Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great Christmas, and we enjoyed being with Ben's family. Parker is now old enough where he was really excited, and it was Maddy's first Christmas, so it was extra fun for us. Here's some pictures we took on or around Christmas. Happy New Year to everyone!!

Madisyn (2 1/2 mo) and Parker (23 mo) on Christmas day

Madisyn (10 weeks) in her Christmas dress

Parker and Maddy in Christmas outfits

Parker playing with his train set he got for Christmas

Maddy opening presents

Parker in his Santa suit.

Maddy on Christmas day

Baby Jesus

For our Ward Christmas party, they did a "Back to Bethlehem" night. And they asked that Madisyn play Baby Jesus! So here are some pictures of our little girl doing her part. It was so cute!!

Madisyn in the manger

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we went to Ben's sister's house for dinner and desserts and fun. We had a good time with everyone. We also got some cute pictures of Madisyn and her cousin, Hailey. Hailey is just 3 1/2 wks younger, but right now that makes Madisyn look really big compared to her (Maddy's up to 9 lbs now, and I think Hailey's about 7.5-8lbs). They're really cute together.

Madisyn (5 1/2 wks) and her cousin Hailey (2 wks)

Madisyn and Hailey

Maddy smiling

Maddy smiling again

Hailey (3 wks), Porter (19.5 mo), Madisyn (6.5 wks), and Parker (22 mo)

Here's a cute video of Madisyn being happy and playing. She smiles so much now!

Raking leaves

Out here there are lots of trees, which means there's lots of leaves during fall. So one day while Jess and the kids were here, we decided to help out and rake. Syd and Parker had quite the fun time playing in the leaves and "helping" us gather them.

Jess' visit

Jessica, Sydney, and Lincoln all gave me the biggest surprise of my life by coming to visit me!! Ben had arranged it (with help from Geary, my father-in-law too) and had managed to keep it hidden from me for a whole week before they arrived. Sydney and Parker were the best of buds once again, and had so much fun playing with eachother. They were here for two weeks (Nov 5-Nov 19).

Parker, Jess, and Syd playing on the hammock

Lincoln, Ben, and Maddy

Syd, Parker, and Maddy playing on the bed

Lincoln playing on the bed

Jess reading to Parker and Syd

Madisyn smiling!

Like I mentioned before, Madisyn is smiling more and more! We love it!! We've managed to catch a couple of smiles on camera, so here they are.

First picture of our smiling girl

Picture #2 a few days ago

Grandma's visit

Mom came to help out for a week, and to be here for Madisyn's blessing. Parker really enjoyed having Grandma here to play with. Mom, Jess, and the kids overlapped here for one day before Mom had to go back home. So we got some really cute pictures of her and the grandkids.

Parker (21.5 mo), Madisyn (3wks), Grandma, Lincoln (6.5mo), and Sydney (4yr)

Parker, Grandma, and Sydney

Grandma, Madisyn, and Sydney

Grandma, Parker, and Lincoln

Parker, Nic, Grandma, Madisyn, Syd, Jess, and Linc