We had a great time in Bend Thanksgiving weekend! Kyle was able to fly out from Georgia so we enjoyed time with him and Haley all weekend. We had a special time of sharing what we are thankful for during our meal. My aunt, Peggy, was able to join us on Thursday as well. We ate and ate and ate!
The photo above is of Weston and Grace with their new scooters. My parents gave them their Christmas presents early so they could enjoy them in Bend. Elsie enjoyed riding the scooters so much (with help) that they went out and bought her one also for Christmas! I think Noah will have to wait awhile for his ;)
One of the best parts of the whole weekend was that my brother took professional photos of our family! As you can imagine, with four small children going to a photo studio is a nightmare. Kyle got great shots of the kids casually playing and some wonderful "posed" shots of the six of us together. Even a couple with all of us looking in the same direction! If you cannot appreciate how hard this is you may refer back to my blog for Dec '07 when Mike and I tried to get a few Christmas photos with only 3 children. What a nightmare! Anyway, once I get access to my brother's photos I'll post a bunch and order our Christmas cards!
Noah received a bath in my mom's kitchen sink. We have to be careful to wash between all the rolls!
Mommy and Noah. We have a photo of Weston about this age wrapped in the same towel.
Grace and Noah. I'm not sure why he was crying, but it obviously wasn't bothering Grace.
Here's Elsie all ready to play in the snow. Mike took just her outside to play one night. She felt so big holding Daddy's hand and throwing snowballs at the rest of us who were watching from the window.
We rigged up a little sled. It didn't work that great and kept tipping over.
Elsie watching her siblings from the comfort of home. Most days it was too deep and cold for her to go outside.
Enjoying our Christmas dinner. It was just our little family for Christmas this year. 
Noah sitting in his Bumbo seat (thank you Aunt Elaine and Uncle Jack)! I like this photo because he looks like he's flirting.
A tree shot. Don't you love that cheesy five year-old smile?
Mike and I were pretty impressed with our snowman. The kids got tired of building him after about 2 minutes and wandered off to do other things. We also had a great snowball fight on this day. I won, of course ;) If Mike says I white-washed my own children, do NOT believe him. He's lying.
Christmas cookie time! We made and frosted our annual Christmas cookies on Christmas-Eve this year.
The finished product!
Elsie is crying because I told her no more cookies. In the photo it looks like no one is having fun but me, but we all had a great time (for the most part). 
Grace just woke up in this one. You can see how chubby Noah has become in 3 and 1/2 months!
Mike had the kids dress up as silly as they could and this is what Grace came up with.
Elsie loves to hold Noah. He's almost as big as her now!
Pure delight!
Grace and Uncle Kyle
So...we are officially crazy. We now (at least for the time being) are proud cat owners! We picked up our little kitty last night and brought him home, only to discover that I am very allergic to him! I knew I had some allergies to cats but I didn't know they would be so extreme. I am itchy, snotty, sneezy...the whole 9 yards. We are so disappointed as we really like him. He's fun and cute and even uses his litter box really well. The kids have been having a blast playing with him all morning. I keep telling them they have to give the kitty a rest once in awhile so they don't make him crazy :)
