December

"Jingle" the Elf: December 1st Jingle (our multi-cultural elf thanks to Dixie) showed up again....this year he came and brought Gavin a special "North Pole" breakfast.  Jingle came every day in December leading up to Christmas to keep an eye on Gavin and make sure he was behaving himself.

Gabe is 5months: My sweet baby boy is 5 months already! He loves to watch his big brother run around and he has the biggest smile. However, he has little patience when it comes to getting what he wants! He weighs about 16.5 lbs and is still taking three naps a day. I'm still nursing full time but plan to introduce baby food in the next month or so.

Holiday Joy: I love decorating for Christmas and Gavin is a huge help. He made special nativity ornaments this year for the tree and helped me put together our Advent wreath for the kitchen table.

BBM: Twice a month I attend a group called Building Better Mom's. It's an organization that brings moms together through fellowship and provides advice and guidance on how we can become better moms. My friend Jen and I were in charge of a Hot Cocoa Bar for our holiday party this year and it turned out too cute to not share. 

Friends: We got together with some friends for a little christmas ornament activity and gift exchange.  

Holiday Lights: We started our own holiday tradition this year by taking the boys out to see christmas lights around town. We loaded up in our PJ's, popcorn, and hot chocolate and headed out on the town to see all the lights! Gavin loved it so much he asked to again for the next three nights.

Sweet Winter Memories: Here are some sweet moments from over the month....

Christmas: We had the perfect white Christmas this year. We headed home to Iowa on Christmas Eve and it starting snowing shortly after passing through Des Moines. We had a beautiful white Christmas morning.....it was calm, cold and white. I loved it! We enjoyed a few days back home visiting with family we had not seen in awhile. It was exciting this year watching Gavin be excited. He couldn't wait for Christmas morning to see what Santa brought him in his stocking and to make birthday cupcakes for Jesus. Some of my favorite gifts this year were the nativity sets we all got.  Gavin got a new felt nativity set, Gabe got the little people nativity set, and I got the three wise men to complete my nativity set. Again, we felt so blessed to be able to be with family his holiday season and celebrate the birth of Christ!

Merry Christmas from your family to yours!

November

Hunting Season: Tis the season for deer....we had another trip to NE so Courtney could go deer hunting. This year he finally shot his first deer with a bow! It was an exciting weekend for the boys and now we have plenty of deer meat.

Uncle Curt visits from Florida: My brother Curtis flew in from Florida the second weekend in November to meet Gabe for the first time. It was also my mom's birthday, so she drove down from Iowa, and Courtney's sister Vicki was also in town. So, it was a fun filled weekend with family.

Family Photos: Loving our family photos from Fall 2015!

Home Project: What better time than November to start a home project right before the Holidays....right? NOT!!! We finally decided to replace our sliding back patio door. It had been leaking for a little while and needed to be replaced. We ordered the new door back in September, but it did not get delivered until November.  We wanted to get the door in before it got too cold, so one nice sunny day right before Thanksgiving we did it!

Thanksgiving: November is also the season to be "oh so very thankful", and that we are! We had a wonderful relaxing Thanksgiving with my dad and Kim. We enjoyed great food, celebrated the Hawks win (we will forgive you Kim for cheering on the Huskers), and even celebrated my birthday. Courtney and I are so blessed to have the family we do, and we truly thank God for all that we have!

Don't worry his is virgin! LOL