Still catching up...

After Christmas festivities at my house were complete, we packed up, cleared the house for our floors to be refinished, and headed to my mom's house.  I love going back "home."  I grew up in an area where there are miles and miles of bike paths.  So we took some walks.  I love walking, talking with my mom, being with my kids and watching what happens when imagination is at work!

We walked all the way around the lake and stopped at every playground along the way!

They have running clubs in the area that have put in "workout stops" along the paths. 

My dad took us to see "Alpha and Omega."  What a great movie!  The kids loved it and so did I!   

We found another fun park!

A monkey!

Ellie and Karlee!

Don't put anything past my dad!  :)

Kyler was chasing Kavan and bonked his head.  Kavan is much smaller...

He got away!  :)

Crazy boy!  He did land on his feet!  Notice Kavan swinging with Kenzie in the back - makes me happy!

Then we were ready to usher in the New Year!  (When my brother and I were growing up we use to make construction paper confetti, throw it in the air, and bang on empty peanut butter or ice cream buckets with wooden spoons.  After the ball dropped, we would gather up all the confetti and save it for the next year in our buckets!  heehee )

But would we make it to midnight?!?

Yep....

 And who was the biggest noisemaker?!?

The next day Heather and Laney joined us for another Christmas celebration!

Kyler, Kenzie, Ellie, Laney, Karlee, and Kavan! :)

Nothing better than warm fuzzy slippers!

After a super fun holiday we returned home to beautiful floors! I had expected to come home ready to dust, move furniture back, dust some more and clean clean clean. But Layne and his brother, Kirk, worked hard and got all the furniture back in place, and Layne cleaned and dusted and dusted - even the baseboards! So my work was minimal! He's Awesome!  I love him!

I know it's already February and I am playing catch-up, but it's great to reflect on these fun memories! What a wonderful time of year to celebrate with family that I love so much! I am so thankful for our Savior - for His birth, His sacrifice, and His example!

"What do you call these?"

After fun in the snow we just goofed off for the day...

Kenzie very much enjoyed the laziness of it all in her jammies!

Kavan got the game Farkle in his stocking and we love it!  I'm losing count of how many times we have played, but it is pretty fun!

 Kavan is the "Farkle Champion."

Much to my dismay, as I cannot beat that kid!!!  :)

Us girls decided to do a little "after Christmas shopping."  Karlee was so excited to go!  My mom was looking for a winter coat so we hit a couple of stores with that in mind.  We ended up at Ross, and the outerwear is found right by the underwear aisles.  As my mom tried on jackets, Karlee investigated the underwear.  And if you know Karlee, she is not very discreet.  So first, she found a huge pair of undies, held them up and declared, "Oh my!"  Then she picked up a little thong and asked, "What is this?"  I said, "underwear."  She was okay with that for a little bit as she set them down and moved on.  A few minutes later she came back to the thong, held it up and said, "how do you wear this?"  After some contemplating she said to me, "I got it!  This part goes in the front and this in the back.  What do you call these...   buttcrackers?!?"

The day after...

The day after Christmas...it snowed!

But only a little!

Christmas Day!

Oh, Christmas morning was so exciting!  6:00am on the dot!!!

Santa left many fun surprises...

Kenzie - new shoes and money for shopping

Kyler - trick bike complete with helmet and pads

Karlee - a "real" jewelry box filled with jewelry and dollar bills

Kavan - a workbench

and the stockings were filled with "smell good stuff", candy, games, hair clips and make-up for the girls and itunes for the dad - and yummy chocolate for the mom! :)

Kenzie got to be the "hander-outer" this year.

Layne here showing off his Nook and new pj bottoms.

Eclipse - it just made her day! :)

A soccer shirt.

A "Megan Pilkington" original - Awesome, right?!?!!

New shoes - and they are purple!!!

Ahhh, the joys and "messes" of Christmas!

Kavan putting projects together with his new workbench.

Visitors!  Later in the day we had some family come over.  We had stashed Linda's Christmas present from Tim in our basement.  A new dining room table!  How many pizzas and people can we fit on and around this table???

I love my mom's smile!! :)

My dad loves Cocoa Puffs - so he needed a shirt to talk about how "cuckoo" he is!

And you can't have the shirt without a box of Cocoa Puffs!

Kavan got a "pioneer toy" that I cannot remember the name of, but it was a hit with everyone!

Do you love Kenzie's hat and scarf?  Yep, she does.  My mom also gave her her very own sewing stuff!

Layne and I got these really cool wooden pens made by my really cool uncle and cousin!

Guess What?  My parents gave me "Despicable Me!"  Hooray!  Can you feel the excitement? (I think we have now seen "Despicable Me" about 6 times!  :)  And it makes me laugh every time!)

What a great day of family fun and time spent together - just playing!!!