What a year - Warning! I may get mushy in this one!

Wow - 2009 is about over. This has been one of the fastest years of my life. Who knew that putting together a simple slideshow would require a box of kleenex!!! The year went so fast, but it was filled with so many great memories - like the day Lauren was born... I remember laying on the operating table thinking in minutes I will be a parent of two and wondering how I could possibly have enough love to share with another child? I soon learned that you never run out of love. And Noah's birthday - Matt and I were so excited to give him his first bike. We had it hiding in the garage and I videotaped as he opened the door. The expression on his face was one I will never forget! As I look back at 2009 I am reminded again how blessed we are. I look forward to 2010 - who knows where the Moose Tracks will take us. Here's to many new adventures!

The Big Storm

We were pretty much snowed in for Christmas this year. We're thankful that our families live so close because it would have been a stressful weekend had we had to travel through the snow! I'm not sure how much snow we had total, but if I had to guess I'd say we easily had 20+ inches. I'll admit that I enjoy a good snowstorm, but this one got a little old after awhile. We tried to keep the kids occupied as much as possible - went sledding in the park, had some friends over Christmas day to watch movies, colored, took naps... all in all it turned out fine, but I think everyone is ready to get back to a regular routine soon!

This is our little counter-productive shoveler. Noah thought it was too hard to lift the snow on top of the mounds, so decided he would just scoop in onto the cleared sidewalk.

Matt thought he'd capture this moment on film... he claims I haven't run the snow blower in the 8 years that we've lived in Tracy, however I'm not sure if I believe that entirely... it might be 6 years ;) I had to post this picture to show everyone Noah isn't the only one outside working! I realized he was in most of the outdoor pictures with his shovel! He loves being outside - even if it means he's cold!

I found this picture comical - see if you can spot everyone blowing out their yards. Counting Noah there are 6 people and a dog! It stopped snowing for about an hour and everyone got out to move snow before it snowed another 4 inches!

This is a view across the street. The plowed snow is about as tall as our jeep. Its crazy!

Christmas Fun!

We were able to get to both our parents houses to celebrate Christmas in spite of the storm. Unfortunately we weren't able to spend much time at either place, but we still had fun. The kids got so much stuff I think we'll have to add a room on so we have somewhere to put everything! It was a special Christmas for us - first with Lauren, and Noah really got into the spirit of it all.

Noah and Lauren on opening presents Christmas morning. We were hurrying, because the power had gone off minutes before and we wanted to have light while they opened their gifts. Yes - this tells you that we're officially into the "no sleeping in on Christmas morning" stage. Both kids were up and ready to go by 6:15 am!

This will be one of the moments I will never forget. Noah and I had gotten Santa's plate of cookies ready and I was picking some stuff up and saw him looking up the chimney for Santa. Matt was quick enough to catch a picture of it! One of the most priceless pictures!

Surprise! Lauren loved the bows and wrapping paper more than her gifts!

Noah tried really hard to open his presents carefully, but by the end he was a seasoned "ripper"! He kept saying "I'm going to open this one really fast!"

Lauren next to her new rocking chair

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas is a few days away... Doesn't seem too long ago that I was counting the days until Lauren was born, and here we are 1 year later! 2009 has been an amazing year for us. I guess its true - time flies when you're having fun. This Christmas has been a special one for Matt and I as we have been able to see it through Noah's eyes. He is very excited that Santa is coming to our house, but is a little concerned how he's going to get back up the chimney! We celebrated Christmas with the Alcorn's over the weekend, and "Santa" (uncle Ben) made a surprise visit. I thought Noah would love to see Santa so we walked over to him and Noah stops, backs away, and says "that's not Santa.... that's Ben!" So once again my mind was racing to correct what could have been a problem, and I explained that Santa is so busy this time of the year that he has people helping him, and Ben was lucky enough to be asked. He bought it, but that night as I got Noah ready for bed he started asking questions... "Mom - is Santa bringing our toys, or is Ben?... Does Ben get to sleep at Santa's?" I'm thinking seriously Noah - that was hours ago, and you're still thinking about Ben and Santa? Anyway, we covered that Santa will be bringing the toys, and that Ben doesn't sleep at Santa's :) You've gotta love the 3 year old mind!

I hope to post some pictures to recap 2009 before the end of the week. If you're new to our blog - enjoy! Its our way of keeping family and friends updated! Hope you're enjoying your Christmas week!