Christmas 2010

On Thursday we traveled to KC to visit my family and spend Christmas there. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing lots of family on Christmas Eve. Mom and Dad had probably 40 family members there this year, we always look forward to it. We came home last night and found we had 5-6 inches of snow, all of which Levi's Dad and brother had shoveled from our driveway and sidewalk. Thanks so much guys! The boys have been busy today playing out in the snow and enjoying their time together. Here are some pic's of the last few days.

Fun with the Lebron family

Our family at the entrance of the cave

Uncle Peter and the boys
Hannah and Carson

Carson imagining what's going on in this scene

Cole pushing buttons to make the trains go

In November we were able to take a day trip over to Hannibal to meet up with Levi's Uncle Peter, Aunt Myrna, and cousins Hannah and Preciosa. Uncle Peter is a teacher, but in the summer time he gives tours at the Mark Twain Cave. We were lucky enough to get a personal guided tour of the cave and even get to go into some areas that normally are not on the regular tour. We all had a great time, and enjoyed visiting and catching up. We ate lunch at a neat place on the river, and then went to a model train museum downtown. The boys really enjoyed that too. We are so thankful for fun times like this with family! Thank you Peter and Myrna for showing us such a good time!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Levi got all the outside lights up
The boys decorating the tree

Kelly boys 2010

The dog trying to steal drink of Carson's bath water

What are you lookin at?

It was a fun weekend around here with getting our Christmas tree put up and decorating the house a bit. Levi had put all the outside lights up a week ago, but we turned them on Thanksgiving night. The boys get so excited about this stuff, so it's a lot of fun to do with them. We have also really enjoyed Xena and having her become a part of our family these past few weeks. We are working hard on housetraining her, which surprisingly has gone very well. She is a very good dog, and really seems to love it here. She has only been with us two and a half weeks, but I think she is growing quite a bit already. I am anxious to see how much she weighs next week at her next vet appointment. The first week we had her she weighed 10 lbs. She loves to play ball, run around the house, and wrestle with Levi and the boys. She loves to just sit in your lap in the evenings and take longs naps.

Thanksgiving 2010

Kelly kids 2010

Give thanks to the Lord, for HE is good. -Psalm 136:1

Catching Up Again

Chevy Chase, I mean Levi putting up the lights...

It was a beautiful day to get this done Marcus sat outside all day Saturday watching his Daddy put Christmas lights on the house

The gang watching Toy Story 3

The gang enjoying Toy Story 3

Playing his new Nintendo DS

Blowing out his candles

His electric toothbrush he loves!

His pillow pet he was hoping for

Birthday boy! Marcus - 6 years oldKaitlyn and Marcus blowing out their candles

The past two months have really gone by fast. Here we are, already Thanksgiving week! We love this time of year, and are excited to have Levi's family here for Thanksgiving day this year. The past weekend Levi worked on putting outside lights on our house. We haven't turned them on, only to test them, but will turn them on probably the day after Thanksgiving when we usually put up our tree. The boys get so excited about all of that, and the decorating. Should be another fun family time!

I included some pictures here from Marcus birthday party, as well as a party with his cousin Kaitlyn...they are only 1 year apart, their birthdays being on Oct 27 and 29. So we like to get together with them and celebrate together when we can. That evening we all ate pizza and watched Toy Story 3. The week before we celebrated his birthday with my parents, Levi's parents, and our friends Jack and Ginger. Unfortunately about the time it came to eat and have cake, Marcus was running a fever and not feeling well. So, you will notice in one of the pic's Levi is holding his candles away from the cake so he can still blow them out and not spread germs....turned out he had an ear infection when I took him to the doctor the following week. His tubes had just fallen out 2 weeks before, so we are hoping this will be a one time occurance, and he will not have to have tubes put back in. We shall see what happens. He's looking forward to a 2 day school week this week, loves his time at home! I can't wait for that either!

Our Newest Addition...

Xena
Cole

Xena

Wrestling with Cole

Hanging out with Daddy

Xena 8 weeks

This is the face of one happy kid!

Marcus couldn't wait to tell his teachers about her.

Every boy needs a dog right? Well, now we have one. The boys have been so excited and anxious to get a dog for quite a while now. Since we have been renting most of their lives this hasn't been possible until now. We fell in love with this sweetie online, and my Mother in law Terri, the twins and I drove to Des Moines and back yesterday to pick her up.

She is an 8 week old Boxer pup, and we have decided to name her Xena. She is so loveable, playful, and yet calm. She just loves for you to sit and hold her. Here are some pic's from last night and today.

Happy 6th Birthday Marcus!!

Marcus we are so blessed to have you as our son. You are everything we prayed for and more, a true gift. This has been a big year for you, you have learned so many new things. You love school, waterslides, swimming, riding bikes, & playing outside. Last spring you learned how to ride your bike without training wheels, then a few months later turned around and taught your brother how to ride without training wheels. You are doing well with reading, and enjoy playing with your brothers, drawing, playing legos, video games, etc. You are a joy to love and care for. Happy Birthday sweetie!

Love,

Mom, Dad, and "the brothers"