Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!

Last week one of my friends moms invited our kids to a Birthday Party for Jesus that she put on! She talked about who Jesus is, read stories about the Shepard and Sheep, had an art project for them and even brought cupcakes for them to decorate. They had so much fun and we just wanted to say Thank You again!

This first picture is probably the best picture that we have of the 3 Musketeers.

Parker, Ava and cousin Lily

Here Parker is wearing the sheep hat

And now taking his turn as the Shepard

They were each able to make their own door knob hanger and decorate it however they wanted.

After the party, we hung out with the kids for a little while and discovered the size difference between Griffin and his cousin Sophia. They are 11 weeks apart and well, you can see with your own eyes.

Christmas Program!

Last night Parker had his Sunday School Christmas Program. It was so much fun to see him in a setting like that and he did so well. This first picture is of us passing the time with Griffin waiting for the program to start.

His friend Ava is in the same class as him and they got to run around together when the show was done. We managed to stop them for just a second in order to snap a picture.

This is Parker up front standing becuase the girl next to him stood up. It is not time for his class to do anything and everyone else it sitting down, but not Parker.

This is when Parker finally spotted us and wanted to make sure that we saw him.

When I was putting Parker to bed last night I was talking to him and letting him know how proud Jeff and I were of him. I told him that we had such big smiles on our faces and that Jesus was smiling too. He comes back saying "Where was Jesus? I didn't see him and I didn't see him smile." I love how everything is so literal with 3 year olds.

Thanksgiving or Christmas!!!!

This is a pic of all the cousins that were together in Ohio for Thanksgiving! Can you imagine how much fun they have when we are all there? Can you also imagine how loud it can be at times???? Anyway, as tradition the two Grandmas get all the munchkins Christmas PJ's for the Holiday Season. So what do you think we do? Get them all dressed in their Christmas pajamas, line all 16 of them up and take a Thanksgiving picture! What else would we do?

This is our smaller family with just "our 7"

Griffin and Sophia had some matching ones to show how much Grandma loves them!

Watch out Santa, Me and my many chins may just steal your job!

Kalahari!

We headed to Ohio this week for Thanksgiving with our cousins. On our way we met them at Kalahari, an indoor waterpark, for a night. We had 16 kids under the age of 9 and all the parents. Grand total of 32 people I believe. The kids had so much fun with each other. They had everything there from 2 kiddie pools, a wave pool, lazy river, simulated surfing and countless waterslides. I really don't know who had more fun, the kids or the parents. I think we have made a new tradtion which is fine with me.

A big boy slide that Parker could go down all on his own!

Part of the clan taking a break!

Parker and Lily racing once again!

Parker, Hunter and their cousin Carson

A Gift From God!

Today we had Griffin's Dedication which takes the place of Infant Baptism in our church. We as his parents are making the commitment to Christ that we will do the best we can to raise him in a Christian home and teaching him about Christ to the best of our ability. We will try to instill good morals and values and raise him to love the Lord with all of his heart. Our verse for Griffin is James 1: 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above. So, below is a picture of our precious gift.

After church we had family over for lunch and some cake. Thank you to everyone that shared in Griffin's special day.

After dinner some of the kids went outside to play in the snow. Jeff and Jeremy pulled them behind the golf cart in the sled and had the first snowball fight of the season.

Jesus Loves You Griffin!

And Winter Is Here!

This morning I was woke up by Parker running into my room yelling..."There is snow outside, there is snow outside." From that point on I heard, "Can we go outside yet" about every two minutes. So I got the sled and all there snow stuff ready and this is what I found not even 5 minutes later when I went back to get Griffin. Out cold. I would fall asleep if I was that warm and cozy too! Anyway, we went outside, played in the snow and had a riot. Hope everyone else gets to enjoy it as well!

4 Months Old!!!!

So, Griffin is already over 4 months and we had his check up just the other day. He is growing wonderfully and as healthy as can be. Weighing in at 17.5lb which is between 75% and 90%. He is 40% for head and 50% for height. We are so very thankful for him and feel so blessed to have him in our lives. Parker thought he was along for the ride at the Dr. and then we threw the whole flu shot on him. I think this was the first time that he was really, really mad at me. I felt horrible b/c I didn't know we could get one at Griffins appt. I planned to go in for the Sat. clinic. As a matter of fact I felt so bad that I made the Dr. tell him so I could blame it on someone else. I am so sorry Parker!

And Here are a couple more Halloween pics of the boys! It was such a fun night!

The Cowboy and the Pea!

I wanted to capture the boys in there costumes this year so we went to get there pics taken. They turned out pretty good. It was one of those times where it was a last minute idea and the time slots they had left were really bad times. Like nap time. I was totally prepared for major disaster, but I think being in the costumes made everything really fun, at least for Parker. We were in and out in like 15 minutes (record) and wanted to share the end product with everyone.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Football Fun!

Tonight we went to our first HC Football game! We heard that they were having such an awesome season that we decided to check it out for ourselves. My brother and sister and there families came over to our house first for pizza and then we headed over to the old stomping grounds. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. Parker watched for a while but much prefered running and chasing and tackling his cousins.

Griffin enjoyed it as well until he fell asleep that is. It's hard to keep those cubby cheeks warm when they stick out so far but we did our best!

All smiles!

So the first two pics I put on just because I love to see kids with huge smiles and so happy that they can't hold it in. Griffin is just enjoying tummy time and it's so fun because he is laughing now and can hold his end of a conversation. Baby talk of course. He'll go back an forth with you no problem.

And what 3 year old wouldn't have a grin from ear to ear if they were on the carousel at the Grandville Mall. You would think it was Disney World. Fine with me, it's a whole lot cheaper!

After the mall, we went to a local park with our friend Ava. The kids had a riot running around and we thought that we would take advantage of one of the last warmer days.

Griffin is like his mommy in the sense that he is 100% content with just people watching at the park. Pretyy bad isn't it!

Smores 'n' more

First of all, as some of you know Parker's Grandma brought over a caterpillar about two weeks ago that was going to turn into a butterfly. Within 1 day of having it, things already started changing. It was a cricila (sp) for two weeks and just this morning we found that it had made it's final change and was now a beautiful butterfly. Parker has loved having this in the house and running every morning to see what has changed. Grandma is so good with all these learning experiences. Thanks again Grandma! His wings are still pretty wet and kind of rolly poly, but when it is ready to fly, we will let it go. I kind of thought Parker would want to keep it even after it had changed but he is ready to let it go. Let's see if it stays that way!

So last night we decided to have a bunch of friends over. It was a perfect night for it and we had so much fun. Everyone took there kids which is always great to see all the different stages they are all in. The oldest kids were able to makes smores and roast there own marshmellows. Below is a pic of (left to right) Ava, Jenna and Parker. Jenna (Dave and Wendy Kapenga's little girl) came over for the first time last night and the kids had a riot with her. I believe that the three of them are only a total of 6 weeks apart. You will have to come over again sometime soon!

Yeah, still can't get a normal smile out of the kid. Maybe someday!

New BFF's Ava and Jenna

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDIE!

So tomorrow is my sister Wendie's Birthday! When it was my Birthday she had a post for me with some pics and a great wish to go along with it. So, I thought I would do the same for her. Thanks for being such a wonderful sister! Love you and wish you the very best with many more years to come!

This first pic is when she came to the birth of Griffin! It was 1:30 in the morning and she climbed out of bed so she could be there to hear his first cry. This is a tradition that my family does. We all wait outside the door when a new addition is brought to the family. She had the majority of her children during the day but Sarah and I are making it a bit difficult for her. They have all been between 1:30 and 4:00 am. But she is there. Thanks again!

This next one is from a Spring Break trip a year and a half ago. My whole family goes to the same place for Spring Break every year. Jeff and I didn't go for the first time last year so I had to grab a pic from the year before. The kids have changed just a little bit!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDIE! WE LOVE YOU!