Christmas!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. Here are some photos from our christmas celebration on Christmas morning. Other than this get together we had David's parents over Christmas eve, and my extended family got together on friday night- neither of which I have picture of, sorry :-).

Josiah got his own digital camera, which only means he will stop using mine :-).

Alex, in addition to the MP3 Player, got a cell phone & a baseball bat.

This was by far the funniest thing all morning, my mom wrapped Josiah's nutcracker in a box that was for a crystal vase. His face was a little shocked and uninterested when he saw that he was getting a vase. We had to explain to him that the picture on the box was not what was inside. He was excited to find a nutcracker inside- for some weird reason he loves nutcrackers. Josiah was also the proud recieptent of a cd player, and a remote control pirate ship.

And then, of course, my quest for the family photo. THis one is actually a tradition every year since we were married we have taken a photo in front of the tree- one year it was only the two boys but every year since then it has been all of us. Maybe someday soon I will get them all together in order and make a nice little frame for them all. What can I say, I love my family photos, the boys grow up so quickly that taking photos is so important to me... this one took about 10 shots to finally get a good one. I hope all of you had some nice family time over the last week and I pray your new year is a great one!

I got both boys in ties on sunday. I couldn't resist the kodak moment.

Josiah got his chance to sing in front of church yesterday and boy what an ordeal. When he first got up in the morning he was very excited, but as soon as we arrived at church he began his weekly meltdown (he doesn't really like Sunday School). So we did everything we could to bribe him to sing first service and with no luck it didn't happen. After getting him into his class we crossed our fingers and prayed that he would do it second hour.... I took this video with my digital camera so it isn't the best- plus it is a little shaky, but you at least get to see Josiah standing around doing nothing, he was so proud that he was up there with us watching and we were very proud of him. Josiah is wearing a green coat and is in the middle of the screen, half was through the first song he waves to me. The second song is 'Come on Ring those Bells' the first solo was sung by Mikayla, the daughter of some really good friends of ours. I love the little country twang she adds to the song!

Dear Friends & Family,

For those of you, who are enjoying the blog for the first time, welcome! Instead of the usually family letter I thought I would share our blog in our Christmas card instead. Feel free to post comments & check back often to see regular updates & photos of 2007; it is sure to be a fun year for us!

So here goes our 2006 recap…. It was another fabulous year in our house hold. Alex finished 5th grade and in our school district that was also the end of elementary school. He played baseball again and although his team only made 3rd place in the league and Alex was invited to play on an All Star team for a tournament. Alex turned 12 in November & sometime this year he grew so tall that he is eye to eye with his mom. Middle school has been an adventure so far, he is running from class to class and keeping up with all the homework that is assigned. He is starting to get into music and things that teenagers like to do. It is so hard to let go at this age!

The highlight of our year had to be the first camping trip we have done as a family (look at the July post for pictures & a detailed story). We spent 4 days at Warm Beach with a large group of families from our church. Both boys got a lot of bike riding in. It was a blast.

In September Josiah signed up for soccer and we enjoyed his first and only game. It was really a riot. If you have never seen 5 year olds play soccer it is a must do for all (look for pictures in the Sept-Nov posts). Josiah turned 5 this year & started preschool. He is learning basic math and his letters. Math seems to be his favorite subject. Josiah also received a blue ribbon for his cookies at the state fair (see previous post).

David & Cori are still both working for Disney in downtown Seattle. They both enjoyed another year on the churches softball teams. Cori is spending another year as director of the AWANA Cubbies program at church. In March of 2007 we will be celebrating our 7 year anniversary, it is so hard to believe it has been that long. We really feel blessed by everything we have been given. We pray for each of you daily & hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!

Lots of Love,
David, Cori, Alex & Josiah

Leavenworth!

We made our annual trip to Leavenworth today. We had a great time and for the first time David joined us. We got a lot of christmas shopping done and the boys got a couple of hours of sledding in for the year. We also made a stop at the Hat Shop, so that should answer any questions about Alex's hat :-). My parents were with us and we took a charter bus with a group from my dad's work, Community Transit. It was a great time!

Josiah borrowed Alex's hat...

And Josiah decided he wanted to take a picture of Alex's hat all by himself...

Hope you enjoyed to photos. Hopefully lots more will come soon!