Gabe is Four!

Gabe had his 4th birthday party yesterday. We had a bowling party! It was lots and lots of fun. He had lots of friends come and they had a blast. We had pizza and drinks for the kids. Gabe was too excited to eat pizza, so he opened his presents while everyone else ate. He got lots of fun stuff: a movie, a game, a Leapfrog writing desk, puzzles, paint, a brand new bike, and a whole lot more. He even got enough money to buy a new game for the Wii! After he opened his presents we had cake. The cake was huge! But it was so good! And then it was time for more bowling. It was a great party and a great day! Thanks to everyone who came out to help us celebrate. Today is Gabe's actual birthday. Yesterday when I would ask Gabe if he was ready for his party he would say, "Yeah, but I'm not four yet." And today he is so excited that he's four. He thinks he's so grown up now. Tonight we're going out to dinner to celebrate. He wants to go to Johnnie's because he loves their chocolate mints. It will be fun!

The Invitation

The Cake

He would not let me take pictures of him...

Present Time!

Christmas Day

Gabe was very fickle about what he wanted Santa to bring him this year. It started out being a Pat Pat Rocket. It's just a little toy rocket from The Little Einsteins. That was the hardest thing to find. I was convinced I would never find it and he would be so disappointed on Christmas morning. I had everyone looking for it. My aunt Denise finally found it at Target. A couple weeks before Christmas Gabe's new thing he wanted was Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. I didn't think anything of it at first. But when he asked to go back to the mall to see Santa so he could change his request, I got a little concerned. Then at the Milgrim Christmas Party Gabe opened a present and started saying, "Santa didn't bring me my Super Mario Galaxy!" in just the saddest little voice. My mom had bought the game for him and was going to give it to him at her house. My husband and her were thinking we should switch and give Gabe the Mario game at our house and she could give him the rocket. We decided to leave things as they were and just hope for the best. On Christmas morning Gabe woke up about 7:15 and went into the living to see his presents Santa left. He came running into my room with wide eyes and said, "Santa brought me my Pat Pat Rocket!!" He was so excited and completely forgot about Super Mario Galaxy. Ryan got the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse from Santa. Ryan was a little harder to buy for than Gabe. He's not really into anything in particular which made it a little difficult. They both really enjoyed opening presents. Gabe was super fast when it came to opening presents. He would barely take time to look at what he got and then he would move on to the next present. It was pretty funny! I got some great presents. New clothes! Which I really really needed. And I got a roomba! You know, one of those little round vaccuums that goes all by itself! It's awesome! Matt got the present he wanted...Guitar Hero III. He knew he was getting it because Gabe can't keep a secret!

After we opened presents and got dressed we headed over to Matt's dad, Lynn's house. We ate a great lunch and exchanged presents and played more Dirty Santa. It was fun! After that we headed over to my parents and exchanged presents. My brother Zach and sister-in-law Kacie were there. Later on my grandparents and uncles came over too. We had lots of fun playing games. It was so much fun and turned out to be such a great day! When we got home we were all exhausted we put the boys to bed and then Matt and I played some Guitar Hero III. While we were playing Gabe snuck into the hall and watched us. He eventually fell asleep in the hall. It was too cute!

Christmas Eve

Holidays are always busy for us. All of our family is close and we like to see them all during the holidays. Most people (mainly my husband) think I'm crazy, but I like going from house to house on Christmas. This Christmas was really pretty calm compared to others.

We spent Christmas Eve at the Bonner's. Matt's sister and brother-in-law had us, their mom LaVerna and Mark, and Whitney and her boyfriend Matt over. We had lots of of fun. Byron fried a turkey and Erica cooked like a mad-woman! It was a great dinner! Afterwards we all opened presents and played a game of Dirty Santa. We had such a good time. It's always fun being with Matt's sisters.

Playing with Brosius

After we got home from Erica and Byron's we did our Christmas Eve tradition and opened a couple presents. The boys always get new pajamas for Christmas. This year they got Cars pajamas and slippers. They loved the slippers. They also get a Christmas book. After we got our new pajamas on we read our Christmas book and left some popcorn for Santa. Then it was off to bed. I finished wrapping some presents and we watched I Am Legend. Such a good movie!!

Annual Milgrim Christmas Party

Every year we have a Christmas party for my mom's side of the family. All the grandkids and great grandkids draw names and exchange gifts. My mom has 6 brothers and sisters. There are 16 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. So needless to say we're a pretty big family. We decided to take the party to Fletcher last year and it worked out so well that we went back this year. Santa always comes to visit and brings the kids their presents. This year we had the kids decorate cookies. And they had lots of fun.

The Invitation

Gabe getting his present from Santa...

The boys sitting on Santa's lap

I heart Santa

Kaleb just being a goober...

Look at all the sprinkles on that cookie...

Gabe, Maddie & Lane with the snowman

Maddie loving on the snowman

Gabe giving the snowman squeezies

Decorating cookies

Ryan eating cookies

Christmas Tree

Here is a picture of my Christmas tree. I couldn't ever get a really good picture, so this will have to do.

And here are some closer pictures of my wrapping paper and the gift tags I made this year. I'm telling you, I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to Christmas!
And here is our Christmas card this year...

Blessed Beginnings Christmas Program

It's that time of year! We've been going, going, going. This is the busiest time of year for Matt so he's been working very hard. We're so lucky to have such a great provider for a husband and daddy! Christmas time is also a busy time at school. We had a Christmas program earlier this week, which took lots of preparation. But it turned out great! Ryan's class opened the program in prayer. It was so cute! They have a little rhyme that they say before they pray, and then when they say Amen they all get so excited and clap and yell! They also played Jingle Bells with little bells. Ryan just stood there and watched everyone. He didn't jingle once, but he was still cute.

Gabe got to say a memory verse with a few select kids. The kid is such a sponge, he nailed it. But his finger was in his nose the whole time. His verse was "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news. A Savior has been born, he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10 & 11. His class also sang "In the Lord's Army" and a song called "Little Bitty Baby". Gabe was so cute, he was trying so hard not to smile. This was his expression during most of the program, cheeks sucked in trying not to crack a smile.
I tried to get the boys picture in front of the Christmas tree, but this was the best that I got. Nice, huh? Those two just will NOT pose for me and it's driving me crazy!

Ice Storm

3 posts in one day, obviously I'm bored out of my mind from being trapped in this house. Anyway, here's a picture of my neighbors tree. It is split right down the middle. I feel so bad for her because she was so proud of that tree.

And I absolutely love this commercial, this kid's facial expressions crack me up!! I can't get enough of it!!