Her Actual Birthday

Londyn got an extra special treat this year for her birthday. Kevin's parents made plans to be in town for her big day, and so we all celebrated together. She was on a total sugar high. She took donuts to school, we met her for lunch and brought Charlie's Chicken (at her request) with a big sugar cookie from Merritt's for dessert, and then ate dinner at Ted's followed by another birthday cake. All of her favorites in one day. The girls and Grandaddy waiting for dinner.

Our family with the exception of Skylar who was on the other side of the table.

Londyn with Grandmommy.

Awe, they really do love each other!

Blowing out the candles...I couldn't find them for her party, but thankfully they showed up for the second time around.

She kind of acted like she didn't want them to sing to her, but I could pretty much tell she would have been disappointed had they not, so here she is slightly embarrassed, but feeling special.

Happy Birthday Big Girl! I hope you know enjoyed your day, and know how much you are loved!

You Scream, I Scream....

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!
We celebrated Londyn's 7th birthday last weekend with an ice cream sundae party. She wanted a family party, so that made things much less stressful. My family came to town for the weekend, so we had a great time visiting, and Londyn loved having some cousins here to her help celebrate.

A little sisterly love....

Trying to get a picture with all the kids. (Minus Lincoln, he was being crabby and had to go to his room.)

Anxious to start opening presents Londyn with her favorite parents, and her parents with their favorite middle child.

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!

I am aware that it is near the end of January, and as usual, I'm a little behind. But, better late than never, right? We are rarely home for New Year's, but this year we had made plans to be in town. Lucky for us, our class at church was having a party, and we had a very relaxing evening visiting, and the kids loved playing with some new friends!

Lincoln totally made it to midnight, and soaked up all the attention he was receiving from the teens and other adults. He's quite the social butterfly. It worked out well for Kevin and I as he was too busy acquainting himself with new people that he forgot all about us.

Nerd....

Making a New Year's toast!

Apparently it's tradition that all the kids jump in the pool at midnight. My girls weren't going to be outdone by the teens, so much to my surprise, they took the plunge. Thankfully, it wasn't as cold this year as it usually is, but I think they were a little chilly when they got out. They had a great time!

Rhema Lights

We procrastinated a little this year, and didn't make it to the lights until after Christmas, but it was one of our evenings out during our relaxing break. The girls were all about being photographed, but I had a hard time keeping up with Lincoln. He was running around like a wild man, as a two year old should, I suppose.

Winterfest

We spent one of our Christmas break days, or maybe a couple of hours, at our Winterfest downtown. It was actually quite a warm day, so it made skating outside much more bearable. We still didn't last long. It was hard for the girls, and I struggled a little as well trying to help them. We still had fun!

Probably everyone's favorite part of the evening was the funnel cake.

Kevin refuses to put on any skates, so he and Lincoln watched and Lincoln rolled down the hill a few times.

Christmas With the Fredendalls

We completed our Christmas by celebrating with my family Christmas Eve. We had a pretty low key day. We enjoyed a mid afternoon meal, knowing we would just graze the rest of the evening, and then opened presents together. I forced my children to pose for a few pictures, and Mr. Malachi seemed to be in a picture taking mood as well! Really, how cute is he posing with his grandma and great grandma?!?

The kids opening their presents. This box full of packing peanuts was a big hit among the littlest ones! I'm not sure what was in it, but it provided lots of entertainment and a big mess in the end.

There's nothing like bribing the children with a Christmas present to look at the camera and smile! It worked. I think all six eyes are looking, and most of them are smiling. I'm sorry there are not pictures of the men in any of my posts, but they always grumble at me when I try to take their pictures so I've given up. However, they are present at most of our gatherings:)

Christmas at Grandma's

I was kind of thinking it would be great if I could actually squeeze in all of my Christmas posts before January rolled around, but no such luck. I'm sure I'm the only one that is disappointed. Oh well, I guess it will fill up some January space since it is such an uneventful, generally unpleasant month around our house. (with the exception of Londyn's birthday, of course). Anyway, after we opened presents at our house on the pretend Christmas morning, we played for a bit, cleaned a little, and headed for Missouri. We met up with my family at my Grandma Del's house to have a few snacks, scream and yell with the cousins, and open the present that was waiting for them. They're all here, they're all looking kind of in the same direction! Our family is growing by leaps and bounds. I think we're averaging a child every six months or so. There will be another one coming in March!

Londyn and Grammy Tammy

The littlest three kids got this cookie monster toy that entertained them for quite an extended period of time. Lincoln started out a little fearful that his finger would be bitten, but he came around. We all had a great time, ate lots of junky food and were ready for bed by the end of the evening. More Christmas to come....Aren't you excited!!