Special Visitor

Last month we had a dear friend from the States come visit.  It was such a sweet and encouraging time! Not only do I love Rachel, but my kids are crazy about her as well!  We were all so excited about her visit!  (Brad likes her too, but he was out of town when she came to stay me.)  And, she came bearing gifts….  One of our favorite things that she brought was a gingerbread man shaped cookie sheet.  It’s perfect for making cookie cakes!  So, while she was here, we had to test it out!

We baked two cookie cakes and let Savannah make a gingerbread girl and Peter and Alex decorate a gingerbread boy.  But, we didn’t actually use gingerbread.  We made chocolate chip people – they were YUMMY!!!   So, here are some pics…

Savannah did most of this all by herself!  She loves using the icing tips and does a great job! 

In my world, when it comes to a cookie cake, the more icing the better.  (I especially enjoyed eating the dress on Savannah’s girl.)  In my boys’ world, the more candy the better! 

Clearly, they had Aunt Rachel’s creativity on their side.  Just look at that hair!  Isn’t he cute!?!   

Rachel’s trip here was great!  We had such a sweet time of sharing and getting caught up.  (We didn’t get a ton of sleep, but really….sleep is over rated anyway!)  I am so thankful for this precious friend!  

Last, but not Least

So, now it's time for Peter's modeling pics....  He's definitely not as animated as Alex, but we still got some great shots of him.  This is my favorite...

That reminds me of a Calvin Kline ad or something!  

Too funny!  

And of course, put a bat or ball in his hand 

and he's a happy camper!

Just look at this picture for a minute.  I had nothing to do with dressing him or selecting his prop. 

 Clearly the photographer is a little confused about sports...  Peter's wearing a soccer uniform, a baseball hat and holding a basketball! Crazy!

Yep, I think he's a keeper!  

It's OUT!

Alex Finally lost his tooth!  He's so excited!  The funny thing is that he swallowed his tooth at breakfast as well!  I guess we need to teach our kids to chew better, then maybe they'd notice when there's a tooth in their mouth!

My Alex is a crazy guy!  There’s not a shy bone in his body!  He loves to dance and entertain those around him.  He has a sensitive heart and is always aware if someone is sad.  He loves babies and generally makes everyone smile.  I’m so thankful that this little guy is in our family! 

Here are a few more recent pics of Alex lately.  He's always quick to pose for a pic.  

Savannah Lea

My Angel

(yes, they put mascara on her -- why, I don't know! She clearly doesn't need it!)

Alex

It was so funny to see him go from being silly and crazy, to serious and focused when he put on this army outfit.  It cracked me up!  We could hardly get a smile out of him!

And here's a glimpse of who's coming up next: Savannah.

1 Year Old Fun

From Brad. My friend here in town reminded me of a Christmas letter many years ago when I remarked that my twin boys loved to throw things down the stairs. One day many years ago we captured this phenomenon on video, its one of our favorite memories.

Thankfully, they never got a hold of my cell phone or other small electronic gadgets :)  They're many years older now, but they still love to smash things (me too). Its easier to do living on the 13th floor.

Modeling Pics

by Amy

So, several months a friend of our asked me if I'd be willing to take my kids to her friend's photo studio.  I think they wanted to use my kids' pictures as advertisement for their studio.  So, since my kids were up for it, I decided to take them.  Three hours and over 400 pictures later, we left the studio.  It was crazy!  They had my kids try on all kinds of outfits with different backgrounds.  I hadn't been to a photo studio since my boys were 2 years old.  Thankfully, this was quite a different experience!  They could actually look where they were supposed to look and smile on command!  And, since I wasn't paying any money for these pics, I didn't really care how they turned out.  So, there was no pressure from the mama!

Have no fear...  I do not plan to post all 400 pics, but I thought I'd take a few entries and post the best pics of each kid.  I'll start off with a few of my favorites with all three.

Check back in a few days and I'll post some great pics of Alex!