A Visit with Santa Claus

Our family has a very special connection to Santa Claus' family so we get a personal visit each year from Santa himself! Carter has been fascinated this year with everything Christmas... Santa, lights, trees, ornaments, snowglobes, Buddy- our Elf on the Shelf, and most importantly baby Jesus. We have a snowglobe with the nativity scene that Carter just loves. He discovered that baby Jesus had a "gicky" like him! He told us one evening, "Jesus, gicky" and we saw that in the manger lay baby Jesus covered with a yellow blanket (just like Carter's little silky blanket). We couldn't help but laugh! The things this little man comes up with already! Carter didn't know what to think about Santa being in his house. He never cried, which we were thankful for, but it took him a while to warm up to Santa. By the end of the visit, Carter was giving Santa high fives and playing catch with him. It was too cute! Both of Courtney's sisters came by with their families to visit with Santa also. All the kids loved being with Santa!

HO! HO! HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Carter with Santa

Carter checking out Santa's hat

Our Family Picture with Santa

Uncle Aaron, Aunt Mandi, Reed, and Owen with Santa

Aunt Jeni, Ainsley, Zoe, and Ellie with Santa

"I could never love anyone as I love my sisters!"

(from Little Women)

Carter playing catch with Santa before he headed back to the North Pole

Snow Days!

We were blessed with snow days on Monday, December 13th and Tuesday, December 14th. We love snow days because we get to stay home together as a family! (Being teachers has it's perks!) Carter loved watching it snow all morning long! We got all bundled up to head outside in the cold, cold weather. Carter did so well playing in the snow. He loved using all his outside "toys" in the snow (his broom and rake). What a nice treat to be home with Carter right before Christmas break!

Our Family Picture- our neighbor was outside so he kindly took our picture!

Ready for snow fun!

Joe took Carter sledding down the small hill...

and then the large hill... which Carter was not too fond of!

Mommy and her snow bunny

Carter and Daddy

Carter wanted to sweep the snow with his broom until...

he remembered he had a rake!

Our little man worn out from his fun morning outside!

House Mountain Christmas Tree Farm

Grammy (and Guggy) planned a family outing to cut down a Christmas tree for their house. On Saturday, December 11th, after a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we headed to House Mountain Christmas Tree Farm. It was VERY cold so we all bundled up as best we could and hiked around trying to find the perfect tree. This is a tradition that Courtney's family did every year when she was growing up. It's amazing how the tree farm looks smaller and the hike seems longer than it was 20 years ago! The kids had a great time and hopefully this will be something they will always remember.

Family Picture Time!
Carter loved being outside regardless of the temperature!

After Grammy found the perfect tree, Noah and Reed started cutting it down...

with help from Owen and Zoe...

and Carter!

Carter helped Guggy pick the tree up!

Joe found Carter a "tree" he could carry!

The Taylors found a smaller tree for their house (since they already have 1 tree up). The kids enjoyed cutting it down too!

Ready to head home!

Carter was exhausted from our morning and didn't even make it on the road before he was asleep in his carseat!

Gobble! Gobble!

We are thankful for so much this Thanksgiving... Jesus, our wondeful family, and new baby Lancaster! God surprised us in October with the news that a new little baby would be joining our family! It was quite a shock but we know that God's plan is better than any plan we could imagine. We shared the news with our family in October by having Carter wear his new shirt... Big Brother! He's already in love with his baby and talks/waves/kisses/ hugs it daily. It's too cute! (We just hope he loves his new baby when he or she arrives in June as much as he does now!) We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with a feast at Courtney's parents' house. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

The Big Brother!


The best family picture we could take with a hungry little boy and a sick Mommy!

Carter loves to sit by his great-Papaw at family dinner. He always checks out what's on Papaw's plate to make sure he has the same stuff (and maybe Papaw does the same by the looks of this picture!).

Carter wanted some "oodles" off Papaw's plate so we had to get him some of his own. He never liked macaroni at home but has now started loving it!

Grammy and Guggy with Carter

Carter always has to have jellybeans from Guggy!

Guggy showed Carter that Sandy dog loves jellybeans too! Carter then had to give her a few jellybean treats just like Guggy!

Fantasy of Trees 2010

Every year, Amherst donates a tree to Children's Hospital Fantasy of Trees. Courtney is on the committee at school so she gets free tickets to the event. It's a lot of work but the end result is always exciting to see! This year, we went on Wednesday, November 24th because 2 of our neices were dancing in a show that evening. They did a GREAT job during their performances! We are so proud of you, Ainsley and Zoe! After the performances, we walked around to enjoy the trees and let Carter have fun in the kid area. He decorated a cookie, made an ornament, and "painted" a reindeer. He loves to color and paint pictures but ends up calling it all "paint".

Amherst's Tree- "If You Take A Mouse To The Movies" theme

Ainsley getting ready to perform!

Zoe striking a pose and ready to perform!

Our best attempt at a family picture-

Carter was way too interested in everything else going on around him!

Carter decorating a cookie with sprinkles. YUMMY!

He was having trouble reaching the cookie so Joe put him in his stroller. Carter decided to dump all the sprinkles on the cookie at one time!

Sampling his creation!

Last year, Carter made a holly ornament so this year we picked a reindeer for his thumbprint.

Ready to hang on our tree!

Our little artist hard at work!

Carter saw his cousins coloring a reindeer figure and had to make one too!

Worn out and ready to go home! Let the holiday season begin...

Happy Halloween 2010!

Due to Halloween being on Sunday, we decided to take Carter through our neighborhood early so that we could keep him on his routine for the night. We were the first family out in the subdivision but quickly were joined by several other families. We didn't know how long Carter would last because as you can see from the 1st picture below, he was not happy about his head being covered. He quickly forgot about his hood and enjoyed ringing doorbells for treats. He didn't realize what people were putting in his Elmo basket until he was given his 1st sucker and then trick-or-treating was over! He spotted his sucker and wasn't going to be happy until he had it in his mouth! We made it back home just in time to answer the door for all the late trick-or-treaters. Carter loved answering the door with Joe and looking at all the costumes. His favorite part of the night was getting to eat 5 suckers! (I think we were the suckers for allowing it but this was definitely a rare treat!) We had a wonderful evening at home with our little "Geoffrey the Giraffe."

Not too fond of the hood!

Daddy and Carter

Mommy and Carter

Carter's 1st trick-or-treating house!

Ding-Dong! (He looks so big ringing the doorbell!)

Our neighbor put their entire bowl of candy down for Carter to take whatever he wanted! This is proof that we aren't the only ones who spoil him rotten!

Discovering the sucker!

Courtney insisted on getting Carter a Halloween basket with goodies! He got 2 new books, a Elmo dvd, 2 pumpkin suckers, and a giraffe plate set with silverware!

Checking out his treats from Mommy and Daddy!

Halloween Family Picture!

Our little giraffe with all the pumpkins Daddy carved!

Happy Halloween!