Fun times that I want to remember

We did some really fun stuff while we were in Arkansas over the Christmas break. One of the BIG hits was Lexi's car. My parents live on a hill and have a very long drive way. Well, my brother, Russ, decided it would be really fun for the kids to ride the car down the hill. Of course it did not take my fast lovin' son long at all to commit. Layne first went down without a helmet and then we decided that was NOT a good idea (especially with his history of concussions :).

He is just a little excited :)
Anna even decided to get in on the fun! Doesn't she look cute doing it?

Russ decided the kids would "ride" down and then he would be at the bottom of the hill with the ranger. At the bottom of that hill is a state highway, so he would block the driveway with the ranger (just in case the kids forgot to put their feet down to stop!). Then he would drive the kids back up the hill. (Just so you know, the hill becomes flat before the end of the driveway, so the kids really weren't in any danger).

Here's Layne WITH the helmet on! You can tell by this picture how far it is.

When Anna was going down she had a little "accident". She put her feet down too soon and fell. Here is her pose after her fall! Immediately after she fell she put her hand up in the air with her thumb up and yelled "I'm good".

Layne also shot his first gun (well a bb gun that is). Here he is shooting it into the pond.

Here is Ken helping him out

You HAVE to watch this!!

This is so stinkin' funny!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=83JDXXKzOXg

Family pics from Christmas

On Christmas day, the rest of my family came to my parents house. I have two siblings (and they are both married with kids), so we had 8 adults and 7 kids there. It was wonderful!!! I have to say, this was the BEST of all Rauls gatherings. The kids are finally getting to an age where they really play well together. It was such an awesome visit. Next year, we will have another little one there. Russ' wife, Tenille is expecting a little boy in the spring. The kids will equal the adults!!

Opening gifts was pretty crazy. Even though each child only opened one at a time, it was still crazy to keep up with who gave the gift.

All 15 of us
Lauren, Anna, Layne, Abigail, Brady, Jackson, Lexi

Mimma & Snow with all of the grandkids

The big kids just HAD to sleep in my parents room. Layne & Brady are on the left. The three big girls are at the top of the picture (foot of the bed).

All of the kids love the fireplace. It is a constant stage for them to perform!!

Abigail & Anna

Layne & Brady

The girls each got these babies. I thought this was a cute picture.

Layne's b-day party in Arkansas

We had a very small party to celebrate Layne's birthday while we were in Arkansas. Here are some pics from that night.

Christmas morning

We were in Arkansas (at my parents) for Christmas day this year. There wasn't anything "big" for Santa to bring, so he was able to visit the kids there.

The presents on Christmas morning
Anna and Layne had both written a note for Santa. Anna's was very elaborate and Layne's was "I love you". This was Santa's note back to them.

"He drank it!!" We left Santa some coffee with his cookies...we thought he could use the caffeine.

Snow helping Layne put his new hot wheels track together

We had a wonderful Christmas. I have more pictures of our trip with ALOT more family to come!!