Santas Village 2012

The yearly Santa's Village trip. These pretty ladies hauled us around on a sleigh ride.



Writing our letters to Santa.



Oh my heart. The way Chase draws a guy is just soooooooooooooo precious!



This contemplative thinker is probably bequesting a bow and arrow.



Donating via a really gigantic toy train.



This would be the point when Chase tells Santa that he wants rubber gloves for Christmas. Yes, he did.



My baby Boo doing his thing, just workin the frosting.



The sleepy reindeer.



The Daddy hauling 2/3 of his gang.



Yet another fun day in December, spent together, as a family. Blessings abound.

Christmas Parade

The Holiday Parade this year was just another complete hoot! I feel like Mrs. Claus is ready to jump up out of her seat here and do a broadway act!



Let me back up a bit.

Before the parade, we hit up a saaa-weet Pizza joint downtown. Chase was clearly all smiles.


Beckett just working his magic.



After we loaded up on cheese and bread dough, we headed out into the festivities of the night.



The show was about to begin.



Hello cute old red truck.



Hello Dinosaur-man with glow in the dark mini hula hoops?


I love the anticipation of what the next float would bring.



My girl Lyd, and her BFF.


My brother razzing up my middle boy. I adore this photo!


Look at this adorable little family of three. I forced these guys to take an impromtu photo for me. Because:  A. they are adorable. and B. they are adorable.
Oh, ok and because I just love the mama! I first met her  when I did photographs for her little girl.  Little Claire was just a tu-tu wearing little chubby baby way back then. I remember this little family being so cute, and I especially remember the mama being super awesome and friendly and just one of those people you want to hang out with so their zest for life rubs off on you!  A year or so later she and I are besties and business partners! I just knew I had to make her the face of our business of creating Mompreneurs! #jlube #changingthegame #creatingmompreneurs



Pretty Christmas Parade Bokeh.



My SIL whooping it up and showing us how to dance, Gangham-style.


Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about? Don't worry, I just learned about this a few weeks ago but it's quite the rage, the beat is catchy and all I can say is just youtube it. Gangnam style. Prepare to be wowed.

In the end, it was a fun night! Merry Christmas!


Let the celebrating of a Savior wrapped in manager begin!!!!

Christmas 2011 {Numero Dos}

Seriously. Two little brothers sleeping on the blow-up air bed in their matching Christmas jammies from Grandma. How much more cute can it get? As you can about imagine. It can. And it will. 

Get cuter. 

Christmas 2011 {Part Uno}

Christmas 2011. It will be told in Part One and Part Two. Part One today.

We had Christmas at my mom and dad's the day before Christmas Eve. 

This is about as good as it gets trying to get the 7 cousins to cooperate for a picture. Thank you, Jonah and Lydia for looking toward my camera! 

No thank you, Dad, for putting your right butt-cheek in my shot!      

Go Tell It...via a 4 year old.

Ok, so Christmas is over. I know. I'm so sad. But I think I can squeeze just one more little drop of 

awesome Christmas music goodness out here on my blog. I had to share this. Just watch this! And be prepared. Cuz you gonna get you some goosebumps at the end! Just a warning.

And I just have to share this sweet little moment we had with the boys tonight while tucking them in. It's unrelated to this video. They haven't seen this video. But....it does end up being quite related in the end.

 So,  Leighton was asking all about heaven. Like all about it. Will we walk? Will we fly? Will there be houses in heaven. Ect. and ect. And he started asking about the people who are gonna be in heaven. And we told him, well, the people who have Jesus living in there hearts will all be in heaven. And he said, "so some people don't have Jesus living in their hearts?!". 

And I said, "well, Leighton, some people haven't asked Jesus to live in their hearts and there are even some kids and people who don't even know anything about Jesus. Because no one has told them about the great story of Jesus. And in the bible, God says that it is our job to go tell people about Jesus so they can know about him and then have them in their hearts too."

(that was the simplest way I could think of to explain that tough question)

And he sat there quiet for a moment.

Then he said, "mom........don't you think we should just go tell it on a mountain? just like the song we sing at preschool?" and he starts singing it to us. 

To which we replied. 

Yes, Leighton, let's go tell it on the mountain. :)

And I think.....I'm not totally sure, but I think that's exactly why God tells us in the bible that unless we become like little children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  

Just sayin.

lots of Christmas

We totally wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the North Pole

Merry Christmas!!!! 

Letters to Santa!

Christmas Is....

Christmas is....

oh so pretty.

Christmas Program 2011

Leighton had his first Christmas program last night! Check out his musical skills! 

His little solo debut on the zylaphone was a complete suprize to us! What a moment! I can't even describe how fun it was to watch him step out from his class and play this by ear. He is quite a musical little boy and has an amazing memory. I love that on the way home, he said, "mom, i love playing that lizaphone!" 

Here he is again showing us his talent! 

More on the program later. In the meantime, we are waterpark bound for a fun family night. Waterslides, lazy rivers and pizza parties, oh my! 

Hope you are all enjoying Christmas!!!! 

Friday's On Faith {Where Will You Land?}

I love this for a Fridays on Faith segment. The Story of Mary and Joseph if Social Media had been around. Pretty cool. 

One of my fave fave Christmas songs. Gotta love me some Barlow Girl. The voices are uhhh-mazing! 

And while many of you and myself enjoy the beauty and wonder of this majestic season, I know there are many people who are hurting. My prayers are turned to the Keller Family, who just today celebrated the valiant life of a devoted husband, father, and mostly a man who lived his life FOR JESUS. If you take just a quick glance into the life he lived and legacy he leaves, it is covered with a big fat, JESUS stamp all over it. I love that. My heart aches for his beautiful, kind wife and their two little boys. But his story and his legacy will continue to change lives for Jesus for.ever. I implore you to read his story and the blog where he and his wife shared their struggles but mostly their full trust and hope in our one and only hope. 

In the end, it's so so so so simple. SO. SIMPLE. It's what the twinkling lights, the spritzed cookies, the tinseled trees, the frantic shopping, the chaotic mess that we create out of it, is all about. 

A little, tiny baby, born of God into our world to bring us light, hope and life. This little savior all bundled in manger. 2000 years ago. CAME FOR A REASON. 

It's what Jack so passionately talked about and lived. 

The. reason. 

WAS. YOU. 

So you could have life. And not even in the sense that you will wake up each morning and breathe and can live a wonderful life here on earth. That's just a bonus. 

Really..... It's. not. even. about. this. life. The saving we get, when we accept. It's for a life beyond this life. It's walking into the embrace of JESUS. The Son of THE MOST HIGH. That's what Jack stepped into last week. That's what he was longing for. Jesus had called him home and Jack knew, without a doubt that he was running into the arms of his Heavenly Father. 

The question for you and me, is not when or how we will die. 

The real question is: 

where.will.you.land? 

Christmas Cookies again

This should be my last Christmas related post for the year. Or last year, perhaps I should say. I just keep going back and finding more pictures filled with Christmasy cuteness.

Obviously.

Because what isn't cute about making your mom's famous marachino cherry-spiked christmas cookies with your ridiculously adorable little boys - one who only likes to wear a diaper- with the Christmas tree twinkling in the background?

Not much is more adorable than that. For me.

Christmas Recap and Happy Stormed In New Years

Well, 2010 went out with a bang and some puke!

We were so blessed to celebrate two beautiful, fun-filled Christmas's with our awesome families. Sadly....my battery and back-up battery were BOTH DEAD at our first Christmas so I have notta to share. However, I wised up and made sure my batteries were charged and charger was in tow for our second Christmas, at my parents home.

Our Christmas celebration was filled with lots of laughter, the warmth of all being together in our parents country-home, a visit from Santa, outdoor snow-filled fun, yummy food, lots of little kids and babies making us smile, and of course the love of God who sent his son to be born in that manger for all of us.....oh....and I got my steam mop! Sa-weet! Here are just a few of my faves from the weekend.

My stinkin adorable boys in their jammies from Grandma Laurie!

Christmas from the perspective of 3 months old.

A holiday favorite....sequence.

Jonah must have been cleaning house here!

Little boy in the great outdoors.

My big brother Aaron, always laughing, always making us laugh. Although.....he didn't really laugh after he spent several hours digging out the huge snow tunnels for the kids. When he finally finished, they had all gone inside. He did say he was happy to see that the pregnant lady (that's me) and Chase were the only ones to use it.

Chase heading into the snow tunnel after me.

Sergio and Neah fueling up after the wild present opening extravaganza.

My mom and aunt giving their mom, my sweet Grandma Mary, some Christmas lovin.

More of Neah. Just pretty.

Before presents started, we had to all stop and try to figure out what was going on up on the roof of the house. To our surprise, this guy made his yearly visit!

And lastly, on Christmas Day, some of the little ones playing a serious game of Frog Face. Or whatever it's called.

And then we came home and unwound from all the holiday fun! I love cleaning up after Christmas, taking the tree down and making a fresh start for our home. I used my steam mop

ALOT when I got home. And I loved every germ-killing moment of it!

At the end of this week, we kicked off New Years with a whopper of a storm. I have now been secluded to the walls of my home for at least 72 straight hours..if.not.more. Let me tell you, with my husband home (his work called off due to storm) I have gotten so much cleaning and organizing done that I can hardly believe it. And I love love love it!

And then the puke came. Poor little Leighton got hit with a nasty little bug and we helped him ring in the New Year with a bucket and ice chips close by. The bug just happened to set in just 10 minutes after I had fully scrubbed, cleaned, wiped, and disinfected the bathroom. So much for that! But the bright side is, at least he had a super clean bathroom to be sick in. Poor little man.

The other little man, my Chaseroo, he has spent the ENTIRE. THREE. DAYS. that we have been trapped indoors.........talking. I'm not kidding. This child hardly takes a breath between his cute little words.

So that about wraps up a wonderful 2010 and sends us in to 2011 ready to conquer whatever this world hurls our way.

Merry & Happy

Merry, Merry, Merry, Happy, Happy, Happy Christmas!




photos by the lovely and talented Liz Buck of Resolutions Photography.

My Elves and What it Really Means.

This is my firstborn Elf.



This is my second born Elf.



One sweet day I had my elves make themselves into Christmas Elves.





And here they are showing off their projects.





I love my elves. And furthermore, I love this song. While Elves and cookies and presents and Santa are awesome traditions of Christmas....let us not forget that THIS is Christmas.