Our Christmas Flapjack Dinner

Every year at Christmastime we get together and have flapjacks for dinner. It's a fun tradition. This year we did it 2 days after Christmas at my brother's place. Conner got Wii for Christmas! There's nothing like getting beat by a 5-year old at a video game.

Merry Christmas 2007 Megapost

We had both the kids and their significant others and Aeries here on Christmas morning. It was a wonderful start to the day. It even snowed a little bit!




Showing off one of her new outfits to Grandma. These two always look like they know something I don't.



She's getting the hang of this present opening thing. Didn't take her long at all!



Aeries gets caught with her hand in the cookie jar.



Aeries patiently waiting for her next present.



The Elmo walker was a present from Daddy, and Aeries loved it. I think the big blue UFO's days are about over.



Showing off one of her new outfits to Grandpa.



Showing off one of her new outfits to Aunt Kelsey.

The whole gang!



We had dinner with Sylvia's family. Prime rib, roast turkey, garlic mashed potatoes with 2 kinds of gravy, cranberry sauce, yummy green salad, and amazingly delicious bread pudding with brandy sauce for dessert. I ate so much I thought I was gonna bust.




Syl's mom and dad, Wanda and Steve Senteney.



B-RAD checking the prime rib for plateworthiness.



Syl and Wanda.



Janet and Allie.



Chris, Lori, Syl and Wanda putting the finishing touches on a fabulous meal.



Tip: Always keep one eye on your phone while filling your plate.



Chris' girls Nicole, Lana, Sarah.... and Syl.

Kickin' it with Conner

Conner spent a few hours with us so his Mommy and Daddy could go out for Christmas dinner. We went to the "Dig It" store out at the mall (which was surprisingly non-crowded). We spent quite a while in there looking at fossil rocks and crystals and shark teeth and other cool stuff. Conner had $10 to spend at the store and "Dig It" has lots and lots of neat stuff so it was quite a challenge deciding what to buy. He managed to get 4 neat things and had 4 cents left over before tax (Uncle Lane sprung for the tax - what a generous guy). Then we came home and had pizza and hung out. The highlight of the evening was when Conner danced a Christmas Jig for us in front of the Christmas Tree.

Aeries is outta control!!!!

Click here for an Aeries Christmas Greeting!
(be sure to turn on the sound)

Conner makes a mid-week visit

Conner was here on Wednesday for an overnight visit. It was fun. Five-year olds never stop moving and asking questions.

We have some little koosh balls that Conner found fascinating. He tossed those around all over the place.

It was raining all day so we went to the pet store, went for pizza and to meeting, and then hit the sack at a decent hour cuz it was a school night!

Aeries Overnight on Sunday

Being goofy with Grandma. This colored ring gets a lot of mileage. Must be the pretty colors.

Studies have shown baby drool is good for your hair.

"Okay, now you two are starting to bore me."

She was a sleepy, runny nose girl. When the Tylenol wore off she was really unhappy and needed constant holding. Sigh.

Poor sleepy little girl did her best to have fun. But finally she just got too tired and couldn't fight it any longer.

This was her 1-hr afternoon nap which came shortly after her 2-hr morning nap.

Leavenworth Tree Lighting

Aeries Is Cutting Teeth. Ouch.

Aeries has a third tooth coming in and it's really bothering her. She fussed quite a bit this weekend unless she was being held or entertained. Sometimes that didn't help much either.
Saturday afternoon Aeries bit down on one of her hard plastic toys really hard and it must have cut her gums. She became pretty much inconsolable for a while, and she was in tears for a couple of hours. The gel stuff didn't work - it just made her mad and she became more upset. Fortunately Auntie Jenn was here and ran to the store and picked up some of the tablets (which we'd never heard of) and bingo, no more pain. Thank you Auntie Jenn. She also brought over a couple new toys - including a rubber ducky which Aeries loves.
She finally fell asleep Saturday evening about 6 and napped as solid as we've ever seen her nap for a good solid 4 hours. Then she woke up for a bottle and some playtime and then was back to bed again and had a good sleep.
She's such a sweet girl. When it didn't hurt she was smiling and laughing and talking thru her tired eyes. She's really a sweet little thing. We're all so fortunate.
Giving Grandpa the news. (00:29)
Banging blocks together. (00:49)

Happy Thanksgiving

Mom placed one of these at each table setting.





After dinner we played Pictionary. What a great game!