christmas celebration in january

With Dad/Opa's passing away being so close to Christmas, Mommy's side of the family decided to wait to celebrate Christmas for a few weeks. So, on January 17...which would have been Opa & Oma's 43rd wedding anniversary...we all got together and spent the whole day together. We opened gifts, ate food, played games, and thought about Opa/Dad. We really miss him a lot, but God has given us the strength we need...day by day...and the wonderful memories to remember!

Here is Brady opening up one of his gifts.

The uncles/aunts draw names each year, and Brady was excited about his Tonka truck from Uncle Art & Aunt Kelly.

Silly Brady...he tried to push it around the family room while still in the box...it was too funny!

Daddy & me (holding one of cousin Kaitlyn's stuffed animals)

Mommy & Me

(Brady was napping during the afternoon, and when he woke up, he wasn't feeling so good, so we didn't take a lot of pictures of him with us)

I got to open my gifts from Uncle Michael & Aunt Courtney. They drew my name this year. I was really excited about the bag full of Hello Kitty goodies. (And, don't you just love the big hole in my tights on my knee...I sure had fun playing at Oma's house with all my cousins!)
And, I really LOVE the double stroller they gave me, too. Now, my baby dolls can go for walks all the time...together!
Oma & me

One of the gifts that Oma got for Christmas was a Wii. We all were excited for her...who will be the next bowling champ?

Our Family Picture minus the grandkids...we are missing someone this year, and we'll be missing him for a very long time. We love you, Dad/Opa. We are running the race this side of Heaven...just like you did so well! We'll see you when God calls us home as well!

(And...just in case...from left to right...standing to sitting...Abe, Cindi, Daddy, Mommy, Todd, Helen, Art, Kelly, Courtney, Michael, Oma, Thomas, & Lindsey)

Oma with her 6 children...Art, Abe, Helen, Michael, Mommy, & Thomas (that's biological order, not picture order)

Mommy's attempt on a grandchildren picture (minus Brady, who was sleeping)...Starting with me (Averie) and moving clockwise...Stephanie, Zach, Eric (in the chair), Jackson, Brayden, Kaitlyn, Carter, Andrew, Noah, Grant, Sam, & Paul

I loved my baby dolls that Opa & Oma bought for me in Guetemala. They will always be special to me. Opa & Oma were there for a few days the week before Opa passed away.

Opening presents is so much fun. Daddy & Mommy say that I am at such a fun age for that!

I was pretty excited to get some food for my kitchen...and clothes for my baby dolls!

Now I can have my very own pizza party!

Oma also gave me this cash register. I love to play "shopping," and now I can use this register to have even more fun!

And, I LOVE my crib from Oma. It goes great with the other baby doll stuff I got!

Brady LOVED his gifts from Oma, too. This is his big smile! :)

He loved getting "boy toys" for Christmas (at least Daddy & Mommy really loved it...he knows no different)...this front loader was tons of fun!

And, Brady sure loved getting Mega Bloks with this work table. He kept trying to pick up the heavy box, but just couldn't get it picked up. So...

...Daddy took it out of the box so Brady could play with it. What a fun toy!

Happy me...

Though this was a tough day for us to share together without having Opa here, we were thankful that we did spend the day together. We miss Opa terribly...asking about him every day! But, each day, we pray that God will give us strength enough...and God always does. Daddy & Mommy say that God gives us that peace in our hearts...and helps us to remember all the wonderful memories. We are thankful that when our journey on this earth ends, those who believe in Jesus and follow His word will be in Heaven together. And, for the many of you who have been praying for all of us...thank you! We appreciate you all!