On the move

Zane is officially walking now. He actually started about 2 weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to take pictures.

He is always so excited and walks with his arms outstretched. He's so much fun.

Christmas 2007

For the last two years, my grandparents were with us for Christmas. This fall, they moved to North Dakota so it was sad to not have them here. But we still had a nice day with my mom and dad.

The kids woke up early to find a family gift under the tree -- a Wii. They were very excited.

Next up were stockings.

We then had a nice breakfast and moved on to presents. We get the kids 3 gifts each year. One is something they ask for, one is a practical gift (this year it was clothes) and one is coupons. They get 2 coupons -- one to use for a date with mom and one with dad. One is a meal at a restaurant of their choice and usually includes appetizer and dessert. The other is for an event or activity. This year both Conner and Chase got tickets to an upcoming Toby Mac concert and Brenna chose Build-A-Bear for the third year in a row. The younger 2 boys don't participate in this yet so we just have fun buying them a variety of toys.

Chase and Conner both asked for Nintendo DS Lites.

Brenna asked for a My Twinn doll. The eyes were more green than hers, but other than that I think there is a pretty good likeness.

Aiden's new "Cars" outfit.

Later my mom made a yummy ham dinner and we all spent time playing on the Wii and with various new toys.

Unfortunately Scott had to work the next day so he had to leave for Denver by mid-afternoon. But we still had a wonderful Christmas.

Baby's First Christmas

This was Zane's first Christmas. He did well ripping the packages open but lost interest quickly. He seemed to enjoy playing with his new toys.



Chase helped him with his stocking.

A new sippy cup -- better try that out right away.

And a new outfit to show off.

It was so fun having a little one this Christmas. Zane has been an incredible blessing to our family.

Christmas Eve

Early in the day, Scott and my dad took the kids sledding. They had a lot of fun, but the wind was very cold so they didn't stay out as long as they normally would.

We let the kids open up one gift from us on Christmas Eve and it's always new pajamas.

Last year we started at tradition of having the kids buy for one of their siblings. They try to keep who they have a secret until Christmas Eve. They had a lot of fun shopping for one another.

Zane really enjoyed his fun toy from Aiden:

We also let them open their gifts from their grandparents that live in another state.

Traditions - German Food

My grandparents on my mom's side are German so I grew up on some wonderful traditional food. My grandma is no longer able enough to cook but some of her recipes have been passed down. One of our favorites is called Kraut Bruschke.

It's more commonly called Kraut burgers. A lot of times it's made with ground beef but we prefer bacon.

By the time we arrived at my mom's, she and my dad had already cut up all the bacon and had it cooking.

Then we drained and rinsed the sauerkraut and cooked that a little. Then added pepper to taste.

And added the bacon to it.

We then rolled out bread dough. Both Conner and Brenna helped out.

Then we placed the bacon/sauerkraut in the bread dough and folded it over.

Then we baked them until golden brown.

They take some time to make so we generally do quite a few at once. This time we made 32. And they don't last long.

Mountain Winter

On Sunday we left to spend the holiday with my parents in the mountains. It was dry in Denver and most of the way up. The creek in the canyon was mostly iced over and very beautiful.

The kids always do good on the 3-hour drive.

Aiden being goofy (notice his doughnut with the icing eaten off)

Zane enjoyed playing with his brother's empty hot cocoa cup

"Look mom -- no hands!"

He's very proud of those new teeth

Going over the pass, we did encounter some blowing snow and icy roads.

But on the other side, it was dry and clear again.

When we got to my mom's, she had a nice pot of homemade potato soup ready for us all.

YUM!!!