Christmas Pics

So, I'm waaaaaaayyyyy behind.  I feel like I rarely have enough time to spend on the computer in one sitting to update our blog.  That's why I'm nearly two months behind.  My brother and sister, Owen and Holly, spent the holiday with us.  That was lots of fun.  Here are five pictures that sum up our Christmas.  Except I don't have a photo of Holly.  Well, I have one but she's just sitting on the couch, reading something.  That doesn't truly depict Holly.  I need a photo of her doing something active--like playing 'monkey in the middle' on her knees.

       

 Here's Matt.  He and I made a gingerbread village.  He really enjoys doing creative projects.  He likes to stay busy. 

 Here we are leaving on our annual Christmas Eve 'ring and run'.  This year Holly and Owen got to help us.  This brought back lots of childhood memories. 

 It takes two grown men to put together a little boy's train set. 

 Adam overjoyed when Santa brought him his coveted Nintendo 3DS.

 

Gavin was pretty thrilled with his train set.



December Fun

St. Nicholas came to our house and filled our shoes the night of December 6th.  Of course the boys were full of anticipation.  This is such a fun tradition we have. 

We had a big snowstorm this  past Monday, resulting in a foot of snow.  School was canceled the next two days, so Christmas break began early.  All three boys have been relaxing--reading and watching 'The Wiggles' (Gavin's new favorite). 

This was Gavin's first time to play in the snow.  Initially he was uncertain about it, but quickly adjusted.  He stayed outside for at least an hour.  He ate the snow while Matt and I shoveled the driveway. 

Christmas came a bit early to our house.  Robert told me a Christmas/Birthday surprise was being delivered at 6pm.  I definitely was not expecting a new washer and dryer.  The boys spent a good hour watching a load of laundry this morning. 

School Bus

Gavin likes to watch the school buses from our front window.  Every time he sees one, he tries to say 'bus'.  Adam and Matt get a kick out of this because Gavin can't quite say 'bus'. 
Instead he says 'butt'.

Thanksgiving

We went to Leavenworth for Thanksgiving to spend it with Robert's parents and brother.  It was a really nice break.  Gavin is getting old enough to start remembering and relating to people.  He enjoyed being with Grandma and calls her "Mama Chichi".  Uncle Eddie teasingly talked to Gavin like an Ewok.  Gavin liked this and now calls him "my Eddie". 

 I didn't do a great job of documenting all that we did but did get a few photos.  We drove up Wednesday.  Thursday was spent cooking and eating.  On Friday Robert and I went into Kansas City to do some shopping.  We bought quite a bit and didn't think about having room in the van to get back home.  We were pretty packed on our drive back to Garden City.  That evening we took Adam and Matt to see the movie "Arthur Christmas".  I love all the fun movies that come out this time of year.  On Saturday we took the boys to Liberty Jail.  This was their first time there.  Of course we initially were met with resistance and moans of "that's sooo boring".  However, they enjoyed it.  We also stopped to see the temple that is being built in Kansas City.  The outside looked nearly complete, with only some landscaping needing to be finished.  Word is that it should be opening around April.  I've jokingly told the boys that's where they're going to get married (I'm half joking, half serious). 

At Liberty Jail--Grandpa Kennington, Gavin, Robert, Grandma Kennington, Adam and Matthew. 

Matthew, Gavin and Adam checking out the display at the jail.

Adam's 9th Birthday

Adam is 9 years old today.  His last year in the single digits.  It's fun  to see his growth and maturity increase with each year.  His current stats are:  60 lbs. and 4'6".  He currently is really into anything electronic, reading, Cub Scouts, Pokemon and other Japanese anime.  He is a great son and a very loving, big brother. 

   

We had a birthday party for him on Saturday.  He had 9 friends (and brothers) there.  He wanted a 'video game' party so that's what we had.  We had a Mario Kart cake, presents, and then lots of video games. 

 In attendance were:  l to r from Adam, Kyler Bennett, Kenji Craig, Cole Thompson, Orion Craig, Cyrus Kentner, Koby Bennett, Gavin Kennington and Matt Kennington. 

 I love this photo.  Even though we had asked the boys to sit on the floor in front of Adam, they just couldn't resist being right there while he opened his presents.

 Playing the Wii--Orion Craig (one of Adam's best friends from school), Matt, Adam and Cyrus Kentner (he's been to all of Adam's bday parties in Garden City--that's six parties).

Airhockey was also a popular game to play.  This was the best Santa present.  Everyone enjoys playing this. 

My Blue-Eyed Boys

18 Months

 I'm 10 days behind.  Gavin turned 18 months on the 10th.  This is a very fun age.  His current stats are:

Weight:  24 lbs.

Height:  31 in.

He is 1/2 inch and 1/2 lb. bigger than Matt was at this age.  Adam, however, was two inches taller and a pound heavier.  So I'm thinking Gavin may be more of Matt's size---which is little.  He is our social butterfly-talking to everyone, either saying "hi" or "bye-bye".  He has started putting together 2 and 3 word sentences.  He is obsessed with the vacuum.  He wonders where it's at, if I've used it, etc.  He has literally talked about the vacuum all day.  Which basically is him saying, "vacuum away?", or "vacuum mama?".  It's cute, but after answering those two questions for the 1000th time in a day, it gets a tad old.    He's in a clingy stage right now.  This isn't characteristic of him, so I'm figuring it's simply a phase.  He enjoys playing with trains, saying thank you, sitting at the piano, and getting his own snacks.  He knows where to get a small tupperware bowl and how to get a box of cereal out of the cupboard.  He attemps to pour the cereal himself.  Sometimes it works and other times it's a big mess.  He loves his little, blue bear.  He calls it "bear bear".  It has a pull string on the back that sings a lullaby when pulled.  He is definitely becoming more of a toddler and less of a baby.