So Blessed...

I can't believe how fast Christmas has come and gone! Crazy to think that by the end of the week we will be in a new year already!

We were so blessed this Christmas for so many reasons; it was our first one with Owen, what an awesome blessing to have him in our lives - he had a great Christmas! Also, we were able to spend a lot of time with family and friends - we had four separate 'Christmas Parties' to attend. We also feel blessed that even though we are faced with uncertainty in our lives, that Scott and I both have steady incomes, a roof over our heads, and food on our table!

Our festivities began with Christmas at our house as a family of 3 - Santa visited our house for the first time ever and we all opened our gifts in the morning.



Owen got a new ball and some fun toys and even a camo onesie (from dad, of course!).
Scott and I decided to get ourselves a Wii for Christmas (we figured we'd have to wait until after Christmas to get it though since everyone was sold out - but somehow my mom and Nathan found one on Christmas Eve while they were out doing some last minute shopping!!)

Around 10 or so we finally managed to get ourselves out of the house and headed over to my mom's for Christmas at her house. Nathan came into town - so the whole fam was there!! Nathan and Travis have this thing where on Christmas (and sometimes on Thanksgiving too) they slick their hair back and wear sweaters - they say they like to get dressed up for the event - anyway, here is Nathan in his getup w/ Owen in his...



We also decided to take a family pic - since we haven't had a pic of all of us together in forever (actually since Nathan's graduation from NMU in May of 05)...
Notice how somehow Nathan grew a little bit in the second pic?





We all had a great time and had a 'lucious' breakfast of ham, eggs, toast, and bacon (yum!) and for dinner we made bbq ribs with all the fixins (we decided to take the non traditional approach this year, as typically we have a turkey or ham for dinner).

Scott and I got a new digital video camera from my mom - we're still figuring it all out, but this will be so nice to have to capture all of the growing up Owen will be doing in years to come! :)

On the 26th we headed over to Scott's parents house and had our family Christmas with his parents, Jen, Paul and the kids...We had a yummy breakfast of egg caserole, monkey bread, fruit, and lots of other yummy goodies!

Here are O and Gma...



The kids all made out like bandits and had a great time tearing into all their gifts!



Own loves his Mr Brown Bear...



We weren't able to spend the whole day there, since at 4 we had our next party to attend, the VI Christmas at aunt Carol's!!

We headed home around 2 just in time for Owen's nap - and then we got ready to head out again. The whole extended family was there - and Owen had a great time playing with all the second cousins! We even tried for a pic of all the kids! Here is Dylan trying to keep his cousin occupied...



Lots of awesome food and company to enjoy!! It was a bit overwhelming for Owen with all the noise - but he is such a trooper!! By the end of the night cousin Michelle had him fast asleep in his bouncy!!

On Saturday at 4 we had the Kole Christmas at Great Grandma and Grandpa's clubhouse - the whole fam was there... Here's O w/ Great Gma...



Once again we had a great time eating, spending time with the fam and oh, did I mention eating?! (I think I've put on a few lbs this holiday season!!). Owen was so out of sorts by the end of the night though - I think he was just overstimulated - and over tired, so we left a little early and headed home.

Our plan for the week is to tear out the flooring in the dining/kitchen/hallway and put in laminate wood flooring - it will be much easier for Owen to crawl around on and also easier to keep clean!!! Since this is central area in our house and there will be a lot of dust and stuff from tearing out the tiles, Owen and I are going to be staying at Grandma Ruth's for a couple days! Scott had to work today but will get started on it this afternoon when he gets home from work!! I ordered the dumpster which should be arriving any time now! I'm so excited to get a new floor! I'll post more on the progress of our project!! :)