o christmas tree...

i love this time of year...

the smell of fresh pine
twinkling lights at night
christmas music
snow days
snuggle time with elle and tackle
christmas cookies
family time

elle putting up her first ornament

we're hoping to take elle to see santa next week when we're both off from school. we looking forward to a much needed break from school. life's been crazy busy but at the end of the day we love where God has us.

just because...

seriously?
this is quite the preview for her senior pictures

flashback

can you believe this is my old snowsuit?
i know there's no snow, but i had to at least try it on her
she's like ralphie's younger brother in the christmas story movie.

at least she's ready for when the snow does hit.

truly thankful

we had a great thanksgiving stayin' in the ville.
it was a weekend filled with lots of family and great friends.

we welcomed elle's newest friend
sydney paige thomas
11/25/09
8 lbs. 22inches

micah & elle's 1st kiss

i think they both liked it!!! they're both quite the flirts, we better watch out

we enjoyed a visit from anna & bryan
it was so good to have a nice long weekend with them

just playin' with her BOY!

of course we packed as much as we could into our extra long weekend
and in typical josh & emily fashion we decided now would be a great time to start a house project

THE KITCHEN


stay tuned for upcoming pictures
before & after
we're hoping to have it done for elle's 1st birthday

happy birthday

happy birthday, josh
you're an awesome dad!

my all time favorite picture of you!
thanks for being such a great supporter and loving husband.
i love you

girls just wanna have fun...

last weekend we had our niece, olivia down for for her 7th birthday. we decided to invite the nieces and nephews over for a fun special birthday weekend when they turn 7. so of course, livvy was the first. we had a blast hangin' out and just doing girl stuff.
so here's the run down of our weekend

friday- pick olivia up in holland, drive home with elle screaming the whole way (very unusual, but who honestly wants to be stuck in a car seat looking backwards in the dark when your very cool cousin is right next you?)
- bubble bath - the girls were so cute. elle couldn't stop laughing and olivia kept saying "she's the best bath baby ever. you have to take a video for my mom!" and we did.
- stayed up late w/ ice cream and a movie

saturday
-morning: snuggle cartoon time in bed
-special uncle josh pancakes for breakfast
-went for a morning training run, around the block with tackle. we stopped more times for tackle's sniffing than olivia getting tired.
-designed our own t-shirts with bleach pen: FYI best kid project ever!! they turned out great.
-baked and decorated cookies
-made cool bead bracelets
-checked out the massive tanker that docked in the st. joseph river before having dinner
-silver beach pizza...need i say more!
-spa night for olivia and i: bubble bath w/ candles, foot scrub, & a pedi w/ orange sherbet and the goofy movie. - can it get any better?

sunday:
-olivia helped me teacher sunday school in the preschool room: quite the assistant she is
-drop off in holland: olivia was silent the whole way as she wrote down everything we did in her journal. and, decided to let elle stay at home this trip around. a much better idea!

thanks olivia for an AWESOME weekend

Yabba Dabba Doo

meet THE FLINTSTONES...
fred, wilma & pebbles

it isn't halloween without a jack-o-lantern. elle helped daddy carve her pumpkin into a perfect jack-"E"-lantern. it's funny how much we treasure the little things with her like carving her first pumpkin. we often wonder if we'll be the same with the other kids in the future. hopefully, we'll still take time to enjoy their firsts as much as we do with elle. she is such a curious little kid. of course we're a little bias, you can tell us if we're wrong.

since halloween was on a saturday we threw a kiddie halloween paloozza at our house before trick-or-treating. we turned the garage into a sparkling carnival game land, doughnut eating contests, pumpkin bowling, pin the broom on the witch and of course play-dough creation station. who knew it could be so easy to entertain kids of all ages and the adults at the same time. we were all cracking up as we watched the kids devour the doughnuts with just their teeth and tongues. elle even got in on the action and had her first taste of SUGAR! thanks grampie!!

we had blast watching our friends' kids enjoy themselves and fellowship with good friends. my parents even joined us for the festivities. it was so fun to have everyone there. great memories once again!