Christmas Eve

Kate was very excited to give Doug this tile she made for him at school -- go ISU!
YEAH!!! New jersey's -- look at these tough guys!

Dressed and ready for Christmas Eve Church

We have a crazy tradition that I am trying to change (: of going to Perkins for pancakes after Christmas Eve church. The kids LOVE it!!! and I guess that it does take care of the meal planning for me for the evening. We were blessed with an amazing service at church, getting us so excited to celebrate the birth of Christ! After pancakes I love to drive around and look at Christmas lights before going home to open our family gifts. Since we had NO snow around the Des Moines area this year, the lights just did not have that special twinkle and beauty as in years past. Not that I am complaining about our sunny 45-50 degree days, but I did realize another purpose for the white stuff...it definitely adds to the magic of Christmas and the lights! We were all very happy with our presents from each other (I am really loving my electric blanket each and every night I get to climb into a warm toasty bed!) and I LOVE my new "love" necklace that Doug and the kids got for me -- feeling very blessed and loved this Christmas!

Merry Christmas -- 2011

Wishing our loved ones far and near a very MERRY Christmas!

Digging into the new Lego City Police Station set....wonder how many hours this will take?

Kate and Ben loving on their new pillow pets, bitty baby twin dolls, & lego's!

Kate was the first one awake on Christmas morning. She did sleep in until 0715, so that was great! Ben quickly awoke after that and then the craziness began (: Doug and I were able to enjoy a morning walk after breakfast, church at 1100, and then we spent the afternoon with our cousins at Aunt Sharolyn's house. Another Christmas tradition was carried thru with our "dark supper" or candle light dinner (-: that evening with the kids being introduced to crab legs for the first time, spaghetti, salad, and of course dessert ~~~ Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas to you all!!

Suhr Christmas

A very intense game of kickball, but check out those blue skies -- a beautiful afternoon!

4 crazy cousins showing off their new PJ's
Kate and Jon, battling out the final round on a "spoons match"

Miss Scarlett covering 2nd base during kickball

Cairney family photo before kickball begins

Suhr Christmas

Being silly on top of Papa's Garage
Papa, Nanny and the grandkids

Aunt Nicki LOVES her PEEPS and her Katie!

Uncle David and Aunt Nicki

Aunt Wendi and Uncle Jon

Suhr Christmas

Wil and Jon with some of their new favorite presents
Kate showing her excitement after opening the new Cairney Wii!! All she could say was "thank-you, thank-you thank-you" and Ben was grinning ear to ear, shaking his little fists as fast as he could in the air.

Nanny presenting the Cairney surprise Wii

Our "sporty girl"

Thanks for the new Star Wars watch Aunt Wendi and Uncle Jon

We were blessed with amazing weather for Suhr Christmas last weekend. Who would ever have guessed that we would be sitting on roof tops and playing kickball the 3rd weekend in December??? It was AMAZING! We all had a great time enjoying some of our favorite holiday traditions and family time together. Miss Scarlett maintained her spot as perfect "grand puppy" of the weekend as we all really enjoyed having her around. I would have to add though, she seems to love Papa the most of all, it is adorable how she hangs on his every step (-:

We left Pender with a van full of new treasures, smiles on our faces, full tummies, and grateful hearts for another weekend of amazing memories for us all to treasure! Much thanks to everyone ~~~ XOXO

Christmas Cookie Elves

Helping sprinkle the oreo truffle balls
Proudly displaying our "cut-0ut cookies"

Both kids enjoy helping with the holiday baking around this house. I have many fond memories of helping my Mom with the baking and I am glad to carry on this fun tradition with Kate and Ben. The best part is delivering them around the neighborhood and seeing the joy on their faces when we come to the door. Ben also added a very adorable "HO-HO-HO, Merry Christmas" this year as we walked away, so that was priceless!

Oops -- how did I forget Halloween???

A very tough storm trooper & Husker football player

Kate working on her pumpkin

Kate and Breighlyn ready to take the streets for trick-or-treating

Is she tough or what??

Weekend in Pender

Jonny, Ben and Kate
the perfect "headband" card for Jonny!

Aunt Wendi, Kate, "UJ", Jonny, & Aunt Nicki

Uncle David being funny -- with Ben and Jon

As you can see, we went to Pender after I got off of work on Friday afternoon (I even was able to sneak in some early morning "Black Friday" shopping before I went to work at 0800 -- yeah!!)

Everyone was home so that was an extra Thanksgiving blessing in itself. More quality time with family, yummy treats and plenty of laughter was enjoyed by all!! Aunt Nicki gave the Cairney kiddo's the game Headbands for an early Christmas present and we played that all weekend. It was a riot -- and a fun time for both adults and kid's!!

A "Thankful" Weekend

Ben and Elliott having another Hawkeye /vs/ Husker rally....guess we all know how this turned out the day after Thanksgiving...... sorry Elliott ( and our beloved Jensen family ) -- GO BIG RED!!!!
A delicious meal --- YUMMO!!! Thanks Celie for your hard work!

the after effects of the delicious meal on Jeff and Drew -- that darned tryptophan!

Joe, Jack and Ben making some play strategies during a game of catch -- what a beautiful afternoon God blessed us with that day.

Ben and those CRAZY J boys -- Jack, Joe and Drew!!

We were so very blessed to be able to spend the day with some of the Cairney family on Thanksgiving. There are many obvious things that we are thankful for each and every day, but that day mostly, our family and quality time together. It was a beautiful day filled with much laughter, delicious food & drink, football, naps, card playing, and wonderful memories made.

A fun day in Ames

Ben and Daddy enjoying some of their own game

the kids taking a break from tackling one another

Doug planned a fun day for all of us a few weeks ago and we took the kids to their first Iowa State football game /vs/ Kansas......NO, we are not abandoning our beloved HUSKERS, but this was such a fun opportunity to go to a Big 12 game with the kids, and they had a great time! Going to a game at Iowa State is such a fun experience. We had hillside tickets that afternoon so when they were getting a little restless, we just stepped a few steps back and were able to have our own little football game ourselves, stretch our legs, lay down etc.,.. A perfect situation for the Cairney kids and a perfect ending to the day with a "W" for the Cyclones!

YES -- you are seeing white!!!

Ben, Kate, Elliott and Mackenzie before school

The kids were so very excited to see the first snow of the season when they woke up today! If only, I shared in their passion for the white stuff!!! (-: Actually......I got up to head to the Y for 0500 spin class and as I opened my garage door, noticed that it was deeper than I thought and my neighbor was actually stuck in our street right in front of our drive....SO, Doug and I had a very romantic shoveling date in our driveway from 0500-0545, and then I took a little walk around the neighborhood. I did enjoy the beauty and calmness that God can give us with a fresh layer of snow under a star lit sky with the moon shining so brightly....not a bad way to start the day!! (-: Blessings to you all ~~ Keri

Something is missing??????

Is this the most hilarious face or what???
try and get past the amazing beautiful blue eyes and check out the "shark teeth --- double row on the bottom"

FINALLY -- IT'S OUT!!!

The long awaited day finally arrived for Mr. Ben. He finally lost his first tooth! He has been working on this loose one in the front for over a month. It was getting pretty ridiculous....I noticed a few months ago the second row of permanent teeth coming in behind the baby teeth, and at that time, really started to encourage the wiggling. These teeth are really holding on -- making it thru pizza crusts, pulling sandwich bites, bagels, hot dogs, you name it, he eats it!!! Finally one night last week, while eating a BANANA of all things, out it came! He was so excited....Way to go Ben!!

Kate -- Fall Soccer

Nice big strides Sissy -- heading down the field!
Battle it out Kate!

Two against one Sis -- CHARGE!!!

Team Jaguars and Coaches Omar and Pete

Last game of the season and still smiling!!!

When I asked Kate what her favorite part of soccer was this year, she responded with a quick "my teammates". I would have to agree. Those girls did have a very fun year, and quite a few "W's " might I add. Kate was a strong dribbler on the team this year and also knocked in her share of goals, which is so fun to watch. She knows that immediately I will be letting the "loud whistle" go and wait for her to look for her thumbs up on the side lines! Just seeing the expressions on her face are priceless throughout different parts of the match (aggression, frustration, determination, fear--when she is goalie with defenders coming at her (: with a 2:1 ratio....but mostly happiness.) She really enjoys playing and cheering her teammates on....You had a great season Kate -- we are very proud of you!