Family Pictures

November 23,2010


Since all the kids were together, we took the opportunity to get some pictures.  I think the last time we did was when Tristan was little.  There was a neat railroad crossing near my mom's house, so off we went to see what kind of shots we could get. 

It was a beautiful, clear day, but it was windy as all get out, and the sun was just at the right height to make all the kids want to squint.  Not to mention trying to get 6 kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time!  We did have a lot of laughs doing it though - especially watching me try to figure out how to use the timer on my camera and then run to get into the picture!  I think my next investment needs to be a remote...

New Toys

What happens after all the gifts have been opened??  Well, play time of course!

 Tristan's marble race

 Foosball fun!

 Tristan's favorite game on the Wii - sword fighting.

 Grandma teaching them how to play checkers

 Build a road.  The 4x4s run the track and you can bend it and move it however you wish.  It's a lot of fun.

 Tristan playing his new Caillou computer game.

Snow!

We finally got a good snow!  So, we headed out to find a good hill...

The kids stopped and help the girls across the street start their snowman

and just had a little fun playing in the snow.

This is the same park that I took Grace's pictures at a few months ago.

 It seems it's beautiful any time of year.

We never did find a hill to go sledding on, but we enjoyed getting out and playing in the snow, and we'll keep looking for that elusive sledding hill!

Our Christmas

We had a fun and rather low-key Christmas this year.  The presents were much more reasonable than in the past - partially because the kids didn't need anything, and partially because we didn't have much time to get a list to Santa.

 Cookies and milk for Santa

 Our little Santa

 Our crooked tree - and that's all the presents!

 Tristan was pretty happy with his gift from his sister.

 Grandma got him some much needed dress up clothes and he immediately transformed into Batman

 

He hasn't stopped playing with this aircraft carrier and jets

  

He was soooo excited about getting his own two-wheeled scooter!  And it was Lightening McQueen!

Unfortunately he's only gotten to ride it down the hall a couple of times because it's been so snowy and icy outside.

 We were just waiting for her pile of presents to topple over on her since she kept picking them from the bottom.

 A new dress and doll with matching dress from Grandma Judi

 She had been asking for this movie since her birthday and was so excited that she got it.

 Her very own ice cream maker!

Now she has an Easy Bake oven, a Cake Bakery, and an ice cream maker!  This girl is getting as many kitchen gadgets as her momma, and it's cutting into my kitchen space!  :)

 The kids got a Wii this year, and weren't nearly as excited about it as I thought they would be.  They have enjoyed playing it, Tristan especially likes the sword fighting game on it (imagine that!).  But we didn't get the screams and jumping up and down that we thought we would.

 I think they were more excited about their battery powered toothbrushes!

Our beautiful little princess!

Swimming Fun

November 21,2010

After a very busy day, we headed over to Dana and Joanie's hotel and let the kids do some swimming.  The cousins all seem to have such a great time together, and this was no exception.

 Tristan immediately climbed on Chad's back and tried to hold him underwater.

 Sweet Emily

 Erik had a ball just floating around the pool, that is, when the girls weren't mothering him!

 Cannonball!!

 Brothers

 I'm pretty sure we mentioned to Tristan that he shouldn't dive.

Two peas in a pod.

Grace's Baptism

November 21, 2010

Grace was baptized at Anchor Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, in accordance to the Holy Spirit calling her to do so.  It was an incredibly special day for all of us. 

 Daddy helping her get zipped up

 She's ready!

 With Pastor Paul Sisk

(the man who started it all by marrying David and I)

 After stating that she believes that Jesus is the Son of God and declaring that she has received Him into her heart as her Lord and Savior.  

The congregation was impressed that she answered Pastor's questions so audibly and with no hesitation.

 

"I baptize you, my little sister..."

 

"We are buried with Christ,

 

and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life."

 She was not shy at all about looking into the congregation.

We had some very special people there to help us celebrate Grace's decision.  David's side of the family had come out for Dad's memorial service and to help us get everything moved out of the house and set up for a garage sale.

 The Samuelson cousins

Chad, Erik, Tristan, Chase, Emily and Grace

 Uncle Dick (Dad's brother) and Aunt Joan

 

Grandma Judi
 

Grandma Dawn

(Anchor is her (and now our) church)

 and of course, Pastor Paul

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture with one of my best friends (from my youth group days), Melanie, and her family.  Melanie, and her husband Nathan, have been a huge part of my life - they are just wonderful, God fearing people who have set a great example for me and for many others.  It seems they are always at the important events in our lives, and this was no exception.

After church we headed out to lunch to further celebrate our little girl.

 

The gift she received from Uncle Dick and Aunt Joan

Talk about a "God thing":  Grace had actually seen this Precious Moments figure in our PX at Camp Humphreys and said that she wanted it, but Dick and Joan had no idea of this when they purchased it for her.

 From Grandma Judi

 From Mom and Dad

The cross has John 3:16 on it.  You ask Grace what the most important verse in the Bible is and she recites John 3:16.

 Apparently all the commotion over his sister was just too much for Tristan to handle, and we soon found him bellied up to the bar...  :)

Thankfully he was just watching football and not ordering a drink.

Thanks to all of you who helped play a part in Grace's special day, we were so glad so many of you were here to witness her decision!