a few of our favorite things...

(click on the collages for a closer look)

here's a peak at a few of our Christmas goodies! :) we had a wonderful day and are so thankful for our family and friends!!! most of all, we are thankful for our Savior....He truly is the best gift of all. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

Christmas morning

Make a Smilebox greeting i watched this video and cracked up! brooke and scott got drum sets for Christmas and

lainie really enjoyed playing the drums with scott. lanie is terrified of tyler for some reason. watch her reaction to him when he talks to her in this video. it's funny (at least to me!). :)

reading with grampi

it is a tradition for grampi to read Twas the Night Before Christmas. we all enjoy hearing the story and the kids really love it too! after reading, we put out the cookies for santa and then head for bed. this year brooke and scott heard santa's sleigh bells as he passed right over the house. we had been tracking him on NORAD and so we knew he was close! the kiddos sprinted for bed and were out in no time. Christmas is so magical!!! :)

Christmas Eve

we loaded up our "stuff" and headed to gramma and grampi's to meet the rest of the willams family on wed. we had a great night! the guys played poker and gramma made lots of good food. we enojoyed catching up and i loved getting some lainie and emmie lovin'! :)

run rudolph, run!

notice the whip in the above photo

faster, rudolph!

scott, er... i mean santa, is cracking the whip around here (literally). rudolph has been attached to a bean bag (sleigh) and is making the rounds in our home. scott tells her to "GO!" and says "rudolph, you stay with me!" if she leaves the sleigh. it's so funny to watch and we had to take some pics. :) kids make everything so fun!!!

ryan's reindeer run

yesterday we participated in ryan's reindeer 5k run. it was unseasonably warm and most people were in shorts! this weather is nuts!!! anyway, we had a great time....or, at least i did. brooke and scott were not sure about 3.2 miles. they were great at first, but by the midway point, they were done. tyler wound up carrying brooke on his shoulders and had scott on the front of him. i wish i had gotten a pic! i think 1 mi. fun runs are a better race for us. but i was so proud of the kids. they perservered and crossed that finish line!

Christmas presents!

our BIG box arrived from ralph and betty! we always love getting boxes from them. they have "adopted" us into their family and we are so blessed to have them in our lives. scott helped me open the box of gifts and then place them under the tree. betty's gifts are always wrapped beautifully....each one has an ornament on it that coordinates with the wrapping paper. i love the way she spends so much time making our gifts look so special. that extra touch of love she adds means so much! :) scott loved seeing the pretty gifts and then was enthralled with the box and the bubble wrap that was in it! here are some pics of him having fun!!!

scott's performance

Make a Smilebox greeting

scott had his Christmas performance at village this past week. it was precious and we thought we would share a video with you. scott is the last once to speak...and he says, "it all happened in bethlehem late one night, underneath the stars that shone so bright." i figured he would learn the words easier if i put them to a song and so he learned them that way....therefore, he sang his lines at the play. it was cute! :) enjoy....

Christmas love

more parade pics

just a few more for your viewing pleasure. and, as always, click on the collage for a better view. Merry Christmas!!!!!

brooke's debut in the Christmas parade

we were so excited about watching brookie in the parade!

there she is!

waving like the princess that she is! :)

brooke with the swampdogs mascot

brooke and greysie

we had such a great morning! brooke marched, or should i say danced in the christmas parade here today. she actually performed a dance while marching and it was absolutely great!!! :) it was quite cold here, but they said that there was a record attendance as far as spectators go. the parade acutally lasted around 2 hours....it's a big deal (bigger than i imagined). the weather is beautiful and Christmas spirit is high! brooke loved every minute of it and we were so proud of her. i bundled her all up, but she refused to wear her gloves because she had to be able to clap and snap. she was very serious about that and would absolutely NOT wear her gloves! she had to have her hair curled for the parade and she was not very happy about that either, but she got to wear stage makeup and so that made up for having to have curly hair. she loves, loves make-up!!! and i mean....LOVES make-up. i worry that we will have a tammy fae on our hands. ha ha! anyway, it was a definite "special day" and one that i will always remember! :)

scott loves drums

scott loved the drums at the parade

so when we got home, he decided he wanted to make a drum....

and now, we are listening to him bang out the rhythm of Christmas carols! :)

latest "brooke-ism"

this morning, i woke up to find brooke staring at me. it's kind of a wierd sensation to wake up and have someone inches from your face. but, you parents have all been there. :) anyway, brooke came down this morning and after staring me down for a little bit, cuddled with her daddy while i got a few more minutes of rest. when i turned over, brooke said, "mommy, i thought you were a who in whoville when you were sleeping." wow brooke, thanks for the compliment! i guess it has something to do with the fact that i had my hair in a "high" ponytail and maybe also because she thinks that i am the size of a "babysitter"...as opposed to gramma and aunt mere who are taller and therefore the size of a "mom." merry christmas! :)

church Christmas program

(click on above to enlarge)

here are a few more pics for you to enjoy! gramma and grampi came down for the program and we enjoyed having them here to see the kids. brooke and scott were able to spend the weekend with gramma and grampi and were spoiled, spoiled! and, so were we! :) Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

our joseph and little lamb

yeah....that was our joseph....doesn't he look thrilled?

after the play...all smiles!

scott and emma (his girlfriend)


brooke and greysie....big buds! :)




brooke and scott were able to be in the children's Christmas play at salem (our church). brooke was a sheep and scott was joseph. i was a little concerned about scott having such an important role, but no one else thought that it would be a problem. during the dress rehearsal he would pick up "baby Jesus" and swing him around, toss him into the manger (something like playing basketball), etc... so, we had a serious discussion about how it is not acceptable to do that. and, of course, scott wanted to know why as that was just a doll and not a real baby. i finally succombed to bribary. and that worked. except that he acted totally bored during the play (see above picture). and when he was not acting bored, he was hitting himself in the head, getting tangled in his robe, or just roaming around the manger. the play was about over when he decided to sit backwards on the bench and then he gracefully fell off. thankfully it was the end and they quietly escorted him off of the stage. acting is not in his future. and then, lo and behold, i find out that he has a speaking part in his Christmas play at village preschool. my nerves are shot! LOL!


now, onto brooke. that girl can memorize some moves!!! she gets that from her daddy. :) she loves, loves to be onstage and is so fun to watch. she did a great job and i was so proud of her. i think the best part for her was afterwards, when she was able to see santa. she is not sure of what she wants for Christmas, and i told her she'd better figure it out soon. she is still trying to ask for a drum set (i have tried to discourage that gift, which is why she does not know what she wants from santa). if she does get that drum set, i need an extra-big supply of imitrex!!!! NOW!!!!!!!


we hope that you are all having a great Christmas season! lots of love to you all!!!!!
p.s. scott was really a lot better than i made him out to be. he did a great job for a 4 year-old boy and several people (including the associate pastor) came up to me and told me that they were all laughing so hard at him, so maybe comedy would be more suitable for him??! anyway, we are so proud of our kiddos!!! :)