Christmas 2011--Whew this is a long one!

We had a busy but fun Christmas in Oklahoma!

Santa came!

And, the excitement was too much for this little guy to handle so he was up bright and early at 5 am to see what Santa brought!

On the other hand, this big guy slept until 8 am, but he too was very excited to see what Santa brought.

Colby was probably more excited about going through his stocking than anything else.

And Reid was just excited to put everything in his mouth!

Showing off his new Rudolph nose!

Then, Daddy had to take a turn.

Family picture after church.

My sister Melody, Ryan, Landry, Aubrey and Hailey

My brother CR, Carrie, Asa, Vivi, Zell and Fanny

My little brother Joe, Meghan and Elle

My sister Val, Chris and Colson

My favorite part of the day..getting to hold my newest niece Fanny Elizabeth!

Mom and Dad

After lunch the grand kids opened their gifts and my parents surprised them all with rocking saddle horses.

Fanny and Reid

After a few days in OK, we made it back home where Colby couldn't wait to take his bike around the neighborhood. 

Getting Ready for Christmas

We had a busy December and Colby had a lot of fun with various Christmas activities.

 We decorated Colby's Christmas tree. He insisted that his tree was his friend and needed to be surrounded by his blankie, book, sword, and snowman.

 He strung the beads...

and only knocked his tree over a few times during the process!

The finished product! Colby had a lot of fun with his little tree this year. He pulled quite a few ornaments off our big tree and ran to put them on his, insisting they looked better on his!

 We went to the holiday breakfast at our church where Colby decorated an ornament,

 made reindeer food,

 decorated a bag for his crafts,

 made a snowflake (he worked hard on this and loved doing it),

 and posed for one picture with Reid. Colby refused to go see Santa at the breakfast. He has never had a fear before but for some reason this year he wasn't sure he wanted to see Santa.

 However, the next day we went to see Santa at the mall and after a little convincing from his friend Kyle (who we ran into while waiting in line to see Santa), Colby sat on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a Star Wars Millennium Falcon. I didn't even know what this was but I decided I should probably find out before Christmas morning because prior to this Colby would only say that Santa could bring him whatever he wanted to.

 We attended the Christmas program at our church where Colby sang a few songs along with the preschoolers. Can you find him? I wasn't able to get close enough for a good picture but as soon as he stood up I was able to find him (look on the bottom row on the left side of the stage).

 Here is Colby after the program with his friend Kyle.

And finally, Colby had a party at school where he made a snow globe, played some games,

and decorated cookies.

Colby Turned 4!

On December 13th my baby turned 4 years old! I say it all the time, but it is truly hard to believe that he is now 4! However, Colby reminds me daily that he is not the baby because he is 4 and Baby Reid is now the baby. I guess he is right!

We celebrated his birthday several days before the 13th with a Cowboy Party. Colby has talked about having a Cowboy party since his 3rd birthday and he has already told me he wants a Spiderman party when he turns 5. I guess we will see if he sticks with that or not!

Colby was very into planning his party this year and was very specific about a few things he wanted. He insisted on having cupcakes, having a pinata and he wanted to play a lot of games! I got a kick out of how involved he wanted to be with the party planning! We didn't tell him until the day before that we were having the party at a place that had a petting zoo and pony rides.

Pop Pop and Grandma surprised Colby and Reid when they woke up on party day. Colby was very excited they came to town for his party.

 

 

 Colby and his friends loved riding the pony.

 Claire and Elic with one of the miniature horses.

 Reid even got the chance to sit on the pony thanks to Pop Pop hanging on.

 Karl  Mikal and the bunnies.

 Jake pinning a sheriff badge on Cowboy Colby.

Colby "roping" the saw horse Kenny made the night before the party!

 Caroline taking a turn at the pinata.

 Gathering the goodies.

 

 Colby, Caleb and Bo blowing out the candles!

 There were a lot of blue, red and brown faces after the cupcakes. Sorry moms! Here is Caroline.

 Eli

 Mallory

Then, it was time to open presents! Colby had a wonderful 4th birthday thanks to all his sweet friends!

Here is Colby and Kenny on his actual birthday. He was finally willing to hold up 4 fingers.  Colby was a little bothered by the fact that his party was several days before he actually turned 4. He has reminded me several times that next year's party has to be on his actual birthday!