Christmas: Rogers Round

Christmas morning we headed to Mark's sister's house to see what Santa brought! We also have a big Cracker Barrel style breakfast - yumm!

The kids all got riding toys from Santa and David got a new CD player for his truck!

I thought this was cute of Rachel in her new pj's and demonstrating

how to wrap your wet hair in a towel.

Christmas: Stooksbury Style

Each year we alternate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family and Mark's family. This year we headed to Rockwood for Christmas Eve. We started with lunch and presents then had a day or relaxation and munching on the holiday goodies! We had fun just spending time with each other and playing with the kids. Drew really enjoyed the presents this year, he was so sweet! As for Alex, well, he mostly liked the ribbon!

What sweet boys

Alex content with his ribbon!

Drew rockin' out with his guitar

Granna and Grandad gave Drew this Buzz Lightyear space ship. He would get in and put EVERYTHING in with him. Here he also has on his bicycle helmet.

Aunt Kate had to chase drew around the house acting as Buzz.

Grandad and his boys


Givin some love

Christmas: Your Family and My Family

OUR family! We had both of our immediate families over for a Christmas gathering. It's very rare that both families are together. It hasn't happened since our wedding but would like for it to happen occasionally. So everyone was here! We had a nice dinner, nice fellowship, enjoyed the Christmas lights from the neighbors and again, another game of dirty Santa. I'm not sure they all get the idea that dirty can mean re-gifting or gag gift. I think every gift was a "nice" one.

Christmas: Gingerbread Houses

As a team outing at work we went to the Viking Cooking School and made gingerbread houses. We had the best time and there were so awesome looking houses!

Christmas: Fun with Friends

The first week of December we had several friends over for some food, fun and dirty santa. We had a great turnout and some awesome dirty santa gifts! :)

Mark had to steal the lottery tickets form Jonathan! What a great idea, Adam!

Jonathan going for his second gift - which he didn't keep very long.

Part of the crew waiting to see the next gift

And the group photo (minus a few that left early)

Some of the gifts included were lottery tickets (as previously mentioned), a doormat, Walgreens gift card (which was picked by the guy that worked there and had been purchased by his wife, which was hilarious), a Chinese puzzle, Christmas salt and pepper shakers, the Perfect Fit Button, and the list goes on. What a fun night!

Christmas: Home Decorating

This year it was super fun to decorate for Christmas in our new house! I was so excited I did it the second week of November - which is way early for me! Because of the new house I had to get several new things (Mark just didn't understand)! We really enjoyed our decorations this year and I have several new ideas for next year too!


The place settings in our dining room! I finally got to use my Christmas dishes.





Can't forget the cinnamon scented pine cones - mmmm.




Santa is always watching.

A Visit From a Bug

Drew Bug that is! As always I'm way behind but better late than never I guess. In November we got a little visit from Drew, we had such a fun weekend! Friday night was short, by the time I picked him up and we got to our house we had a short play time, bath time and then bed time. I was a bit nervous about bed time because he was fresh off his pacie. But he did great, all his "babies" kept his safe. I ended up sleeping with him just in case he woke up wondering where he was.

Saturday we had a big day. We took him to the Adventure Science Center where they had a train exhibit. He is very into trains right now so it was perfect. They had ALL kinds of model trains and Drew was amazed. There are so many things for kids to do there he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be doing. He would just run from one thing to another. He loves to climb and slide so it was perfect! Later that afternoon after nap we hit the park - which he LOVES being outside.

We took him back to mom and dad on Sunday afternoon. And boy the week after that we sure miss having him around. Can't wait for the next time! I've heard we're getting him every couple of months - I think Casey enjoyed the visit just as much as Drew did. :)