Christmas 2010 - Part 1

We hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and are looking forward to ringing in the New Year cheerfully (and responsibly)! It's so hard to believe Christmas has come and gone and we are now staring down the last few days of 2010. Most of December seems like a blur to us as we have been deeply saddened by the loss of Kurt's brother, Adam, this month. Adam was a great brother, father and uncle and will be dearly missed. We are so fortunate to have little Jonah to carry on his memory.

Even with the not so great circumstances we ended up back in Indiana last week and got to see most all of Kurt's family and my sister, Jill, and the kids (we missed you Ross). The boys had so much fun visiting with Grandma Lana, Uncle Brett, Aunt Rachel, Annabelle, Uncle Kyle, Grandpa Dave, Grandma Susie and getting to bunk up with Aunt Lisa. Lisa hasn't met Luke before and hasn't seen Blake since he was a baby so she was in for some fun!! Kurt and I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with Lisa and definitely wish we could do it more often. Lisa has spent the last decade in Louisiana and had forgotten what snow is like! I know visiting us here in Minnesota in the winter is probably last on her list of things to do! And dear little Annabelle...I can't begin to describe how sweet this little girl is. She is just a doll and is THE best "4 year old sharer" I have ever met! I just love her sweet little smile and wish we could see her more often too. Kurt and I got to see pretty much all of his extended family and it was so nice to see them and be surrounded by so much love and support.

We were also able to spend some time with my sister last week. She so generously offered to drive to Warsaw and stay at our hotel for a few days so she and my sweeties (Maddie & Jacob) could keep the boys entertained while we attended Adam's funeral. I didn't hesitate to accept the offer and was so glad to have had her there. I know she has some good pics so I'll have to wait for her to share before posting. :)

Here are some pics of the week...

The boys "sliding" with Annabelle on an empty box!

the boys "helping" her open her new dollhouse. Needless to say after 4 years of buying boy toys I was super excited to indulge in some girly gifts!

Annabelle is literally growing up so fast...she is about 6 weeks younger than Blake and about a foot taller!

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Susie at their house in Huntington

Blake pretending to wear an Elf hat out of wrapping paper...

that's better!

Reading their new books!

Opening presents at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

So then, last Thursday we dashed back home in our 4 wheel drive sleigh to greet my parents who had flown in from Indiana to spend Christmas with us. On to part 2....