Christmas 2009

This was Christmas part one. We had Christmas with Gavin's kids on the Sunday before Christmas, then Christmas day with our 3 boys and soon part three will take place when Gavin's parents come.

Drew put himself to bed so he is missing from this picture. I'll have to take a 'pretend' shot so he's in it.

Zoe with a Fashion book

Liam with his Night Vision Goggles

Austin with a few gifts from his stash

Jared with the Ultimate Marble Game

Drew with his Dinosaurs

And Ethan getting the hang of opening gifts

Last but not least, my adorable husband with one of his many odd shirts. This one is called Eskimo Garden.

This year has been a great one. We have had so much fun spreading Christmas out. Although by the 28th the Christmas tree was down and my living room was back to normal. Gavin's parents will be joining us for the New Year for a couple days. It's been fun watching the kids open their gifts. But the Highlight of our Christmas was Drew waking us up on Christmas Morning at 1:30 asking us to open a package. When we walk out into the living room where here Ethan in his room so we go into inspect. Drew had given Ethan gifts through his crib to open and Drew had opened all of his gifts. We ended up waking Austin up at 1:30 in the morning to open his gifts and we all went back to bed. It was quite the morning. Not at all what we expected for Christmas but one full of memories.

Most importantly through this season we have felt the blessing of our Lord and Savior. We are thankful for his birth and his atoning sacrifice. Merry Christmas to all! And have a great New Year!!!

Who needs their appendix anyways?

Sunday afternoon Gavin started complaining about a stomach ache. We both thought it was nerves just because he had his biggest final of the semester the next day. He tried to ignore in but it just continued to increase. He went to the law library on Monday trying to focus on his final. He even suffered through the final and came home doubled over in pain. Monday night was a long night and we both were up quite a few times. The pain had now moved from the center to the right side. Gavin was such a trooper and headed to work knowing that he had to go to wait for another member of management to come in. We went to Urgent care with the suspicion it might be his appendix. Sure enough the doctor sent him to the hospital. (Great waste of $20) We got there about 11:30 where a scan was done along with blood work. Yup, appendicitis. Surgery was scheduled for 6:30 and at 10:30 Gavin was finally wheeled away. 45 minutes later, the doctor was out with pictures telling me everything went great. Gavin later asked me if this is what it feels like to have a C-section. That made me laugh! Gavin is doing great and was able to get his last final moved because of obvious reasons. He will be returning to work tomorrow and we pray that he will survive the day. He has been such a trooper!

Zoe's Christmas Concert

My cute 5 boys waiting for the concert to start, as you can see it was a little cold!
Zoe before the concert. She was so excited!

It's that time of year for those great Christmas concerts that the kids have. It always takes me back to my elementary school years. Zoe, the most talented step daughter that I have, has once again out done herself. She did a great job. The concert was at Arrowhead Mall. I was able to get one of her songs on video since Gavin wasn't able to attend. She actually has another concert tonight but because of Gavin's surgery we won't be attending.




Side note, I will be sending my camera in as of the first of the year. I bought this back in August and was so excited. It is doesn't take the quality of pictures that you would expect from a $250 camera. I'm not too thrilled!

Jared's Baptism

What a great day this was. This past Saturday our little Jared made the decision to be baptised. he was so cute throughout the weekend. My Mother in Law and Father in Law were able to join us. Unfortunately because of my Father's health and my little sister just getting out of the hospital (another post to follow soon), my parent's were unable to attend. We still had a great time.

We are so proud of Jared and his decision to be baptised. We love you little Monkey!

Funny Liam....

We were sitting at the table eating dinner and Liam pipes up and says, "Ashley, did you know that Michael Jackson was the first black man to become a white woman?" I thought I was going to fall off my chair and pee my pants from laughing. Where do these kids come up with these things?

The Joys of 2 under TWO!

The other day we were all in the family room chatting and didn't notice the silence of our two little guys. Zoe went into the front room and came running out telling us that we needed to see this.....This is what we saw.....notice the bottom shelves are empty? Where did all the books go?

....Well, Drew decided to cover Ethan in them in our living room. They both thought they were being SO funny! I love these two little monkeys!

A New Leaf!

I can't begin to tell you what a sense of relief it is to not have to worry anymore about what or how things are being said on our family blog. I have been married to Gavin for almost 5 years and this is the first time that we have had some privacy with our life. Wooohooo!

Gavin had his first 'oral argument' in a courtroom setting on Monday. He was so funny all day long as he prepped for it. Gavin isn't confrontational, so it was funny watching him get ready. He left with a really big bottle of water that came home empty. He is doing fantastic and loving every second of this program. I am the proudest wife!