The details of December have gotten a bit foggy at this point, so thank goodness for pictures!
Ahhh, the Book Barn.
There's not a lot of things that will get me out of bed at 7:30 a.m. with a smile on my face and hop in my step but the 1st Saturday of the month Book Barn visit can!
Recognize these two little hooligans and their love for chillin' in the toy crates?
Yep, that's Duncan on the left and Charlie on the right and within months of the same age even!
We hang out in the family room A LOT (as seen below).
It warms my heart to catch these boys voluntarily looking at books. Charlie as of the past few weeks has really gotten into them and will bring us his favorites: Old McDonald had a Farm, Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, Please Puppy Puppy Please, How Big could your Pumpkin Grow, and Quiet LOUD (just for the record).
We got this big box package from ordering a water barrel and the boys had a BLAST playing in the box, ripping up the paper padding and throwing the paper up in the air. Cheap fun at it's best. It was a sad moment when they realized we'd retired it to the re-Cycle of Life.
Rich Family Christmas happened early this year (since we were planning on traveling for the actual one).
December 16th was our Christmas day and it was awesome. After this I kept forgetting that the rest of the world still hadn't had Christmas yet.
Little notes about Christmas:
Bobby got a His and Hers set of pairing knives (since he used mine as a screwdriver to try to fix the sprinkler and it broke :). Duncan and Charlie got sweet little jets. Bobby got me USB Super Nintendo paddles so we can play Kirby's Avalanche and Super Mario Bro. on our computer (love 'em!). R/C Ferrari's!
Here's our ever so humble and totally portable Christmas Tree (that we've used for 6 years now!) with lots of special ornaments.
We had heard about a neighborhood in a nearby city that goes ALL out for Christmas decorations so we headed there for an FHE. There were at least 60+ houses involved, which made it purely obvious where the Scrooges lived. This tradition was quite the happenin' event with Limo's driving through to check things out and really long flatbed trailor hay-rides filled with people just there to tour the neighborhood.
Tacky lawn decorations never looked so good and fit in so well.
We headed to Utah for Christmas and made it just in time (literally within minutes) for my Grandma's funeral.
We were planning on spending all of Christmas Eve with her so I was pretty heartbroken about not getting to give her a big hug. I think my Grandma must have known something that the rest of us didn't because she told my Aunt a few months before this that she was going 'home' for Christmas.
My Grandma, Nola Wilson Duncan:
I loved visiting Grandma, she never failed to welcome you with open arms at the front door, kept you well fed with homemade goodness, and had a sweet and sincere interest in those around her. She left quite a legacy for her family to remember and strive for. Her desire to do her best in the things that matter most will always be an example I will look to. I am grateful that I have the blessing of being her granddaughter and benefiting from all the goodness that she exemplified in this life. I will remember fondly, the Sunday phone conversations we had during the last few months. I loved that time I had to hear her encouragement, wisdom, and expressions of love for my "little ones" and how precious they are.
I love you Grandma and will dearly miss giving you hugs and visiting with you but I'm so happy that you are with Grandpa again. Your example of dedication in marriage, to family and to the Lord has always been forefront. Thank you Grandma.
Pictures that were inside one of her necklace lockets.
So sweet.
Bobby was asked to be a Pallbearer because my dad and his siblings wanted the oldest grandson in each family to do the honors.
However, since my dad doesn't have a son it fell to the oldest son-in-law (Steve) but they weren't able to make it which thus provided Bobby the honor.
Me with my girl cousins! I love these girls and miss them!
Me with all my cousins my age.
There was ALWAYS someone to play with when families got together!
Family picture :)
Duncan was emotional but it was actually because we sent a bunch of Royal Blue (my Grandma's favorite color) Balloons off to heaven and he didn't want to let his go, he loved it so. Sadly, the tie around his wrist came undone and his balloon sailed off with the rest of them.
He didn't burst out screaming at all though, in fact, he just watched it drift off as his eyes filled with tears and got red.
Thanks to the ward for putting on a wonderful dinner for our attending family, which was 200+ (twice this year)!
Marianne invited us to go see Frozen with her and Liv. It was a great outing, thanks Marse! And thanks Joanne for being home while Charlie napped!
We spent Christmas Eve at the folks house, here is Bobby, Duncan, and my Dad's version of "Olaff" :)
Snuggling tuckered-out boys.
Christmas morn!
Thanks mom and dad!
Tyler and the boys checking out the latest addition to our train play!
Charlie and Grandpa are great buddies.
Charlie was all smiles when Grandpa was around. Seriously, if he started crying for some reason we'd pull my dad over and he'd be fine.
He started giving kisses this trip as well...but only to Grandpa :)
Christmas Adam:
cousin exchange, the nativity done by the cutest little cast, and matching pajamas!
Christmas day at Honey's house, thanks Honey!
We loved every minute; as evidenced by the fact that Duncan isn't in any of these pictures because he is off having adventures with his cousins and Charlie was enjoying all the people and action. I think he could have squealed with adoration for Rosie the entire duration of our stay but alas, Rosie had other things planned and never stayed too long.
All of the darlings in their matching jammies in front of the Poppy tree.
It was a great trip to see family and as an additional bonus, we didn't even get sick! Yay!
We loved getting to tour Pat and Anna's lovely new home as well, double bonus!
Thanks family we sure do love you all!
To finish off December, and the year, we rented Turbo, set up our little two man tent in the family room, and had a good time being together. After the kids were in bed, our friends the Goodman's, came over and we played Ticket to Ride, ate chocolate chip cookies, and had awesome discussions about books, spiritual topics, and other great things.
Happy New Year
'whoooooooo whooooooooo'
or is it
'toooooooot tooooooooot'
(we actually stayed up long enough to see the clock strike 12 and hear the New Year train whistle from the train yard).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~What does the train say? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
;)
BONUS features for this months post:
Old Duncan quotes that I forgot to post...4 months ago :)
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October (10/11/13)
Sometimes we get glimpses of how everyday sayings get perceived by these cute munchins.
For example, in the adult world after someone sneezes, we usually say, "Bless you".
Well with this particular example, Duncan and I were playing airplanes on the floor one day and suddenly Duncan's plane "sneezed" on my plane.
Duncan's plane then asked, "Did I bless all over you?"
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November (11/20/13)
Charlie, Duncan and I were sitting at the table eating our lunch when Duncan made an observation,
"Charlie doesn't know the secrets of talking".
I love the way these eager minds work.
Charlie's working on learning those 'secrets' now!
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On a side note:
We haven't done a tribute about Bobby's grandma Mootzie yet, who passed away last August.
We weren't able to go to the funeral because Bobby had a big test that same weekend,
but we wanted to make sure that we reflected on her life and what it means to us.
We will do that in the next post since this one is a little long.
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