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!