Christmastime 2019

We started off the Christmas season by meeting Santa! Preston LOVED every second and he was very excited to tell Santa what he would like for Christmas. He even mentioned that he would like chocolate and Sour Patch kids in his stocking. It was adorable. We are happy that Evan is such a good brother and helps us with the "magic" this time of year.

We took a ride on The Polar Express and went to the North Pole. It was a really fun adventure and included hot chocolate, cookies, singing, dancing, and having fun with Santa and his elves. After our ride, we stayed at Big Splash Adventure, where we had lots of fun in the water park and the arcade. 

Grammy and Granddaddy came over and helped us make our gingerbread house. We also watched Mickey's Christmas Carol together. 

We all enjoyed Lights Under Louisville. They added more lights and more displays. I think it is the best one we have ever seen! The Star Wars displays were our favorite. We splurged this year and bought a fast pass. It was worth every penny! We loved getting to skip the line and go right in to see the Christmas lights!

The Amshoffs joined us for baking and decorating Christmas cookies. We made the cookie dough from scratch and they were DELICIOUS! We had lots of icing and decorations and both the kids and adults had lots of fun baking and decorating. Alex especially loved decorating the cookies and he created lots of cute cookies. Andy was too little to decorate the cookies, but he sure enjoyed eating them!

Preston had lots of fun during his school spirit week. He looked awesome on "Elf Yourself Day." I also got to attend his class party and make a snowman craft with his class. I think I had as much fun as the kids!

On Christmas Eve, we attended church and then had our traditional Chinese food feast. The kids were pretty excited that night, as they anticipated opening presents the next morning. 

The boys woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. We woke up to excited screams of, "ITS CHRISTMAS!" The boys were so happy and were very grateful for all of their gifts. We had a fun morning watching them play with their new toys and gadgets.

Evan and Preston both got new scooters, which they loved. Evan got an upgraded trick scooter and Preston got a new electric scooter, since his broke last fall.

One of Preston's favorite gifts was a metal detector. He took it to the woods and found several treasures. His favorite was a part of an old TV, which he thought looked like something from a Star Wars ship.

We spent the afternoon with Grammy and Granddaddy. We opened presents and had lunch. Evan, Preston, and their cousins spent a lot of time playing outside, since the weather was nice.

We spent the evening at home, where the boys played with some of their toys. 

Evan loved his new balance board. He could do it right away!

Preston built a new Star Wars Lego set.

Preston LOVED his new roller skates and skated all around the house. He also liked his new Super Marion pajamas, which were "so comfy."

We celebrated Christmas with the Amshoffs on Thursday afternoon, when everyone in their family was feeling better. Uncle Ron came too and the kids loved his HUGE bag of treats!

The boys enjoyed seeing their cousins during Christmas break. Jackson was sick for lots of the time they were in town, so he missed out on a lot. Thankfully, he was better by Friday and was able to join us for some fun. 

Thanksgiving 2019

We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving this year. Preston and I started celebrating with a special Thanksgiving lunch at school. The Nickels were in town for several days and Evan and Preston loved getting to spend time with Jackson, Caleb and Emily. They played at Grammy and Granddaddy's house a lot, but also went to House of Boom and spent lots of time at the playground. We also celebrated Andy's first birthday! We ate lots of great food and spent of time with our extended family as well. We are grateful for another wonderful year of health and happiness. We are certainly very blessed.

WOW!

Evan and Preston have had some fun accomplishments these past few weeks. We are so excited for them!

Preston started karate in September. He had his first belt test and he earned a white belt with a yellow stripe! He says he is now a "yellow striper." He has worked so hard and we are so happy for him!

We went to the first skating party of the school year and Preston decided that he no longer needed a skate trainer. He was right! He spent the night skating with no assistance!

Evan has been very interested in fishing for the past few months. Carl takes him to Putney Pond, as well as the pond on the golf course. He has gotten quite good at fishing and often catches really big bass!

Evan has also done well in swim. He is swimming for Kammerer and he competes against other kids in sixth through eighth grade. He has had some good individual times and is getting faster each week. He also had a relay to come in third place in the last meet! It was so fun to watch a quite and accomplishment for their team!

Fall Fun 2019

We started our fall activities with a trip to Gallrein Farm. We went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch, where we found the perfect pumpkins, as well as a large gourd for Preston. The boys also enjoyed playing in the hay and jumping on the huge inflatable "pillow." We also mastered the corm maze and had fun in the haunted house.

We went to the Halloween party at the zoo, which was lots of fun. This was the first time Preston was able to wear his Mario/Yoshi inflatable costume and he was SO excited!

We have enjoyed lots of time outside. Despite the drought, the fall colors have been beautiful!

We had a great time carving our pumpkins. Preston also discovered that he likes eating roasted pumpkin seeds!

Chancey Elementary had a story book character dress up day on Halloween. Preston was an adorable pirate!

Halloween night was lots of fun, despite the freezing temperatures! Grammy and Granddaddy came over for dinner. Granddaddy went trick or treating with us, while Grammy stayed at the house to pass out candy. The boys saw lots of their friends and got lots of candy. 

We also walked down Hillcrest Avenue on night with Bonnie Mom. I didn't take any pictures, but we had a really good time. It was the first time we took the boys to "Halloween Street" in the dark. I loved it even more than usual, as did Carl, Evan and Bonnie Mom. Preston thought it was a bit too spooky, but was very brave.