Dec. 9th - Jan. 2nd, 2014

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. We are so blessed to be able to share the holidays with our family. God is so good to give us loving and caring parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.. We were reminded over the holidays how "rich" we are to be a part of not only our flesh and blood relatives, but also the family of Christ. 

 A bit of cleaning before the company arrives. Owen has officially "taken off" walking! He is crazy fast around the house and I've noticed today that he is spending very little time staying in one place playing with toys. He is literally constantly walking around the house with some toy or object tightly grasped in one or both hands. He is a bundle of energy!!

 What a joy it was to add a stocking to our mantel this year! 

 Micah's grandma, Sharon, at one of several Christmas parties we went to. She is an amazing cook and always surprises us with the desserts she whips out. 

 Kate, Noah and Roger arrived safely on Dec. 22nd and we had a fun-filled ten days together. Like last year, our house was full to overflowing with family. We had a great time together. Stayed up way too late, ate way too much dessert, watched way too many movies, and were reminded way too vividly of the fact that we are not as young as we used to be. :) The sleep deprivation was totally worth it. 

Jonathan also got his leave approved to join us for the whole time. Will and Dad were also there for Christmas, so we had just about everyone. We missed Joy and James though. :(

 Blake and Seth were in heaven with all the people willing to play with them. 

 The boys got to meet Cousin Roger for the first time. He is just precious. I realized that our boys are not blessed with the "calm gene" like Roger is. Roger was so sweet, he would just sit on Kate's lap while she sang to him and did hand motions together. When I try this with Owen, he likes it for about 2 seconds and then it's a wrestling match to get him to sit still on my lap while we sing a song together. :)

 All their new Christmas outfits. Thanks Grandma Ensmenger! 

 Roger and Uncle Will

 One of a few very serious games of Monopoly. 

Below is what happens when you try to take pictures of two very busy baby boys. :) 

 Finally clothed and in their right mind. ;)

After a full Christmas season we are spending today writing thank yous, wading through new toys, getting back into our routine and remembering the good time we had. January is an exciting month for us as we take some time to reflect on the previous year and set new goals for the coming year. Micah and I usually take a day or two and do some planning for the coming year. Every company or business needs goals to work towards and our family unit needs them too. 

Hope you all are doing well and looking forward to this next year!

Love, 

Kari, Micah, Blake, Seth and Owen