Nice Christmas Pictures

Like always, we took some nice Christmas pictures before church.  It is really getting hard to take a good picture of the boys together.  One is always making a silly face or looking the opposite direction or not happy, but I got a few good ones. They were pretty excited they got to wear their suites again too!  After church we came home and had a very nice dinner and opened some of our presents.  It was a really nice day.

 See what I mean about the silly face :)

 Dominic tolerated this pose, but was not thrilled with it

 They really do love each other

 

Finally a pretty good one :)

Ice Storm

We had an ice storm this winter that was very cool.  It was not cool in the sense that we lost power a couple of days before Christmas, but that everything was coated in ice.  I was able to get some good pictures from it.  Luckily we got power back before Christmas, others were not as lucky.

 Every single blade of grass that was exposed had ice on it.  I have never seen anything like it

 Same with the pine needless, every one was covered

 Two days after the storm the sun came out and it was beautiful!

 Christmas Eve I was able to go out and get these ones with the Christmas lights on, pretty neat!

Gingerbread house and Uncle Chris

We bought a gingerbread house kit this year, which I thought the boys would really be into since they love to cook, but really, they wanted to eat the candy more than anything.  Overall the boys did good with it though.  A few days later Uncle Chris came to visit to do Christmas a little early.  The boys had lots of fun and got pretty cool presents too!  The last time Chris was at our house we lost power, and then this time Dominic ended up getting sick.  We decided that it was Chris's fault somehow :).  All kidding aside, the boys really love their Uncles.  I am so glad they are able to spend time with them. 

 All set up and ready to go.

 Vince has on an old school Pistons jersey.  He loves it :) 

 All finished

 Thanks Uncle Chris

 Michigan stuff!

 

SB Christmas Party

Every year the Spina Bifida Organization of West Michigan has a Christmas party for the kids and their families.  The last two years we have not been able to attend because of various reasons, but this year we were able to and it was great.  One of the neat things is Santa comes to visit and brings a present for every child, including the siblings of the kids with SB.  We ended up sitting at a table with another family and I am so glad we got to meet them.  They have three kids, the oldest having SB.  There were so many similarities between our boys, it was pretty neat to compare notes.  Sometimes it is easy to forget that other people have really walked in shoes like yours, and that is why these events are so great.  I am so happy to be involved with them, I wish we could do more, but maybe when the boys are older we will be able to.  Here are a few pictures from the event.

 Waiting for Santa!

 What is it? A Truck!

 Dominic got a truck too!

 Someone was not a fan of Santa this year.  Maybe someday they will like him in person :)

  Santa was great and suggested we all stand to get a better picture.  He is a pretty great guy!

Thanksgiving

This year we decided to go up to Traverse City to do Thanksgiving.  Growing up we always did Thanksgiving with the Avery's and this year was no different.  This was the first year that my parents hosted and it turned out very good, we all missed Dianne, but knew she was there with us in spirit.

 

 Good food

 Right before we ate

 Quite a while later, same spots :)

First Snow and Snowman :)

This year we had a first snow fairly early and the boys were both excited, that is until it was time to go out in it.  Dominic thought it was so neat when we were getting the snow, but once he was out there he was not too sure about it.  He did not want to touch it and only wanted to be held.  Vince had a similar reaction when he was one, so I have hope that one day he will love it too!  You will see by the pictures that we were not quite prepared for the snow for Dominic. :)  About a month later we finally got enough snow to build a snowman.  Dominic this time had boots and snow pants, but ended up watching Nick and Vince build it outside while he stayed warm inside.

 As you can see, we did not have boots or snow pants

 He really was not sure about the snow

 All ready to build a snowman

 We did not have traditional snowman stuff, but we made it work.

Smart little boy!

Birthdays

Nick and I celebrated our 34th and 30th birthdays this year.  Our birthdays are only 2 days apart so it is like a week of celebration at our house :).  This year Nick was going to surprise me with a party that was going to kick off with a trip to a water park for the boys, but when we got home from work on Friday Vince felt warm, so after taking his temperature we had to reevaluate our plans.  Vince has not had a temperature in a long time and the poor little buddy was so miserable :(.  On Saturday he was feeling well enough to go out to dinner, so we met up with Jesi and her mom and brother and celebrated a little.  By Monday, Nick birthday, Dominic was sick :(.  Dominic had never had a fever before and it really knocked him down.  Turning 30 was not so bad, if I were to ask my students they would say I was really old, but really I know I am not :).

 Nike made me "Dirt" cake, it was so good!

 Dominic really enjoyed the "Dirt"

 Ice cream cake!

 Both boys really enjoy blowing out candle 

Dominic was so sick :(