Christmas Joy

We had a great Christmas this year. I love this picture that Chris caught. It is Joshua at Miss Beth's Christmas party as he stood at the back of the crowd with his hands in his pockets taking it all in. Miss Beth calls him an old man because he walks around like this all of the time.

Here are the cousins at Mom Mom's house on Christmas Eve. I was in charge of keeping the kids occupied in the basement while Santa put gifts under the tree so we had fun pretending it was a photo shoot.

Sweet Daniel at 2 1/2 weeks old

Christmas morning Autumn quietly climbed into bed with us while Chris and I pretended to be asleep. I asked if Santa had been to our house and she nodded excitedly. He ate all but 2 of the cookies and left a nice note for them. Here she is first thing in the morning:

When Joshua woke up, he immediately asked for his digger. We had a tree full of gifts to be opened, and he wanted his gift from Christmas Eve that Mom Mom gave him. So he played with it for a while before he even looked at any gifts from Santa.

Autumn was glad for the Wii Sports like Uncle Robbie has.

And she got an American Girl "Kit" doll, which looks a lot like her.

Joshua was in awe when he opened his Tonka dumptruck and backhoe.

Autumn and Brooke had fun on Christmas night at Aunt Carolyn's house.

We had a fun movie night watching "Up" cuddled up under a new blanket from Daddy. All in all a great holiday. Autumn said it was her favorite Christmas ever.

Look Alikes

Carolyn commented how much Daniel looks like a Garges and how much spikey hair he has. Reminded me of this picture of Autumn - taken when she was 3 weeks old. Although she arrived 4 weeks early - so technically this is one week before her due date. :-) I can't see much of her current features in her baby face. Makes me wonder what Daniel will look like when he gets older... Fun to think about!

New Cousin!

We welcomed Daniel Joseph Garges to our family on Tuesday, December 8! He weighed 7 lb 15 ounces and was 21 inches long. It's the first son for Chris' brother, Jeremy and his wife, Michelle. Their two older daughters are very excited and so are we!! There's just something extra special about a little baby boy born in December. We went to visit today and had a really special time. He's such a snuggle-bug!

Santa

We had breakfast with Santa this morning with my 2 best friends and their kids. Autumn prepared a letter for him before we went...

Translation: Dear Santa, I would like a cookie set, Wii Sports and a Barbie Diamond dress. Joshua would like a dumptruck and a tractor. From, Autumn Joy (Santa's got a little more work to do.)

Mrs. Claus visited with the kids with her elf buddy.

(Kind of) Smiling for the camera

All the kids...Autumn, Aubree, Joshua, Morgan and Olivia

 After everyone was done eating, Joshua noticed that Santa was sitting all alone. He decided to climb up on stage for another visit.

The big guy seemed happy for another chance to chat. All in all, a great day with good friends and wonderful memories!

Remembering Mom

It's been 15 years today since Mom passed away. It is hard for me to even relate to that point in my life anymore. It was before I was married, before I was a mother, before I had a career, before I had anyone else to think about but myself. It makes me sad that she doesn't know the life that I have now.   You never grow too old to need your Mom. But I am rich in many ways and I actually have Mom to thank for growing me closer to my loving God. When she passed away I was a bit lost in my soul and the only way I could survive was to pray. I thank God for His peace and love in leading my life from then on. I am blessed by Him and blessed to have had Mom in my life for 21 years.

As Mom was always busy, I kept myself busy today too. The kids and I went to Autumn's school for a Christmas bazaar in the morning, where she was able to "shop" for the family with her own money. From there we met Kerrie (Grandmom) and Michelle and cousins, Hope and Adi, at Red Robin for some lunch. Michelle is going to have her 3rd little bundle in 5 days and we are very excited. A new baby in the family! Hope took this picture of the 3 of us and did a pretty good job!

Adi (4), Autumn (6), Joshua (2) and Hope (7)

We then ventured to Kohls for some Christmas shopping. The store was mobbed although I think everyone cleared out of the picture for this shot!

As we drove home it was snowing and this was what we saw when we pulled up the driveway.

The kids were excited to get bundled up after Joshua's nap and head outside.

Making our first snowman of the year.

They did a great job with Daddy!

Christmas is coming...

We have gotten into the Christmas spirit around here! This weekend we enjoyed a nice visit with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tom. We traveled to Lancaster to see "The Miracle of Christmas" show at Sight and Sound Theater. A great way to remember the true meaning of the season!

Sunday we cut down our Christmas tree. It was almost 60 degrees out and by far the warmest day we've ever been to the tree farm. We got a Frazier fur and it's a beautiful tree.

We began decorating the tree tonight. Joshua and Autumn were a big help and we had Christmas music playing and a cozy fire in the stove. I'll post pictures when it's all done!

Halloween

Finally posting some pictures from Halloween. Sorry about the un-seasonal background. Blogger is giving me a hard time changing it.  The first shot is Autumn's parade at school. Too cute!! We spent Halloween night at MomMom's house...it rained but was a fun time anyway. And the next day we had fun with Brooke. The kids got lots of loot but luckily have forgotten all about it by now (although Mommy and Daddy haven't, much to our waistlines dismay!)

Catching up

Fall is upon us which means time to celebrate Autumn's birthday! We have had a fun couple of weeks, stretching out the birthday celebrations between friends and family. On her actual birthday, we had some family photos taken as well as some feature shots of the birthday girl. When she got home from school we headed to Red Robin for a fun birthday dinner.




























I love this picture. Autumn happily put on this crown that Aunt Carolyn made her (she made the adorable t-shirt too) before leaving for school on her birthday. I was sure that she'd have it in her backback when she came home but she came running off the bus with not only her crown but stickers on her sweater proclaiming her special day. I relish this age because soon enough she's going to be too "cool" to be different from her peers. But for now it's just pure innocence and happiness. How I wish I could bundle her up and keep her believing that she is a beautiful princess forever.














The day after her birthday we had family over for a cake and presents. Grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles...we have a houseful when everyone is here. She loved it!















Finally, last weekend was her "friend" party. It was a highlight of the day when Tootsee the clown arrived with balloons and played games and had treats for all of the kids.














She loved Autumn's "6" shirt, but since she was looking at her upside down in this picture she teased that she was 9. Lots of giggles.
















Taking a swing at the pinata.













She made lots of fun balloon shapes.















Brooke wanted an elk balloon. She settled for some antlers. :-)















Tootsee did a great job of making Autumn's day special! We can hardly believe Autumn's 6 already!!!!