And the last kablooie

We opened gifts this morning, too. Jordan is very, very creative when it comes to wrapping gifts. Here, for instance, he bought Jamison "Dark Knight" and stuck the whole package in an old VCR player and wrapped the VCR to throw him off the trail, which it certainly did! We got a good laugh out of it.

Kieran got his beloved batmobile, Gabey got vehicles, and Jord got the Iron Gym he was requesting to pump up his musculature. Jamison got the Lord of the Rings extended edition he was wanting, too.

Stocking Stuffers on New Year's Eve

The oldest three got $5 gift cards for Main Street Coffee House so they can go up by themselves some night and play games with hot drinks and pastries. A fun tradition.

The second cousins partied, too

It was neat to see the second cousins playing together and getting better acquainted. They played basketball in the gym, table games, etc.

Next is Gabey and Samantha, Cousin Don's daughter. They're both two.



It was a great evening. Thanks, ladies.

Quinn's special 40-gifts-for-turning-40 party

On Monday evening after returning from Kansas, we huddled with the Schrocks to give Quinn his 40 gifts. Some of them he probably wouldn't care to display.



Beforehand, we siblings got to do something we hardly ever get to do...we went out to dinner with no kids! Well, almost "no kids." Gabey went along, and so did Baby Kyle (Joel's baby). We had the shebang afterwards at Crysta and Reggie's house.

First cousin party

Here are some of the attendees. Cousin Don has his back to the camera. He did an absolutely hilarious "short bus" routine in which he acts like he's missing a chromosome.

We played "Who-What-When-Where-Why" and "Occupations." You'll have to read Monday's paper for a colorful account. It was a riot. All I can say is, we should all seek God's will for our lives.

A few more from Mom and Dad

Christmas at the Log House on the Prairie

Here's some of the action we saw in Kansas at Mom and Dad's. They were playing "follow the leader" with Ashlyn in the lead. This is called "heads."


...and back the other direction. This would be "tails."



Opening presents in our jammies on Christmas morning.