Christmas 2013

 

Christmas time was great at our house and I now know how hard it is not to buy every toy you see for your kids.  Every time I would go to the store I would see things that I knew James would love and it was all I could do to keep myself from buying it all for him.  This is the time of year when we have a chance to catch up with friends and family as well through Christmas cards.  This is probably Brenda's favorite thing about this time of year.'

When we were in CA earlier this year this picture was taken by a friend of ours.  Lucy is only one day younger than James.  If arranging marriages was a possibility I think we would jump at the chance.  These two had a great time together and were so cute. We just received this pic from her parents with their Christmas card.

Moustache is coming in nicely.  When we Skyped with my sister a week ago or so she insisted it be removed before her wedding in March.  I am not going to be in the ceremony so not sure why it matters.  I am pretty sure I should keep it so as to not outshine the groom.

James was ready for Christmas eve gift opening but he had a few days to wait.

My sister made this for Brenda and I lest we forget when we were married.  It will be good to hang on the wall so when I look at it on 6-27-14 I can be reminded that I need to go out and get a pair of socks for Brenda. 

It did snow here mid December as well, but was mostly melted by Christmas.

James helped me with "mowing" the walk.

 

I don't have a lot of pictures of the Christmas gift opening but a lot of videos.

Christmas morning James awoke to this beauty under the tree.

He thought he was O so cool in his truck in full uniform.

He also got to put out a few fires.  This car was given to him by my parents, but it was pretty banged up when I got it.  After a little work by Jim and myself we got it fixed, dents removed, and marker taken off the paint job.  Mr. Clean magic erasers are really magic.  They took the permanent marker off without even marking the paint.

Matthew really liked James's drill and other toys.  They also got a Nativity set for Christmas so they played and played with it all the time.

Matthew is right on the edge of walking and is being oh so cute.

We got a chance to go to CDA and see the bald eagles there.  The Kokanee had spawned and were all over the shoreline dead which is easy picking for the many bald eagles in the area.

Of course a lot of fun was had just hanging out around the house as well.  Note the scale BMW on thee table that Matthew got for Christmas.  It is really fun to play with, but strictly for Matthew of course

 

After Christmas we got a chance to go to Bozeman and see my parents.  The kids had a great time and Brenda and I got to go out to a movie while mom and dad watched the kiddos (their idea...but we did not let them think about it long).

Tickling the ivories with grandma.

 

While out there I got a chance to go fishing in the bear trap.  The temperature was only about 24-30 and cold, but the fish were biting so it kind of warmed us up.  You know it is cold when occasionally you have to de-ice the eyes of your rod in order to get the line to move.

My dad got this nice brown after hunting him for over a hour.  Perseverance wins every time.

 

All in all it was a great Christmas and we are indeed thankful for Gods grace race and the gift of salvation for all who accept it.