Sledding

Saturday (12/27/08) morning David took the 3 older boys to the glacier.

Justus and Luke got new sleds for christmas and they wanted to try them out.

So they left the house at 8:30 AM and returned at 9:45 AM.

Not to long of a trip but I am sure they had a great time.

David said Justus was more interested in playing in the snow than doing the sledding part.

But he did go down a couple of times by himself.

I had the cocoa almost ready for them.

They all had some pretty red cheeks.

Christmas Day

Christmas day begins with the stockings, and then moves into the presents. We have a great time and of course the kids think it is wonderful that they can eat candy in the morning. After gifts we clean up a little and then get ready for our traditional breakfast together. Normally we make breakfast burritos, however with everyone being sick this year we opted for another meal. We had a sausage egg casserole with fruit. Then we await the stockings at Mamaw's house.

The rest of the day is spent enjoying each others company

and playing with our new toys.

Katie got a new camera this year.

They boys got a little treasure hunt this year to find their gift. Of course it was one they had to share so the hunt was they enjoyed together. David really put a lot of time into the hunt. He had a code they had to follow and each clue had a new word they had to use the code to figure out where the next clue was. At the end of the hunt they were both extremely happy.

Working together...

The end of the hunt. A PS2 and two happy boys.

For Christmas dinner we had the Phelps family over. (including Lee) Also Rachel Alderfer. The meal was wonderful and the company was great. We really had a relaxing and blessed day.

The feast, when everyone was done with their fill. We sure had a lot of wonderful food.

Isaac and Matthias being good little boys.

Carly and Justus spent most of their time in the garage playing. Thankfully they were getting along with each other today. You never know with these two if they will get along or fight like brother and sister.

Enjoying each others company.

Even for having a small little home, I believe everyone had a great time and I sure was blessed by having my friends and family with me at Christmas. I pray you had a blessed day also.

Christmas Eve

Poor Katie, she had the flu on Christmas eve.

It seems that if we are going to get the flu we normally get it around Christmas time.

Oh the Joy of puking children.....

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to Jon and Jeannie's for a cracker, cheese, fruit and assorted other things for dinner. Then when everyone has had their fill Jon reads the children a story and then reads out of the Bible about the birth of Christ. And of course when this is done we pass out the presents. The kids always look forward to this part.

Merry Christmas

The Paden family wishes you a blessed CHRISTmas today.

May you find your blessings in the Lord who grants all Good.

All in a Row

I finally finished the stockings. Next year I am planning on having our names embroidered on them. However this year $40.00 for 8 stockings sounded like a little much.

Plus we don't yet have a name picked out for the newest addition.

Who will hopefully make his appearance at the end of January.

Matthias' First Haircut

Before

After much pondering on my end, I finally agreed that Matthias needed a hair cut. I am not ready for him to get a buzz so I called around and found out it was going to cost about $15.00 for a first haircut. So I went ahead and let David attempt to give him a haircut. We got him to sit still by giving him his milk. This worked a little bit, but not 100%. He looks like a grown up little boy. I must admit he does look a lot better since his hair was cut. So much for waiting until he was 2. He just had to much hair.

After

David did an excellent job. What do you think?

Walking on Ice

Saturday we took an adventure on the Mendenhall Lake. We bundled up the boys and headed to the ice. During the winter it gets so cold outside it is safe to walk on the ice up to the face of the Glacier. We did make it to the face, however the bigger boys and Matthias (on David's back) went that far. You are probably asking why a pregnant lady in her 8th month would even want to do something like this? Well what can I say I am crazy. We really had an enjoyable time and got some wonderful pictures. And although towards the end Matthias got extremely fussy and was so tired that I had to carry him in my arms half way across the lake to the truck. It really was an amazing adventure. So enjoy the pictures and if you ever are thinking about walking on ice, I recommend it. It sure makes for great family memories.

Joe and Luke at the face of the glacier.

David said you can hear the glacier popping and crackling.

Joe's comment after he heard the noises was "this is kinda of freaky."

Updated Picture of Luke's Nose

Luke wanted me to post this picture of his nose. He took this picture himself.

This is what it looked like on Friday.

This was taken this morning before school. The swelling has gone down a lot, and it is more red and yellow with all the bruising.

I take him to the nose Dr. tomorrow for an update on what they will do about the fracture. Pray all goes well.

Beautiful Sunset

We drove out the road on Saturday just to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

These are a few of the pictures we took.

Luke's Birthday Events

Fridays I go to the Annex for Craft day, so yesterday was no different than any other Friday. Except for the fact David called me and said that the nurse just called him from Glacier Valley and Luke needs to go get checked out at the ER for a nose break. He was in P.E. at the time and collided head first into another kid. He is doing much better today, however the swelling is worse than it was. He is going to be sore, black, and blue for awhile. I am just thankful it was not worse. I don't think he will forget the birthday he turned 11 and broke his nose at school. Not something I would want for my birthday and I know he didn't want it either. One good thing is that as soon as we were done at the ER he wanted to go back to school so he could have his cupcakes with his class.

What a brave and courageous boy I have. Not as bad as it could have been. Thank the Lord!!!

For Luke's birthday this year he wanted a popcorn cake. So I made him one. My grandma used to make them when I was growing up. Hers wasn't so sticky. I wish I had her recipe. Luke liked it anyway so that is the important part.

Happy Birthday Luke!!!

Today we celebrate Luke's 11 birthday. God has blessed us with such a quiet and shy boy. In fact today he wants me to bring cupcakes to his class, however he told me a specific time I could bring them. The time was 9:15am because they would be out for recess and I wouldn't embarrass him by coming in his classroom. What a silly boy. If you are with him and one of the teachers, counselor or principal sees you they will go on and on about what a wonderful example he is. All this is to say we are not done raising him yet and we are not perfect. But it is so encouraging to hear these praises of your children. So if you want to embarrass Luke today just go to his class and tell him Happy Birthday.

You might even try singing to him.

Happy Birthday Luke!!!

You have blessed my Life I am so thankful to be your Mom!!

Winter Moon

Today as I was taking Joe and Katie to school we were amazed by this beautiful full moon. I did not have my camera with me so when I got home I quickly took some pictures. The pictures don't do it justice, however it was such a welcome sight because we haven't seen the moon or sun in a while. We are suppose to get some great weather over the weekend. But with the wonderful weather we also get the cold. Lows in the teens and highs of around 31. The price you pay to see God's beautiful creation. I'll pay them all. What a wonderful world we live in. Have a great weekend.