Jaxon's Birthday Catch Up

Wow, can't believe I didn't post about Jaxon's birthday! We had our first "official" birthday party for him, and it was so much fun. We had a safari theme and of course, I didn't take enough pictures. :oP
Oh well, here are the ones we did catch. :o)
I was so proud of this pinata..I made it and it actually turned out not too bad!
I'm so glad that Jaxon has such good friends here in Ohio. We've had so much fun with all his little buddies.
Jaxon is very much into transformers right now. It's really cute.
Man, I can't believe this little guy is 4 already! Love this guy to pieces!! He is such a sweetheart and just growing up way too fast!

January Updates

Well, we had a lot going on in January while Jack was finishing up his last externship. So, while Jack was working super hard at the Denver VA, this was what we were up to. :o)

First, we celebrated our baby girl's 2nd birthday!! Can't believe she's 2 already.
We got our first major snowfall while Jack was gone, but I didn't want it to go to waste, so we went sledding on our own...well, with a bunch of other families in the ward. :o)
We finally got our snowman in for the year.
Another big event...I finally became an American citizen!! It was kind of a crazy thing to do without Jack there and I totally missed him, but I was so lucky to have a good friend come with me so I had her and the kids there with me.
Here's me "taking the oath." To be perfectly honest though, the whole ceremony seemed a little impersonal. We all got called up and they checked for our naturalization certificate, and then just kind of called us by a number, and herded us over to the next line. There were soooo many people, and at the end, it felt very anti-climatic. But I'm still excited nonetheless. :o)
And last, but not least, we celebrated the Chinese New Year, year of the dragon. I really wanted the kids to see a dragon dance, so we went into Cleveland to the Chinese Plaza and got to watch some of the festivities and finally hit up the Chinese market.
So, that was our January in a nutshell. We tried to pack a lot in so we wouldn't miss Jack so much. We are just sooooo glad he is home for good now!!

Silly Kids

Here are just some cute pics of the kids I thought I'd share.

These were from their "Christmas Picture Photoshoot." They are in their Christmas outfits. ;o)

Here's all of us working on our gingerbread train.
We had a great Christmas and hope you all did too. We are excited for what the new year will bring. :o)

December Happenings

We've been keeping busy with Jack home with us this month. Here's some random pictures of the kids being cute.
Mailee loves to dress up in mine and Jack's clothes. Here she is playing with Jaxon's nerf gun wearing Jack's hat and Bernice's shoes.
Jaxon has been keeping really busy with his Preschool and gymnastics class. Here are some shots of him in his tumbling class.
Here he is stretching.
On the balance beam.
And here's a video of him attempting a cartwheel. Just click on the picture to see the video.

Jaxon also had his Christmas concert this month too and it was so much fun watching him perform on stage. Jack was so awesome and drove straight through the night so he could make it back in time for Jaxon's concert...so needless to say, Jaxon was a pretty darn happy kid that night. :o)
And here's a video of Jaxon "acting" out Silent Night. It's pretty funny. :o) I love his movements...and how they are just a little bit off from everyone else. Just click on the picture to see it.

Thanksgiving!

I was so lucky to have my sister and her family come to us for Thanksgiving. It gave me a chance to finally cook my very first turkey...which turned out wonderfully. I think brining is the secret to a yummy turkey. :o)

We had tons of good food, time with cousins, Black Friday shopping, Kirtland and just a good time all around. Here's some pics.

Aurelia and Jon busy in the kitchen.
Part of the spread...
Cousin time
And brother and sister time :o)
And Kirtland!
Mailee was so cute holding onto Z's hand while we were walking around.
Petting a real fur pelt.
Had to get E in the pic too. :o)
Mai girl being cute.
Actually, we took this when I had to take her outside and away from the tour cause she was being a little too enthusiastic about everything. :o)
Two-thirds of the Lau cousins. :o)
Baby E.
She and Mai played so well together. It was really cute to watch. They were good buddies the whole time they were together.
Jaxon and E were also pretty good buds...most of the time. :o)
The kids wanted to dress up the mom's as "wisemen."
Ahhh, we miss them already!