake with his new Nebraska hoodie and a cake that the nurses got him.

Here is Jake with some gifts from his boys.

He went bird hunting for his b-day with his buddy (also named Jake) and he came home with this. Not only does it look good, it tasted good too!

And Mason had some cake and gifts with the family.

And in pure Christian style the celebrating went on for weeks and when we went to Oompa and Nana's house we had b-day cake again for the two b-day boys!!!

Mason turns 6!

Happy Birthday to our Mason! I can't believe he is already 6 years old. He loves Pokemon, Lego star wars, and sports. Mason enjoys Kindergarten, and is always reading and writing stories. He especially loves to read the "Captain Underpants" series and the "Big Nate" books. He had some of his friends from school over to help celebrate.

Halloween

What a cute turtle! Thank you Brennamans for giving Colt the costume! Colt went as a turtle to the boys' school costume parade!

Once he was there, he wanted to join in the fun and walk in the parade with the big boys!

Here is Mason's Kindergarten class! Masi is on the far left and is dressed as General Grievous from Star Wars!

And here is Logan's 2nd grade class. He is second from the left and went as the bounty hunter, Jengo Fett, also from Star Wars.

Due to the colder weather, Colt switched into the Lion costume for trick or treating. It is the same one both of his big brothers wore when they were his age. =)

We met up with the Ziet and Brennaman families in Brennaman's subdivision which is close to the Avenue City School. Three families and all boys! Here are all of our little men dressed to please!

I pulled Colt in the wagon because his little legs just couldn't keep up with the big boys.

This neighbor had a trick for the kids!

Happy Birthday Rita!

Aunt Rita (mom's favorite sister) came down for a visit and we surprised her with a birthday party! We love Rita so much, she is such a kind and thoughtful person! =)

Quilt day #2

It was my turn to host the quilt day. Tara drove Aunt Pat and Grandma Shirley all the way to my house, which I am so grateful for. We had a great time and worked on table runners again. The goal is to have a different runner for every holiday!