Jan Misc

Here are a few of our miscellaneous family happenings from January:

Cousin Playtime

What a gift it is to live so close to nearly ALL of our family! We love gathering for regular family dinners, birthday celebrations, and occasional game nights. Our kids consider their cousins some of their closest friends, and it's (almost always!) such a joy to watch them all interact. Here are some cousin hangout photos with a few of the youngest ones.

Adley loves being the resident "mom" with her boy cousins and helping/guiding/suggesting whenever she thinks it's needed. Yes, if you read between the lines that she's sometimes a taaaad bossy, you'd be reading correctly. Ha! Thankfully her cousins are pretty patient with her!

Noah and Adley

Adley and Nathan

Celebrating Birthdays

Honoring each other's birthdays, for kids and adults alike, is a pretty big deal in our family! Whenever an adult or two has a birthday in a given month, we gather for a family dinner and do activities planned by the birthday honoree(s). It's not always easy selecting something that all ages can do together, but it's been enjoyable seeing what our creative family has come up with. Last year we did wide variety of activities, such as kickball, puzzle working, a photo scavenger hunt, Indian poker, water balloon launching, and even a Pokemon spelling bee. 

Because of everyone's busy Christmas schedules, we didn't get around to celebrating our December birthdays until after the holidays. Jon and Kim didn't mind the belated birthday celebration!

In addition to these all-family gatherings, when one of the ladies of the family has a birthday, we ladies like to gather for a morning brunch when the big kids are at school. Unfortunately, Chelsea can't always join us since she's teaching, but the rest of us can look forward to some mommy-connecting time. This month, Sarah hosted a delicious meal for us to celebrate Kim's birthday. 

Enjoying the Outdoors

One Saturday, our family decided to enjoy the nice weather and spend some time at the park. We picked up a few geocache smileys (which is what the kids are celebrating in this photo), and then just enjoyed some playtime. Adley and I played on all the playground equipment while Daddy and the boys got in a game of flag football.

Home Depot Kids' Build

Our family ventured out to Home Depot together for the store's monthly building workshop. All three kids liked assembling their mini air hockey game. Even Adley was able to swing the hammer by herself and put together a project to keep. The kids especially enjoy adding paint to their projects and are always very proud of their finished product.

God's Beautiful Handiwork

Over Christmas, my parents gifted each of the families with an amaryllis bulb. Our  plant grew so quickly and produced four gorgeous flowers! The kids loved seeing the amaryllis grow. Our Creator God truly is amazing! We look forward to planting our bulb in the spring and hopefully seeing even more flowers in the future. Thanks for the thoughtful gift, Mom and Dad!