Some Winter Fun

On Friday, the weather was B-E-A-Utiful!  So we decided to postpone our errands and take the boys to play in the snow.  They had a blast... for about 30 minutes; after which they were zonked (fell asleep promptly in the car), my toes were froze (I need some decent winter fun boots), and Jerry decided he didn't have to go to the gym after all that day :).

Baby Peter stayed nice and warm in the cozy tent we had :)  He slept the whole time, with just a little fuss easily cured with motion.  No... he did not ride down the hill.

Me and James, preparing to brave the hill.

James is kicking up some snow.

Jerry riding down with Lucas.  Jerry was moving so much and the weather was so nice, that he shed his coat. My californian boy must be getting truly acclimated :)

California Christmas

With Jerry's work, he gets 2 weeks of paternity leave.  By the grace of God he was able to take one over Christmas and we were therefore able to spend a beautiful week with his parents in California.  Marie was able to come out for Christmas weekend, and Casey and his family made a quick trip out to spend Sunday with everyone too.  We hadn't seen everyone, nor had the family been all together, since September of '09.  It was wonderful to be reminded of what a great family we have :)

On Sunday, after church, we had a friend take a family snapshot for us... pretty good, eh?  

Grampa and Oma with their grandchildren... (left to right) James, Trenton, Lucas, Tys, Katie, and Peter.  Casey and Lisa are expecting the 7th grandchild in July.  Here's hoping there's another girl :)

 Our little family... me and my boys!

 Grandpa and his grandbaby #6

 We spent some time on Christmas eve exchanging gifts... spoiled, everyone!!

Jerry and little Lucas.  Just had to add this photo... too cute :)

Oma took the kids outside and let them throw corn to the chickens and the goats... the kids LOVED this!

 Here is the man in the tree.  Mom stood behind and spoke as if she was the tree.  Katie and Tys had seen the show before and had it almost figured out (Tys told her it couldn't be the tree because the mouth wasn't moving), but James was totally taken with it... no clue about Oma :)

Oma with Lucas, James and Katie.

Lucas is here to help!

 New and renewed friendships... with sleepy, TV zoned faces.

And here's a little phot I had to share from our house... little Peter is growing too fast.