Sophia Rose - 7 months old

Miss Sophia is 7 months old & getting too big too fast!  She is absolutely the sweetest baby we could hope for.  She has an infectious laugh and a beautiful gummy smile!  (Still no teethers!)  We've started her on solids, and sticking to veggies first.  Hopefully she will like them better than Lexi & Adam.  Our theory is to wait to feed her fruits so they don't spoil veggies for her.  We'll see!  She's rolling all over & is really active when playing with her toys.  She squeals & says mama and dada.  She still isn't crawling, but trying to figure it out.  We all love her, & she makes us so happy!  We had a little photo shoot at home today.  Here are a few of the pics.

 Sophia is our little doll baby! 

Fall Family Photos

We had family photos taken by Simplicity Photography in October.  We went up to Greenbluff, in the apple orchards & pumpkin patch.  We included a couple of the photos with our Christmas Cards, but here are the rest for anyone who wanted to see them!

First Ride of the Season

It's been a late year for snow here.  With Nicholas having taken vacation, & no snow in town to plow, we took advantage of the time & snow in the mountains.  We went for the first snowmobile ride of the season.  We usually go to Roman Nose or Trestle Creek.  Last year we also made our way to Priest River.  This time we opted for Trestle Creek.  We got a late start, but it was a lot of fun.  The first ride really just gets the kinks out & tests the snowmobiles so you can dial them in for the rest of the season.  It was a big group this time, Nicholas had some of his sibling from out of town, which was fun.  It's so beautiful in the snowy mountains, riding above the clouds.  Here are a few pictures from that day.

Christmas Day

We woke up early Christmas morning to open stockings and presents at our house.  We did a lot of DIY/homemade presents this year & love how they turned out.  For our kids we simplified.  It is just too easy to go overboard, and by the time we open presents from all our family, the kids have more than they know what to do with (or where mom & dad know to put).  So this year we followed the rule of "Something they want, Something they need, Something to wear, & Something to read."  I think this will be a new tradition.  Santa brought them their 'want' & mom & dad got the rest.  Lexi & Adam also each shopped for each other & each got Sophia a gift.  To help support her school, we also gave Lexi money to spend at the school Christmas store.  A teacher helped her pick gifts for each one of us in her family.  She was very proud of her gifts & she did an awesome job picking something that each member of our family would enjoy.  She has such a giving heart! Here are some pictures from Christmas morning at our house.

Once we finished opening presents we went over to Grandma Lyn's house.  Nicholas' family was there & we opened our draw presents & had breakfast.  From there we went back home (we were still in pajamas since they live next door) & got ready to go to lunch with Grandma Stacey's & my side of the family.  Last year & now this year we have had Christmas at the Coeur d' Alene Inn.  It's really nice not having to host, cook or clean!  They give us a private room with a Christmas tree, a server waits on us, & their buffet is soo good!  Then we opened presents, talked, & laughed.  It was a really good day.

Christmas Eve (Nativity)

This Christmas Eve we had dinner at Nicholas' parents house.  We were missing a few this year, but Aunt Chelsea & Matt, Aunt Hannah & Uncle Caiden, and Aunt Emily were all there.  This year it was a seafood menu.  After dinner it's tradition to reenact the nativity.  It's Grandma Lyn's rule that once you have a baby to take your place, you no longer have to choose a role.  Nicholas is the only one so far to give her grand babies, so it's fun to see the older kids still dressing up.  Lexi & Adam always have fun picking which role to play.  They usually try on all the outfits before they decide.  Here are a few pictures of everyone dressed up.

Lexi: Angel     Adam: Donkey

Adam: Roman Soldier     Alex: Wise Man

Lexi: Shepherd

Adam: Shepherd

Chelsea: Angel

Matt: Roman Soldier

Emily, Lexi & Adam: Shepherds

Matt: Roman Soldier, Lexi/Adam/Emily: Shepherds, Clancey/Alex: Wise men,  Andrew: Donkey, Alizabeth: Mary, Chelsea: Angel

I enjoy this Christmas tradition.  It's a reminder of why we celebrate this season.  It's not the presents, lights, or food.  It's the birth of Our Savior & a time to remember all he sacrificed for us.  We have been very blessed, & I am so thankful.

Christmas w/Papa Marty

This Christmas was really perfect.  Nicholas had vacation left from this year, so he took 2 weeks off.  That made things a lot less stressful for me & the kids were able to spend some quality time with him.  He works so hard it's nice for him to be able to take it easy.  Although I admit I had a honey do list for him!

Monday the 23rd we had Christmas dinner at our house with Papa Marty, Uncle Jeff & his family, Aunt Jessica and her family, & Aunt Katie with her boyfriend Matt.  We were supposed to have the missionaries over as well, but they got held up and didn't make it.  The kids were so excited for this first day of Christmas & opening presents.  It's nice to be able to spread it out a few days and not have to rush family time.  We were very happy that Uncle Jeff, Aunt Hailey & the boys were able to come over for a few days from Montana.

I seem to always forget to take pictures when I'm hosting a get together, but I managed a couple.  Adam got a Power Rangers mask & sword.  He's all about Power Rangers lately.  Lexi got an Easy Bake Oven.  It's fun to make things with her remembering having one when I was younger.  Sophia got a piano Lego's guy.  We're impressed with how well she is able to play with it! All the big kids (adults) got spoiled with gift cards.

The cousins always have fun when they get together, and they all love their Papa Marty.  It was a really fun start to our Christmas celebration!