A Christmas Baby!

None of us will ever forget the Christmas that Stacy joined our family. We woke up to find our parents had gone to the hospital and we weren't allowed to open presents in the morning as usual. That was tough for us to understand, since we were all under the age of 10. However, Stacy has more than made up for those few missed hours of present opening.

Here is a list of things I love to remember about Stacy:

1. She was such a cute baby. She had jet black hair and a lot of it.

2. We called her Bugsy for a while because she loved to squish the bugs outside.

3. She had a tiny pair of cowboy boots that she loved...and they were adorable.

4. One year she got a Mickey Mouse t-shirt from Grandma Closner and she said she didn't like it. Grandma took it back.

5. She's never been afraid to say what she thinks and share her opinion.

6. She loves to laugh...and she has a laugh that fills the room.

7. She quickly grew taller than all of us.

8. She and Christy and Andy were inseparable.

9. She was born on Christmas...and every year growing up she demanded to celebrate her birthday on Christmas.

10. Now that she's all grown up she is such a fun sister. She is always happy, smiling, and telling jokes. She wears tall heels, shirts with sequins, and big jewelry. She has an infectious laugh (I know I've already mentioned this, but you've got to hear it) and she keeps us all smiling.

I love you Stacy! Have another happy birthday!

My Birthday

To Emily:

We never tell the ones that we see so often how much we appreciate them! I wanted everyone to know how I really feel.

1. I love the times that we can just hangout and talk, enjoy each others company, and laugh. I know that doesn't happen as much as we would like, but some day (probably years from now) we will be able to do it more often.

2. I know that your favorite thing is to do dishes day after day, and I know I use too many pots and pans when I cook, but we love that you do it, and never complain. THANK YOU!

3. You always keep us happy, and keep us going. I am not sure how you keep all of the different schedules in your head, but man, it is awesome.

4. Thank you for letting me abandon you early in the morning to go freeze my behind off or what ever body part I freeze when I run early in the morning, and you are stuck with the kids on the weekend. I appreciate that you let me go.

5. Your always look your best, and smell your best, and do your best, and we just keep going on, and never tell you, or let you know, so here it goes:

You Smell wonderful today, you look just as scrumptious, and thank you for all of your help!

I know I need to tell you these things more often, but hopefully this will be a good start to this year!

Your loving, and adoring husband,

Jay

P.S. Nikolai says that you are the nicest mommy in the world because you keep me warm at night with your hugs and kisses (even in our cold house!).

P.S.S Aleksi says you are the best in the world because you love us enough to sit and watch our favorite movies with us.

P.S.S.S Sorry for Hijacking your blog. :)

We had a Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we decided to go and see one of my fabulous sister's in Oregon for Thanksgiving. Thanks Katie and Bryce for having us! This was a great decision on our part and we had such a fun time.

We were able to site-see, do a little shopping, relax, watch a movie, do a puzzle, play games, and enjoy being together for four days. The boys had a fun time playing with their cousins (all girls...Spencer doesn't count as a playmate just yet). They built with Legos, drew pictures, played kitchen, doctor, and town. They spent endless hours jumping on the trampoline and running around with the chickens.

Jay and I enjoyed having other adults around to talk to and having our kids constantly entertained. We went on walks, basked in the warm weather (50 degrees!) and had fun staying up late and playing games. Bryce baked the most wonderful bread three days in a row, and thankfully I didn't gain five pounds.

We cooked Thanksgiving dinner and our mom would have been proud. Everything was totally delicious and we only had one slight mishap with some French's Fried Onions.

We had a beautiful room to stay in with fresh towels, homemade quilts, and cute little foldout beds for the boys. We felt like we were at a hotel...except the shower was ...interesting :)

Thanks Kate and Bryce and family! We had so much fun!

Halloween 2011:just the pictures

We had a lovely Halloween! Jay and I are two members of a gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, and the boys are ninjas...enjoy!

Andy's Farewell Family Pictures

On the day of Andy's farewell, we took some time to get some family pictures done. This is just a small sampling of what we had done. It's nobody's favorite thing to do, but having the pictures afterwards is lots of fun. Aren't we a cute bunch?