Christmas Weekend

Hello All,

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend. I had a four day weekend and Derek had a 3 1/2 day weekend. Our festivities started on the 24th at Derek's Grandma and Grandpa Williams house. We got many many nice things from everyone and Stratton got more toys than what he knows what to do with. Christmas morning Derek, Stratton and I woke up early and had our own little family Christmas. Stratton was so cute when he was opening the gifts out of his stocking. He would reach WAY down in his stocking and pull out his hot wheels then gasp like he had never seen anything like that before in his entire life. It was SO stinking cute. Once we were up and dressed we headed to my Grandma Marge and John's house for another round of Christmas. Again we got a lot of really nice presents and some good food while we were there too. Stratton really enjoyed playing with everything. His favorite thing was sitting on top of my dads drill box that he got. It was hilarious. After we got done at my grandma's house we went to Derek's Grandma Maxine's house for more food and more presents. We really did get a lot of very nice things this year and were very fortunate to be able to buy some things for other people as well. We got to visit with Eric and Meredith Zwart on Saturday. They came in that afternoon and we ate dinner at Casa Mexicana and went back to Grandma's house to see their pictures from the honey moon. Which by the way were really great. Eric and Meredith came over to our house after that and hung out with Derek and I for a bit. Then Sunday we went to Grandma Marge's house for breakfast with the Zwarts before they left to go back home. After that it was some relaxing time back home then off to Derek's grandma Maxine's house for some more food. We stopped by the Lynch's house to see Ashley, Whitney, Justin and Derek's Aunt Cindy. They loved on Stratton for a while then it was off to our house...finally. We had a wonderful weekend and I hope you enjoy a few of the pictures. There are more to come very very soon...:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a Magical & Happy Time of Year for Kids!!

I love going out to the mall to watch all the little kids being tormented by their moms to sit on some weird guys lap with a fake crazy beard so they can look back when they get  older and laugh at the ridiculous picture that they got with Santa Claus SO long ago. You have to appreciate all these wonderful pictures for what they are worth.

 

 

 

 

 

Santa looks gangster...

 

 

 

 

I don't think this picture can get any more weird. That kid looks like he is about to pop a vein in his forehead and the Santa looks like he's been taking steroids with those rosy cheeks.

 

This is going to be Stratton in a few years. Haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because I have a Son

Because I have a son that is growing up so fast I can look at these moments and laugh.

I hope you can too...

Stratton playing with our plastic laundry container. A few min after I took this picture he busted his bottom lip. 20 min later he buster his top lip.

 

HE has decided that HE is a big boy now and that HE can most definitely feed himself.

 

I think he gets more down the front of him than he actually gets in his mouth.

He's sort of got it down.

And...

This is what happens when you feed him 6 banana halves at the Jingle Bell Run and then let him run around naked for 3 min unattended.

 

No that's not a fake turd. That is the byproduct  of Stratton's banana binge.

2009 Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis

Last Saturday was the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis. Casey, my mom, Stratton and I trekked the one mile around St Francis in the cold weather. It was a nice brisk walk. Last year the number of attendees was only around 85. This year...close to 300 people signed up. It started at 9am and it took us around 16 min to walk the mile (that's including several stops...haha). I would like to thank those who helped us both by donating and also by cheering us on. Next year Casey and I decided we are going to try to run the 5K (a little over 3 miles). We'll see...

Me, Stratton, and Casey before the race. Stratton was bundled up really well. We kept getting compliments on his hat too. :)

 

About half way through the mile Stratton wanted out of the stroller. So Casey carried him.

 

He was having SO much fun on Aunt C's shoulders!

 

Getting ready to cross the finish line. Mom was determined to get there. We put Stratton down on the ground and Casey and I held his hands going across the finish line. He stopped one foot short of it and started smiling at everyone because they were all clapping and cheering for us. It was so cute.

 

They gave us jingle bells to put on our shoes. Stratton thought these were awesome.

Thanks again for everyone's help and support!

We will be doing it again next year!

Thanks!

Emily