Happy Birthday Nate!

In my haste to put up pictures from Christmas and our big snow I forgot to document Nate's 14th birthday. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care though.....

Here is the birthday boy.....eating pizza on his big day.

Look at that beautiful smile... 14 years old!

A birthday tradition ~ Oreo ice cream cake ~ Yum!

Get ready to blow out those candles.....

Nate wearing his favorite team's colors, thanks to his Aunt Amy. Nate, you had better hide that jersey from your Dad. It might be used to wash the car!

Nate, you are growing into a fine young man. We look forward to what you will accomplish each and every day. You've already grown to the same height as your Mom. We love you so very much! Happy Birthday son!

The Big Snow and Christmas

What a surprise we had the evening of December 19, 2009. Snow started falling before 9pm. Everyone in the county had made it to the grocery store but me. Scott attempted to pick up milk after work but no milk was to be had. He did bring home 2 tomatoes and a bag of chips. Fortunately for us I had quite a few odds and ends in the pantry to sustain us for a week or so. The kids were so excited to see the snowfall in the morning but their excitement quickly turned to determination and then exhaustion as they worked on clearing 4 driveways on our street. Let's just say it took most of the day to find that asphalt.

Scott and Nate clearing our drive.

Just under 20 inches on our deck about 15 hours after it all began.

Someone has the right idea...stay inside in a warm, cozy house, wearing a Santa hat while the boys are busy shoveling snow.

Christmas week went by all too quickly. With all the snow it was difficult to finish the last bit of Christmas shopping but it all worked out. Less is more, right? By the looks of the pile of gifts below I don't think anyone was going without a present.

Lily had the pleasure of opening the first Christmas gift of the year. Thank you Aunt Kimmy!

Kids dressed to the nines before Christmas Eve Mass.

Beautiful children in front of a beautiful backdrop.

Happy Birthday baby Jesus!

Lilymei's Loot. Yes, there is a princess clock in her pile!

Drew with his prized possessions.

Nate with his pile of goodies.

After opening gifts we had a quiet dinner and a peaceful afternoon. We were not able to be with extended family but we were blessed non-the-less to be together as a family. To top it all off who would have thought we were going to have a white Christmas?

Snow, Santa, & the Christmas Tree

This year I pulled out the Christmas decorations early. We started decorating the tree right after Thanksgiving. I don't know how much Lily remembered from last year but she really got into the holiday spirit this year.

Lily put quite a few ornaments on the tree. She did really well keeping them on the tree too!

Someone is pretty excited about the holidays....

Isn't Lily looking older?!!

Who gets to put the angel on the tree?

Reach....reach....Daddy needs to help a little.

Lily and Drew met with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the neighborhood community center. Lily had been talking for weeks about what she wanted to tell Santa she wanted for Christmas; a princess clock. We didn't know if she would actually talk to Santa though. To our surprise she ran into Mrs. Claus's arms and then took her turn on Santa's lap. She was so excited. What a picturesque scene...we had our first snowfall that morning.

Drew is ready to get shoveling. The boys made some money shoveling the neighbors driveways. Nate and Drew came to the conclusion that shoveling snow is a lot harder work than mowing lawns. Little did they know that 2 weeks after this snow we would have 22 inches fall in 12 hours. At least the boys had a little practice before the BIG snowstorm!

Lily couldn't wait to get out into the snow and make a "snowmam". I think she would have stayed out until bedtime if I would have let her. Snow in her boots...no big deal!

The makings of the first of 3 snowmen to grace our front yard that day.

Lily, Drew, and Nate with Santa at church.....2 weeks in a row. Who doesn't love seeing Santa once a week?

Check back for more photos from our busy month of December!

Turkey Day in the USA

We have a lot to be thankful for! This was our first Thanksgiving back in the United States in 3 years. We had grand visions of joining in with family for the holidays once we were back. Scott's work schedule was not optimal this year, therefore we spent the holiday in Virginia with 2 fellow airmen, Alan and Courtney. Scott and I planned a late afternoon dinner. We wanted the opportunity to sleep in and then watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before heading into the kitchen.

Scott and I are a good team in the kitchen. Scott tackles the protein while I attend to most of the sides. This year the kitchen smelled soooo good. We had turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, dinner rolls, cranberries, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin cheesecake, fudge, fruitcake, and wine. We ate good!

Scott and his bird.

This was one of the best turkeys I have ever eaten. My mouth is watering right now!

The O's on Thanksgiving 2009.

Our handsome boys.

The princess with her meal.

Lily sporting her "Everyone is thankful for me!" pj's.

Scott and I are so thankful for our 3 beautiful children!

Lilymei is having a little fun with black olives two days after Thanksgiving. I remember when Nate used to put his olives on his fingers. He doesn't believe me now....nor does he eat olives anymore.