Wednesday, December 24, 2008

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Hi Everyone ~ We hope that you are all doing well and enjoying this wonderful holiday season. We have been super busy, but we sure have had lots of fun. We are a little behind on some "blogging" since Mommy slipped on our stairs a few weeks ago and had a L2 Transverse Fracture (basically, I (Averie) have been telling people that Mommy broke her back...but, she keeps telling me that she broke a piece off the end of her vertebrae and not her whole back, but it was still painful). But, thankfully, Mommy is up and around for the most part (thanks to lots of pain meds and the many prayers of others!!) And, now we can share some pictures of our last few weeks. We will post some pictures of our actual Christmas Day celebration in a few more days...Mommy took a LOT of pictures, but we sure LOVED celebrating the birth of our wonderful Savior as a family. Enjoy the pictures...

Here is Brady...5 months old!




Here I am at my preschool Christmas party. Mommy got to come (thanks to Aunt Helen helping her), so I was excited about that. We ate yummy lunch, played some games, sang some songs, and then made a reindeer craft. It was a fun party!

Mommy & Me...
My cousin, Stephanie, and her Mommy, Aunt Helen. Stephanie & I are only 8 months apart, so we get to be in the same class...how fun!
Showing Mommy some of the fun things we do in class...here we are singing a fun song...
...and then the fun dancing part! I sure love preschool, and it sure was a great party!
Then, a few days later, my cousin, McKinly, came over, to play with me and Brady while Mommy rested. We also were trying to take a Karaffa grandchildren picture for the calendar we were giving to my Poppy & Nana. Here are a few of the pictures we took...
This is McKinly....he loved the ornaments!
McKinly again...
Then, it was Brady's turn for a few pictures!Brady Boy!
Once he sat up, he wasn't sure what to do with that candy cane. So, Mommy let him "explore."
I don't think he liked it...of course, the wrapper is still on...and he basically gagged himself, so that explains the face :) :)
Cute little brother of mine...

Then, he got to hold a present...he didn't tear into it like I would have, but he just looked at it...and tried to eat it, of course.
Then, it was my turn for a few pictures...
Aren't I too cute? :)
Such a big 3 year old am I!
And, here was our best attempt at a group picture...the Karaffa grandchildren: Brady, Averie, & McKinly!
Mommy also took some pictures on a different day in front of the poinsettias! Here is Brady...
...here am I...
...and, here we both are...wishing you a very Merry Christmas...
Merry Christmas, Everyone! We love you!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

We are so thankful...

We sure had a fun Thanksgiving. It was my first one, and I had a great time. We went to my Uncle Art & Aunt Kelly's house for lunch...there was so much yummy food. I can't wait until I can start eating it...And, there were so many people there...my grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and some friends. We had a wonderful time.

Here I am...ready for Thanksgiving!

My 1st Thanksgiving...
Our Family...Daddy, Mommy, Averie, & Me
Poppy & Nana (Karaffa) with their 3 grandchildren...McKinly, Averie, & Me
The Karaffa Family (left to right) ~ Uncle Blair, McKinly, Aunt Brittany, Poppy, Averie, Nana, Mommy, Daddy, and Me
The Van Wingerden Family (back row to front row...left to right...sort of) ~
Uncle Thomas, Uncle Michael, Daddy, Eric, Uncle Art, Uncle Todd, Uncle Abe
Miss Lindsey, Aunt Courtney, Me, Mommy, Grant, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Helen, Aunt Cindi,
Brayden, Sam, Stephanie, Opa, Averie, Oma, Jackson, Carter, Kaitlyn
Paul, Zach, Andrew, & Noah
When we got home, Averie was SO tired from playing with her cousins...and missing her afternoon nap. She fell asleep on Daddy's lap within the first minute of sitting there. 5 minutes later, she was snoring...it was so funny! :)
Then, about 30 minutes later, Daddy fell asleep too. All the food and fun knocked them both out!
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone. We have so much to be thankful for. God is so good!







O' Christmas Tree

Hi Everyone ~ Can you believe we are less than 23 days from Christmas? We are so excited about all this Christmas fun...the decorations, the lights, the gifts...and most importantly, celebrating the birth of Jesus. We have been busy here, but we had a great Thanksgiving (we have SO much to be thankful for)...and we are so excited about Christmas. Enjoy the pictures...and Merry Christmas to you!


After a yummy Thanksgiving lunch with Daddy, Mommy, Averie, Poppy, Nana, Uncle Blair, Aunt Brittany, McKinly, and me, we went to go Christmas tree shopping. Daddy & Mommy told me that this has been a tradition for years, and we were all ready to go. There were lots of great trees, and surprisingly, we all found a tree really quickly. (Daddy & Mommy told me that in years passed, it has been known for them to go to several different lots to find that perfect tree!) So, here we are with the Christmas trees!


My first time at the Christmas tree lot! It was fun...and it sure smelled great!



A quick family picture!! Averie LOVED it...can't you tell?


Now, our house is all ready for Christmas...Merry Christmas, Everyone!