A Visit to the Barretts!

This past weekend, we headed up to Grand Rapids to see our good friends Scott and Mel.  Mel works at Kuyper college and Scott is in seminary up there.  Mel was my roommate right after college and Scott and Kirk played ball together in intramurals. We had a great time catching up, playing games, and eating an awesome mexican meal they made for us.  Thanks for having us!

Elijah and Mel get along well.

Cheese!

Sorry...not sure why this one is so small.

The boys on our campus tour.

A quick shot at Panera before we head out.  I love this picture!

Elijah's First Christmas

We have been enjoying Elijah's first Christmas season.  On Friday afternoon, we headed up to Stony Creek Farm where we get our Christmas tree each year.  We really like this place...you take a hayride out to the field, cut down your own tree, and enjoy complimentary hot apple cider.  This year Santa wasn't driving the tractor like last year (probably be cause we weren't there on a Saturday) so that was a bummer, but we did have the tractor all to ourselves.  We got a beautiful tree (I will post pictures later of our house all decked out for Christmas) and had a great time together.

Elijah and Daddy waiting for the tractor by the fire pit.  I love how E smiles for the camera even when it's far away.

Heading out to the field!

We tried to get a picture of E next to the tree...getting him to stop exploring was a challenge.

There we go!

Can't get enough.

Kirk cutting down the winning tree.

Handsome tree. Handsome husband.

I love my little guy.  Can you tell?

Us, a tractor, and and a tree.

Thanks, Stony Creek.  See you next year!

Fishers Tree Lighting

On Thursday night, we walked down the town hall (about 1/4 mile away) for the Fishers Christmas Tree Lighting.  We just love our little town.  The mayor was there and many families gathered to see the tree get lit! Elijah seemed to really enjoy all the action too.

My boys. Kirk is sporting a hat that was a gift from Rach and Shane for Christmas. Doesn't it look good on him?

This is what happened when I attempted a self portrait.

And this is when the nice man offered to take one for us.

Santa arrived on a firetruck!

I guess this how E really feels about me.

All lit up!

The Fishers High School choir did a mini-concert.  We loved it!

A quick (dark) family shot.

Seasons Greetings from Fishers, Indiana.

Christmas Music Disclaimer

Just so you all know, it was my husband's choice to put "Leroy the Redneck Reindeer" on our Christmas playlist, lest you should think that was my decision.

Also, the Alicia Keys song is hilarious to me...I have an R&B Christmas cd that has some pretty funny takes on some Christmas classics. The fact that she calls the little drummer boy "shorty" is hilarious. Just listen to her little dialogue at the beginning of the song...my sisters and I laugh every time we listen to it. Do you guys remember that?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kirk, Elijah, and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Spier family.  Elijah did great on both car rides and we had a lot of fun things going on in PA.  Get ready for a LOT of pictures!

Elijah absolutely loves the camera these days, which makes me very happy :).

Happy Thanksgiving, buddy!

Trying to get a picture of the cousins.  I know it looks like E is upset, but really, this is him being a ham for the camera.  He just throws his head back and smiles.

Playing with Grandma.

Cam and her Mommy all dressed up for Thanksgiving!

Jess took some great pictures for us for our Christmas card.  You will see a few of these on it!

I think this is my favorite.

E loves being on Daddy's shoulders.

I LOVE this picture!

A few Thanksgiving shots of the little guy.

Seriously, what is this face?

Or this one?

Elijah loved Rach and Shane's dog, Glenn.  The dog is huge (140 pounds) but Elijah did not show an ounce of fear.  I'm not sure how we are going to get through this kid's life without buying him a dog...he gets so excited every time he sees one.

It's just so exciting!

They are buddies.

Friday night we went to Peddler's Village to walk around see the lights.  Here's E and Aunt Rach right before we left.  I love this picture!

All bundled and ready to look at some lights!