Holidays

We have had quite the adventurous holiday season around our house. As soon as Bill's dad arrived, our kids decided that they didn't want to sleep at night and thought it would be more fun to keep the grandparents up at night. We weren't sure what was causing it.

Wednesday, December 16th we celebrated Christmas with Bill's Dad's side of the family. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed our time together. The kids were a lot of fun to watch them discover what they could do with wrapping paper.

Thursday, December 17th Bob graduated from his Basic Law Enforcement Training. We were able to celebrate with him and continue our celebrations at Olive Garden after the graduation. We are very proud of him and everything he accomplished. Can't wait to see him in his first department uniform. Praying that God sends him the job opportunity that he has planned for him.

Saturday evening, we planned on going to church with everyone (Brent, Deb, Bob, Erica, Bill, Jackie and Dottie). Unfortunately the migraine and upset stomach that Jackie was dealing with on Friday continued over to Sat. She ended up in ER that night and surgery the next morning. When they were able to leave on Monday (day later than they planned) she left our beautiful state w/o an appendix. We are just thankful that they were here in town with us and not stuck between NC and MI on their journey home.

Tuesday we(My dad and I) took Billy in to the dr because he had been up all night for a few nights in a row and that wasn't like him at all. Double ear infection was his diagnosis. He also had a red throat and they didn't want to test him for strep since they were going to give him meds for the ears that would take care of strep if he had it.

Wednesday, Bill returned to work and Dad and I took Bekah into the Dr. She tested positive for strep but ears were fine. She started her rounds of medicine and felt much better w/in 24 hours.

Santa visited our apartment complex and I'll let you see for yourselves how much the kids LOVED Santa. ;)

We had a family event of making cookies, it was a blast. I made them, dad baked them, Deb kids and I decorated them and Bill helped us eat them. :) At one point Billy tried to pick up his cookie and stuck it to his bib with frosting used as glue.

Christmas Eve we continued our family tradition of opening pjs. I think Billy was a little disappointed when he discovered that it was just clothes and it wasn't a fun toy. Bekah loved that they were soft and was excited about "pretty" clothes.

Christmas Day we celebrated the four of us with Grandma Wade (Deb) and Grandpa Holtz (Brent) (wow that sounds strange). After our family Christmas, Bob and Erica joined in on the fun. We had my dad's yummy french toast and I made Christmas dinner later that evening.

Playing at the Park was a lot of fun. This was the first time the kids were able to play at this park, because last time it was closed for improvements. They had a blast running around and exploring everything around them.

The worst part of everything, is saying "bye". It is hard being able to have Grandparents around for 2 weeks and then all of a sudden everyone is gone. Kaylee is even looking around like "Where did everyone go?" Over the course of the holidays Bekah is talking more and Billy is now saying "geckah" meaning Bekah. We try to get Bekah to say Billy but she says "buba" instead.

Thanks for the chicken parmesan and french toast dads :) For all of the hugs, kisses and great memories. Can't wait to see everyone again soon. Love and miss everyone.

15 Month Pictures

I know it has been way too long. I keep getting behind with the postings of the pictures. It is incredible what the kids are doing to make us laugh and cry all at the same time. They do some of the silliest things and then without notice they accidentally smack you in the face with a sippy cup (thanks for the busted lip bubby) :)

A few posts back the pictures had Bekah with a bruise on her head and Billy's busted lip. Well now it is more often that mommy has a busted lip because someone is always crashing into me with a toy or their thick heads.

As of today we took down our fortress as we call it. It is the "cage" that blocked off the tv and stairs for many months. We have hidden most of the electronics around the TV and are not letting them play around the stairs. They are able to climb the stairs and get down them fairly well, but we don't want them trying it with out us.

Both kids get very excited when they see each other first thing in the morning. You hear "buba" and "sissy" and it just melts your heart. Hearing their little voices say "mommy" and "daddy" is priceless. Their vocabulary is improving significantly.

On Saturday we decorated the tree, or I should say they decorated the tree. While they were napping, Bill and I put up the tree and put the lights on it. We had the kids decorate it and didn't lift them up much so as you will see most of the ornaments are on the bottom of the tree, but it is very cute. Billy wanted to put all of the ornaments on the same branch and Bekah just wanted to collect as many as she could in her arms.

We had so much fun. I can't wait to bake cookies and make fudge with them in the next few weeks. We are so blessed to have our little miracles. I thank God every day for them and all the blessings and life lessons they bring.

We are looking forward to Uncle Bob graduating from his BLET course and are so proud of him. Family will be here soon to celebrate his graduation and the holidays with us. Hope every one has safe travels this holiday season and remembers the meaning of Christmas.