Christmas at Grandma's

We had Christmas at Mom's the Sunday after the holiday this year. Somehow we managed not to get many pictures. I was gorked out after 4 days of being on call, and still had to do rounds that day and answer calls/ pages till Monday am. I'll use that as my excuse. Anyway, despite me being crabby, we had a nice meal together and of course enjoyed some cookies. Mom had pictures taken at her church and gave the kids and grandkids very nice pictures of  her. Great idea Mom! The boys were thankful for all their gifts and have managed to play with everything and worn some of their new clothes.

I have told Don several times lately that we've had many blessings this year and I am so thankful for all of them. Don's obtained his teaching certification in special ed and has a job he loves. I finished the NP program and passed my certification exam, and things are going well at work. The boys are doing well in school (and daycare) and things are looking good for the Ferrell family. Don and I are working on some home improvement projects next. We are excited to see what's in store for us in 2015. Happy New Year!

Christmas morning

I wrapped this present for Tristan as a tribute to Grandma's style-- my Mom would always wrap gifts with 2 or 3 different kinds of wrapping paper when we were growing up cause she did not want to waste any of it. I love to do this now and tease her about it.

Tristan is super excited about his Green Goblin!

Yay, a remote control helicopter for Jordon. Too bad I think he's already broken it!

Tristan and Dad playing a fun game of Rock'em Sock'em Robots! Don said the game has been around for a long time and that he played it as a kid.

Gifts from afar

The boys opened gifts from Grandpa Don and Joyce and Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dale on Christmas eve. Here they are showing some of their goodies. We are grateful for all the gifts we've been given by family. Everything will be put to good use. I had to negotiate with Don to get to open stuff a tad earlier than Christmas Day. He is of the opinion that we should wait to open gifts. I, on the other hand, am ready to open everything as soon as it enters the house.

Elf expressions

I love to see how the kids facial expressions vary from picture to picture. I know many of these are similar but it's a Mom's perogative to post too many pictures that probably look the same to others. To me they are different and each is special. My boys are such a joy and blessing!

Visit with Santa

After Jordon's sheep performance at the church program, we went to the dinner downstairs and the kids were able to see Santa. Jordon was nervous. Tristan did a military march up to see him with great confidence and everyone got a chuckle out of it.

Church Christmas program

Jordon had been practicing songs to sing as part of the program at church. We did not know they were going to dress the kids up in costumes. Jordon was already throwing a fit about a tag in his shirt that I ended up cutting out at the church cause he wouldn't let it go. Then they put the sheep hat on him and he immediately complained of it being itchy. He did not have a good time with the costume but Don and I thought the whole thing was pretty entertaining. I wished I had thought to invite Grandma.

A couple other things I remembered to share about Jordon and conversations we've had...
He told me one time this past year, "Mom, you're the best Mommy ever", and "Mommy, I wanna love on you" (hugs and kisses). Jordon is a very sweet and sensitive, caring boy. I also got pretty tickled during a conversation we had one point in talking about the planets. Sometimes I think of Jordon as a bit of an older soul, and forget that he's only 6. We were talking about how Earth is the only planet that people can live on. And that Mercury was so close to the sun, that it was very hot there. He said, "Yeah, you would need like 4 fans there". His analysis of life on Mercury made me laugh. As Don would say, "What a dandy".

Decorating for Christmas

Karli's birthday

A few pics from Karli's 4th birthday. We came later cause the trick-or-treat at Hospice House was the same afternoon. The kids (and a few of us adults) had a good time playing in the bounce house.

Happy Halloween!

This year we took the kids trick-or-treating at Hospice House, and downtown Pleasant Hill-- they included part of the trail this year so that was fun. Later we also took them around the neighborhood. One of the pictures is from Tristan's daycare where they had a trunk-or-treat for the kids.