Christmas day finally came

We had counted down the days and couldn't wait and then within a few hours it was all over.

It came early that morning. Jared after not going to bed until after 11 was back up at 6:30. He could not believe that Santa was not there. We guess that he thought Santa was going to be there. He wanted to refill the milk for him. He opened a gift and then just moved to the next. He didn't know what to do. He was really into the opening of gifts.

After our celebration at home we went to Grandma's house. We had 40 people in one house. It was a lot and crowded but it was great fun to be with everyone. Once again the kids did not eat because they were so excited to open gifts.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a special day.

Jared told me today that he wished every day was Jesus' birthday. He thought that was pretty cool to get presents for someone else's birthday.

Christmas eve night

We opened our stockings and got ready for Santa. Jared couldn't wait. He had to put out the milk and cookies. He wanted Santa to come and stay with him. He was so excited he couldn't go to sleep.

more pictures from the kecks

Christmas at mom and dads

Christmas Eve was as always busy but very fun. Kim and I started cooking early in the day and finally finished at dinner. We finally ate dinner and then opened gifts. The kids couldn't eat their dinner due to the excitement of wanting their gifts. All of them were pleasantly surprised. Craig made the biggest hit when he got his autographed football from the tigers. Kev and Missy worked hard to get it done.

Christmas at the Winkles

My dad's cousin had us over for Christmas. My cousin from St. Louis was in and she has little girls about Jared's age. My whole family went so the girls had a great time playing dress up. Twila, is a former school teacher, had all kinds of fun activities for them. They enjoyed making the ornaments even though it was messy.

Christmas at the Jacksons

On Sat. before Christmas, we drove to North MO to see Craig's parents. As soon as we got there it started to snow. Within a couple of hours there was 3 to 4 inches of snow. We had to leave early to get back home before it got any worse. It took us forever to get home, but it was worth our trip. Jared enjoyed seeing his grandparents and getting to walk in the snow. He had never seen that much snow. He wished he would have had his snow boots.

sleeping with nana

Mom had to have knee surgery so we took our turn babysitting. Jared and Nana was so tired that while reading a book, Jared went to sleep. Nana was right behind him.

christmas decorations

It has been a while since I have been on the computer. I didn't work much and haven't had a chance to be on the computer at home since it is at my mom and dad's house. I am including pictures of my Winter snow village. It is my hobby to collect these. It makes for an easy gift for Craig to buy when he needs a quick gift.

Ice day

Well we rec'd a small ice storm, but it was enough to keep us country folk from reaching the big city. We spent the day baking cookies for Santa nd his reindeer. Craig and Jared made the cookies for the big red guy and I took care of the reindeer cookies. We then wrapped presents and Jared can't figure out why he doesn't have any under the tree. I keep telling him his are at the North pole.

We did venture out late yesterday and he had to put on his snow pants. He just about melted because it wasn't that cold.

winter pdays

Kerrie's work Christmas party was Sat. morning at Hemingways. We had a great time, but boy there were plenty of shoppers in Springfield. You can tell there are only 13 days until Christmas. We enjoyed the day spending it together with friends and co-workers.

not much happening

I haven't had too much to write about lately. Over the weekend we didn't do much. We watched the Tigers lose to OU and get their bowl bid to the Cotton Bowl. On Sunday we spent most of the day at Urgent Care and getting medicine for Jared's ears. We have tried to take it easy this week to hopefully recoup from the ear infection and wreck.

Craig did go to Marshall on Thursday to duck hunt with his buddies. They had a great time and got all the birds they could get. poor little birdies.

We are going to Christmas parties all this weekend so that should be fun.

Bad Monday Morning

We were all rested and excited to get back to our normal routine after the wonderful holiday weekend on Monday morning. The day was moving smoothly until about 10 minutes til 8 when another vehicle decided to hit me in the rear end. (Thank goodness I had already dropped Jared off at the sitter). Not only was it an accident it was at one of the busiest intersections in Spfld during our "big rush hour". Due to the fact it was a non-injury accident it took the cops 20 minutes to get to the scene. Sitting in traffic was worse mentally than the accident.

I am very sore today in parts of my body that I didn't know could hurt. These type of things are just such an inconvenience to not have transportation and having to rely on others.

We are very thankful that no one was hurt. Cars are fixable and can be replaced.

It just didn't start the week off on a good note.

I hope everyone elses week goes better.

Christmas Parade

Republic had their Christmas parade and Haley marched in it. The kids got lots of candy and saw their first glance of the Big Red Guy (Santa).

As you can see, Logan was really excited about being there. Addie and Jared had a great time.

The other picture is Haley as she marches by.

Sat. morning after Thanksgiving

Jared is so excited about Christmas that he can't stand it. When we woke up there was just a little bit of snow. He thought Santa should have been there since it had snowed. He wanted to know where the Christmas presents were.

After we got the living room cleaned up we started in decorating for Christmas. Jared enjoyed helping put up the big Christmas tree. He has his own tree to do when we find everything from the move. He can't wait to do his own.

Black Friday

I wish I would have pictures. Logan, Kim, mom, and I started out the day at 5:20 in the morning. We went to Target where we couldn't even get near. The people were standing hundreds deep just to get in the store. Nothing that we wanted to endure. We went to Kmart and ToysRus. By the time we got to ToysRus we were smarter. We got in line and then took turns shopping.

While we were out, Craig and Jared did some shopping for me. They had a great time hanging out together.

We all met for lunch and then went our separate ways.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving we travelled to St. Joe to eat with Craig's parents. We went to Cracker Barrel. After lunch we stopped by Craig's Aunt Juanita and her family. Jared and I had never met her or her family. It was a nice visit. We then went to Maysville for a few minutes. Craig's nephews then came by for just a few minutes before we began the journey home. We came back to the Keck's to have dinner with Kevin and his family, Kim and her family, and my mom and dad. We celebrated my birthday with them.

Thanksgiving moments

I don't have any pictures to post, but just thought I would share how wonderful family and kids are. We have been reading a lot of books about Thanksgiving and Christmas and the shows on Nogn and Disney are starting to be geared toward the holidays as well. Jared is really into the holidays and what is going on. That is a lot of fun, but last weekend he and I (I was reading a magazine sitting beside him) were watching a show and the characters asked what each of us was thankful for. Jared sat there a few minutes and he said he was thankful for his Mommy and Daddy. Of course my nose came right out of the magazine and asked him to repeat it. It choked me up and he said Mommy don't cry it is a good thing that I love you.

As I reflect on that, we have so much to be thankful for as a country and as an individual. God instructs us to be thankful in our attitudes, our actions, and our prayer life just to name a few. So as each of you get together in the coming weeks with family, friends, or acquaintances please be reminded how thankful we are to be able to worship freely and celebrate the holidays with people we love.

Enjoy the summer weather with Christmas lights

After church activities were over we headed to Branson for a night as Silver Dollar City. It was a perfect night to be outside. No coats and no crowd. We were able to enjoy the lights and not freeze. The lights are absolutely gorgeous and the atmosphere and smells of baked goods really help you think about the upcoming season.

Jared thought the trees around the big tree in the town square were dancing, because the wind was blowing through them. He kept dancing and said he was dancing with the trees.

Last Trip to Mizzou

We made our last road trip to Mizzou on Sat. The Tigers beat Texas A&M. Go Tigers! It was a beautiful day in Columbia. Somedays Jared thinks he is Chase Daniel (the Mizzou QB) and other days he says that Chase is is favorite friend and football player. Saturday during the game Jared decided that Chase should come to our house to play with him. Jared wanted my cell phone to be able to call him. Boy the things little kids think of and dream of.

The tigers have 2 more regular season game, hopefully the big 12 championship game, and finally we hope to have to travel to a warm destination on Jan. 1st for a bcs bowl game.

If you can't tell by the excitement on the little guys face, he was having a good time at "the Zou"

Weekend adventures

Craig had to work on Sat. so Jared and I tried to get a little Christmas shopping done. Jared was bored, but finally fell asleep.

Sunday was more his type of day. After church and lunch we spent the afternoon outside riding his gator and playing with his trucks. We enjoyed the warm afternoon and the beautiful trees all around.

I have put a few pictures of our house and our view.

Halloween Night

Jared man was so excited. He ran from house to house. I didn't even have time to say hello to anyone. He was great at saying trick or treat and thank you, but got very upset when someone said what a cute dragon or frog. He would immediately correct them and say I am a dinosaur.

He loved running through the leaves but let everyone know they needed to rake their yards.

We had a surprise visitor at Nana and Papas. Misty and Paula brought over Finn. Misty had him dressed like a little bear. He was so cute and trying to crawl. Jared tried to play with him, but couldn't understand why he didn't crawl around.

We went to the zoo for spooktacular. Jared kept calling it going to the Jungle and the Wild. He didn't want to leave. We rode on the trick or treat train and that was just wonderful. The zoo had a ton of cut out of cartoon characters that he just loves. He wanted his picture taken with all of them. The best part of the night for mom and dad is that Jared refuses to eat candy so we got all of the candy.