Christmas Part 2

This is Christmas part 2 we had this Sunday night after Mom and Dad got home from Virginia Beach. We had pizza and opened presents. One of the family traditions that we have is to take turns open presents. The opening involves passing out presents - Gabe was the guy and some ribbing to go with it.

Aaron liked the paper as much as anything. This time he was a better opener after the earlier practice.

This is a really cool collapsible tent from David and Kim and Anthony. Thanks for coming everyone.

Christmas Part 1

It has been a very fun Christmas so far. The presents are good but the people are even better and we are so blessed to have so many people in our lives. Our Christmasing began on Tuesday when Grandpop brought some mighty fine carrot cake. Then on Wednesday Grandpa and Mimi and Uncle Jonathan arrived along with cousin Ruby. Aaron decided that cousin Ruby was great. Then came Christmas morning and we had baked french toast with both grandparents this is so much fun. Aaron loves books and here Perry is reading to him.

It warmed up so the grandpas took Aaron for a walk. He soon fell asleep and slept a good while.

We of course ate way too much. In the last few years we have started a new tradition that involves ribs. So we consumed ribs and roast and generally ate too much. But we had fun eating and talking. We missed Aunt Cindi who wasn't feeling well as well as David, Kim and Anthony.

Jonathan brought his Wii up and so there was some serious competition going on. As well as some laughs as the grown-ups attempted to play. We also played some serious scrabble and introduced Jonathan to a strange game called In A Pickle.

Yes his mother dressed him as an elf for Christmas. Someday he will say I can't believe you did this to me Mom. Grandpa and Uncle Jonathan kept Aaron as the women chased the after Christmas sales. Overall it has been a great Christmas so far.

In all the chaos I am thankful that Jesus loves me and that He is the reason for the season. He makes everyday more meaningful.

Some Aaron Adventures

Aaron has discovered crayons and finger paint. The cool thing with this finger paint is that it only makes messes on the special paper. Aaron loves water as I mentioned before and here he is helping grandpop was dishes.

I met a couple families that also have children that are adopted. We had a good time visiting each other and telling stories. It is fun to visit with other families.

Well we begin to prepare for the Christmas season. I hope to post pictures soon.

ReAdoption

I know some of you are asking why are we readopting. We are readopting for two reasons: one so Aaron has a Pennsylvania birth certificate which will make our life and his easier. We don't have to use his Guatemalan documents. Second it allows us to his official name change easier simpler because it is just part of the process. So December 11th we went to the courthouse and completed our readoption. The picture is of us and the judge.

Misc

These are a few of the youth acting out the story of Balaam. We are doing Bible series called Weird, Scary and Gross. We have studied Lot's Wife, the Ten Plagues and now Balaam. It has been interesting to study some of the unusual stories in the Bible. Aaron is doing some new things lately including coloring. He is has finally stopped saying Ba for everything. He has added the words up and banana. He is saying wa for water and is getting close to saying a clear bath. Sometimes he says bite.

Growing up we always had a tree but it was artificial. Perry growing up always had a real tree. Well we have talked for a while about getting a real tree. So this year we decided to give it a try. With Dad serving as the director of straightness Uncle Jim and Perry manage to get the tree up. I will post the finished tree picture later.