EASTER 2011

the day before Easter :) ~dying Easter eggs!

Easter morning!
Biruk's first Easter with us ~he was pretty excited to get all dressed up. :)

our family

my "baby" -she's getting too big!

We hosted the family Easter gathering at our house this year.

After lunch we let the kids swim, slip -n-slide, and jump on the trampoline!

yes -it was warm enough for water fun ~but it was breezy so made being out of the water pretty cold!

10 of the 13 cousins in the pool!

baby Joshua chose to nap instead of play in the water :)

getting ready for the Easter egg hunt

we hid an egg in Ginger's cage...she didn't seem too happy about it.

JANUARY 2011 RE-CAP

catching up on blogging today. :)

here is a re-cap of the 2nd 1/2 of January.

school time is fun if you can use the dog as your pillow!

for Christmas my parents and John and I pooled our $$ for a trampoline for the kids.

the first week we had it, I swear the kids jumped 5-6 hours a day. :)

they still go jump several times each day -just for much less time.

I LOVE that they are having fun while exercising!

My sister and her family moved closer to my parents at the end of January.

We had the privilege of babysitting their dog Mia for almost a whole week as well as several of the kids various days!

Jameson and Jeremiah found the dress up clothes!

we were able to watch baby Joshua for several days in a row -even getting to have him overnight 1 night!

he's such an easy and happy baby that it wasn't difficult having him around at all!

can you guess who is my biggest helper ?

Biruk is a really good babysitter. :)

CHRISTMAS DAY 2010

first thing you do is tear into your stockings!

then we got to the presents under the tree. :)
Elizabeth got a baby doll set ~Becca owns most of the babies around here and although she shares, Miss E wanted another doll to call her own. :)

the girls received cross necklaces from John's mom

Biruk is really into Iron*man stuff, although to our knowledge, he's never seen the movie. :)
I was elated when I found him an Iron*man N*erf gun!!!!

a horse set ~she LOVES horses...and playing with them has seemed to be very therapeutic for her.

my boy and his St*ar W*ars addiction :)

Elizabeth picked out a cup/plate set for Becca at the dollar store.

Becca's big gift was a little mommy type baby set up ~bouncy seat, playpen, carrier...whatever a mommy needs, she now has for her babies!

Lucy dog!

do you see what's in between her paws?!
it's the only toy she has really ever played with.

wanna know what it is?
a doll head!

yep -several years ago John popped the head off one of Becca's dolls...somehow Lucy actually started playing with it...she gnaws on it, let's us throw it and play "ball" with it...it's a bit odd ~but hey, she enjoys her doll head. :)

After we finish opening presents at our house and having a bit of breakfast, we head over to my parents' where my sister's family is waiting for us.

then the real mayhem and craziness begins!!!

all the kids gathered 'round waiting for us adults to get cameras ready!

this is SO Joanna!

how adorable is this?!

this might possibly be one of my most favorite pics.

my nephew Joshua looks alot like Andrew and Becca when they were infants ~I think this is such a sweet pic of the 3 of them.

Elizabeth got a scooter from my parents!

Becca got a remote controlled puppy.

Biruk had really wanted a remote control car!

here are the kids opening up their "big" gift.
my parents and John and I are going in together to get the kids a trampoline!
YAY for 1 more way to help the kids get their wiggles out!!!!

after present opening it's outside for the Christmas Day football game!

John trying to intimidate Andrew. :)

once John and Javier (my bro-in-law) were tuckered out ~my dad took over the QB spot

and now as is tradition ~after lunch my sister's kids put on a play.

they practice for weeks. :)

I thought this pic was funny ~all 4 of us parents are manning cameras!

of course for Christmas, they re-enacted the Christmas story

if you can see in the above pic -baby Joshua in his Santa suit is playing baby Jesus....everyone is "worshipping" him. :)

the cousins enlisted our 4 kids as the sheep for the play

here shepherd Janae is trying to herd the sheep. :)

Becca trying to make her long hair into a beard like her cousins' did for the play

take a bow!