Some of Our Favorite Things

Cole, Luke, Hailey, and Tyler were blessed with wonderful gifts this year. They each chose a few of their favorite things.

Cole loves to sit and look at books in his Elmo chair. We have to turn off the giggle and shake option in order to concentrate on our reading, however! This little dog sings and dances, so of course Cole joins in.

Luke loves his Nintendo DS and his new Wii game. He likes to play fire trucks with his little brother Cole.

Hailey was also glad to recieve her Nintendo DS. She likes taking care of the dog her Aunt Jill and Uncle Will gave her (the closest thing she'll ever have to a live one!). The pink chair is her new favorite corner of the house.



Tyler really likes his new baseball glove and catchers mask. He rocks at Guitar Hero which Aaron and I just can't seem to get the hang of. We have to take turns sitting in his video rocker chair.

Of course the BEST gifts of all are the memories we made with our family and friends!

Christmas Cheer

We have had lots of Christmas cheer this week, celebrating with family and friends each night. All of the hustle and bustle of the holidays hasn't left much time for blogging, but we wanted to say Merry Christmas! We have had our holiday celebration in Clarksville and Dubuque, so Mom and Dad will spend the next few days reorganizing.

Luke wasn't too happpy in this shot, but its the only one I have of all of us!!

Look who came to dinner on Christmas Eve! Did you know you can fit six adults and four children into a mini van? We continued the Carr Family tradition of riding around to look at Christmas lights. We even stopped for toddy's at the Hagemans and Bildsteins just like we stopped at the homes of my parents' friends on our traditional ride. Grandpa Jim would be so proud!

We usually give the kids two small gifts from us. Santa brings the bulk of the presents while we are asleep Christmas Eve.

Cool Little Blazer wrestling hats from Mom and Dad. The elves don't make Little Blazer items.

Mom and Dad usually get a gift, too!

Better Every Day!

Luke and Tyler wrestled in Greene, Iowa. Luke's skills
get better each time he hits the mat! Go Luke!

Don't let go!

Turn him over!

Gotta Be Tough!

You have to be tough to be a Little Blazer wrestler!
Luke's friend, Conner, met up with a tree while sledding, too!

Sledding Gone Badly

Poor little Luke ran into a tree while sledding in the neighborhood. He knows now to jump off if a tree jumps in front of him like that again! I did run him to the doctor, but he checked out o.k. We are thankful there were no broken bones or other serious injuries. Plus....he will be intimidating to his opponents at the Little Blazer wrestling tournament this Sunday!!

Gingerbread

The first snowstorm of the season resulted in a day at home making gingerbread houses. Cole and Tyler worked together, although Cole did more eating than anything.

Green frosting is good!!

Hailey's masterpiece!

Pump It Up!

Hailey, Luke, Cole, Mom, Al and I traveled to Des Moines to celebrate our cousin Meredith's 2nd birthday over the weekend. Her party was at a place called Pump It Up. We partied through a series of three rooms filled with pumped up slides, obstacle courses and bounce houses. A good time was had by all!

Princess Meredith on the birthday throne.

Hailey and Nathan posing for the camera between bounces.

Crawling through an obstacle course.

Down the slides we go!

Cole was quite the daredevil! This was not as dangerous as it looks!

The cake was good!

The pizza was good!


Being together was the best!! Happy birthday, Meredith!!

A Star is Born!

Luke and Cole modeling their Christmas sweaters.

Luke's kindergarten class presented the Christmas play called the Hopeless Camel. Basically it was the story of the birth of Jesus, but centered around a camel. Luke played a Shepard and was quite dramatic in his singing and expressions. A fun treat to remind us of the reason we celebrate Christmas.

First Snowfall!

The view from the top of the hill in our neighbor's backyard.

The first snow prompted the neighborhood kids to drag their sleds out of storage. It was only a tiny bit of snow, but they sure had a good time. It was too windy on the hill for Cole, but he liked playing with and tasting the snow in our front yard. We built a little snowman, but my fingers were too cold to stay out any longer to take his picture!

Just don't eat the yellow snow!

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving day at Grandma Sharon and Al's house. It was a fun filled day with lots of food, football, and games. Some of us even got a good nap in, too!

It is fun to be with our cousins!

Enjoying a glass of wine.

Aunt Becky and Hailey played Barbies.

Cole was stuck to Grandma's side most of the day.

Daddy and Hailey catching a football game on T.V.

Turkey Sighting!

Each November, a flock of wild turkeys moves into our neighborhood. They must think they are safe here! Here is a shot of them strolling through the lower section of our backyard. I wonder if they will come back next year when they find out my new neighbor is an avid hunter?!?

Anamosa Tournament

Go Tyler, Go!

Tyler placed second in his bracket at the Anamosa tournament last weekend. He has moved into the fifth and sixth grade age group, so there seems to be better competition so far this year. He made us proud. No video this week as Hailey was our video assistant and is still a bit shaky with the camera. Check out some of the action shots Mom captured with her new camera however!!

Our video assistant in training