Video of our Summer with Leanna

Spring Break 2009

A few weeks ago we met Jon's family up in Pigeon Forge, TN, to spend a long weekend playing and fellowshipping together. By Jon's family I mean: his parents, his two sisters and their families, his brother and his wife. All together there were 20 of us. 10 of those were kids and 5 of those kids are under age 4. We had a great time together and are planning to do this again next spring.

We planned dinner in teams...Tonya and I had Friday night. Below is a great shot of the girls helping us make dessert.

Our cabin had 2 hot tubs, but this day it was a little too chilly outside for the kids, so we let them play in one of the jacuzzi tubs. Above are Alex and Abbi.

Above - Clayton and AJ

I wasn't there when this photo was taken, but I just love it. It makes me smile every time I look at it. Clayton is so happy to share his ice cream with his little brother, AJ.

After our weekend in TN, Jon's two sisters and their seven children (combined), and Jon's mom all came down to stay with us for several days.

Above - Jacob and Matthew

Below - Abbi and Laura

The pets got plenty of lovin'!

It was a very eventful 4 days...

Above - Robin and Jacob play a heated game of chess

Below - the get-ready-for-bed assembly line

We were so blessed to have sunshine during their visit!

The kids all had so much fun on our trampoline.

Above - me helping Alex with her math homework

Below - we headed to Discover Mills mall one cool afternoon after naps to let the kids run around. Kristin and I put all the little ones on this cute train and let them ride around. They all loved it!

Robin took a crew of kids down to our playground one afternoon.

All the kids - from left to right: Alex holding Matthew, Devon holding Clayton, Abbi holding Aiden, Jacob holding Laura and Caleb holding AJ. What precious memories we made!

Christmas Cupcakes

A few days before Christmas, Robin and my boys made cupcakes for all the kids to decorate. It was great fun for all...the kids worked hard and did a fantastic job!

Alex and her lovely cupcakes

Jacob's cupcakes

And Devon's

And Caleb's

And Abbi's

And we can't leave out Laura's

Clayton and AJ even got to join in on the fun

Mmmmm...as Clayton would say,

"Izza big, BIG cupcake!"

Christmas in Illinois

We spent Christmas in Illinois again this year and had such a good visit with Jon's family. I'm still waiting on some photos from Jon's sisters (hint, hint), but didn't want to put this off like I did last year. Our nieces and nephews are all getting so big! I'll start catching you up with Kristin's kids since she has the youngest one.

This is Aiden...I won't go into his story here, but Aiden is the cutest, happiest little guy ever! It's almost like he knows that Jeff and Kristin didn't have to take him in to love him and care for him. Like he's just happy to be where he is and he doesn't want to be a bother. He'll eat if you give him food, he'll drink if you give him a bottle, he'll sleep if you lay him down. And if you just look at him, he smiles the biggest smile every time. I know some family members are afraid to get attached to him in case he doesn't get to stay with Jeff and Kristin, but it is just about impossible not to get attached from the first time he smiles at you. He is just precious!

Next is Adrien (AJ) who's going on 2. He's the strong, silent type. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, he has the sweetest little voice. I don't want to forget how he says, "Hi, An Mamy" (Aunt Amy) and Babbi (Abbi) and Waweb (Caleb) and An Nonna (Aunt Tonya). He is just so cute!

And then there's little, entertaining Clayton...almost 3. My word, this kid has such a vocabulary. It's amazing! With Clayton, things are either big or they're big, BIG. He learned how to give zrbts (think back to the Cosby Show) while we were there and asked everyone, "Can I give you a zeebrt?" He is just adorable!

It's unbelievable to me how much Devon (above) and Alex (below) have grown up this year. Man, where did the time go? The kids all had such a good time together. Hopefully Alex and Devon will be able to come with everyone else to visit us this spring.This is Robin's youngest, Matthew, almost 2. He is just a goofball. The above photo is him making silly faces at me while he ate his lunch one day. It was fun getting the chance to play with him...hopefully he'll remember us next time we see him!And this is Matthew's big sister, Laura, going on 4. She is just getting to be so big and independent. What I love about Laura is that when she laughs, she means it. I can't believe how grown up she is. My kids had a really good time playing with her. It warmed my heart when we were saying good-byes and Jacob told Laura that he would miss her. I'm so proud of my kids...they are so great with the little ones and really enjoy playing with them. Abbi had a child on her back for much of the week.

The weather in Illinois ranged from 15 to 20 below 0 (yes, I was FREEZING!) and an ice storm that was so enjoyable to drive in (yes, that is sarcasm) to 60's, thunderstorms and tornadoes, back to snow. It was the oddest weather for Illinois in December. Since it was so yucky all week, we kept busy with lots of indoor fun...The kids taught everyone how to play Mastermind

We played lots and lots of Rita's Wii. It was so much fun! Those are my kind of video games!

The boys built lots of Legos

Robin and the girls made paper chains for the Christmas tree

Jacob stomped Uncle Craig at chess (and then I think Craig stomped him back...was there ever a championship game?)

Jacob made cinnamon rolls with Aunt Robin (it's tradition)

And several games of Apples to Apples were played

Naptime at Gwamma Weeta's (Grandma Rita's)...Clayton and AJ sleeping in the frog tent

Jacob building his new Lego set

I think Aiden likes his new toy! Looks like AJ likes it too!

Caleb painting his new clock from Craig and Robin

Jacob and Laura

Clayton and I