Addison's 1st Birthday Party!

Well, it is official, I just had my last 1st birthday party, or so we hope! It honestly seems like just yesterday I was in the delivery room praying that this little princess would make it out o.k. and that through all that happened she would be a strong, beautiful, and healthy baby. God has definitely blessed our lives with this little angel. She gives us all so much joy and as anyone who seen her knows, she can put a smile on anyone's face. She truly is a miracle and our family would not be complete without her!













We had two birthday parties for Addison. On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday with the Barker side. She received some adorable outfits and was spoiled, as usual!!! She looked adorable in a dress that Nathan and Sasha gave us when she was born. It was the first time she had worn it and it fit her perfectly and she looked adorable. We had cupcakes for her birthday, that was what I had on my first birthday, and she was not excited about them at all. We couldn't even get her to hold one of the cupcakes!












On Sunday, we celebrated her birthday with the Briner family. For Christmas, my mom gave Addison a dress of mine from when I was little. It only seemed fitting that she should where that dress for her party. It fit her quite well and it was fun just to have the pictures of her in it. I am hoping for my birthday that I might get the picture of Katie and I in those dresses and see how Addison and I look nothing alike!

Trenton Lost His First Tooth!

O.K., so this is kind of old news, but I just keep forgetting to post about it. Trenton lost his very first tooth on Dec. 16th, 2008. His big tooth had already started coming up, but it wasn't under his little tooth and so it took it a while to come loose. He was so excited when he lost it! The tooth fairy came that night, but Trenton forgot to check under his pillow, so mom and dad had to remind him. He got four quarters and a dime which gave him just enough to buy something at the dollar store!

Tradition, Tradition

Over the holidays, it is great to have all of the different traditions that have been passed down. As I was looking through my pictures, I realized how many traditions we had over the holiday season and the best way to post all the pictures would be this way.


One tradition that I have married into, is Christmas with Aunty Karen. Aunty Karen is so special, or I guess we are so special, that we have a Christmas with just here! Every year she spoils us, and she continued that this year. Each of the boys received several items, including Legos, Cars book, blanket, placemat, cooking items, and I am sure there is more that I am missing. Caleb got two pairs of pants, that he desperately needed. Caleb also received some golf shoes earlier in the summer that was also part of his Christmas. I got a wonderful Abercrombie sweatshirt that I wear way too much, some new cutting boards, nice scissors, and some Sharpie pens. Addison got an adorable outfit that matches her cousins and a little frog that vibrates and plays songs, that she loves! Again, I am sure I left some things out, because like I said, we were spoiled! Aunty Karen is not only good at spoiling, but she is a great aunt who is always willing to watch babies, buy diapers, go to lunch, and is great at calling at the right time!













Another tradition that has become fun for the kids, is we make gingerbread houses with my parents. It was hard to squeeze them in this year, but I am sure glad we did. The houses don't turn out the greatest, and they usually always fall down, but the cousins all have a great time building them and eating all the candy!



One tradition, that has come to be one of my favorites, is Christmas Eve with my family. When we were little, we would go to my grandparents house on Christmas Eve and have a formal dinner that always included steak and cranberry juice with Sprite. I remember my grandpa always mixing the drinks just perfectly and then everyone sitting at the table together. Sine they passed, we now carry on the tradition at my parents house. Each year the tradition becomes more special as we pass it on to our kids and share with them about our grandparents whom they will never remember. Another part of this tradition was that Grandpa would read the story of the nativity, while the grandkids acted it out. Again, we now carry this on with our kids and it is them who gets to act it out. One thing that my mom has added to this tradition on Christmas Eve is that she makes pajamas for all of the grandkids and they get to open them that night and wear them home. I do wish that she would make us all pajamas, but I guess she has enough to make as it is!










































Over the last couple of years, we have spent Christmas morning with Caleb's parents. We eat breakfast and then exchange gifts with them. This year, Trevor and Christina were in Mountain Home and so it was just us that morning. We ate breakfast and then were spoiled, again. Caleb and I got several gift cards to go out to eat, which I love! I got a new blender(which I just made orange julius with and it worked wonderfully!), a gorgeous necklace, some lotions, a nail kit, and some new spatulas. Caleb got a jacket, a new club (which I have no clue what it is) and I am sure more that I am forgetting. THe boys got these really cool trucks that are remote control. One is a tractor that has a bucket on the front that lifts and dumps. The other was a dump truck. They had so much fun, and still do, playing with them together and pretend to dig and dump together. They also both got a sprograph that they have really enjoyed making the different designs. They both got some new sweatshirts that they wear quite often along with some new hats and gloves that will be great for all the snow!

Each Christmas break my family tries to get everyone together to go to Givens Hot Springs. Again, I remember going there as a kid and so it is fun to bring my kids there also. Katie was in-town this year and it was fun to have her around. Her little girls are so cute and definitely taught my boys a few things!


















Here are some miscellaneous pictures from Christmas that I just wanted to post, but couldn't fit them all in!

Bubble Girl

Bath pictures are always so cute, and I don't think you can ever have enough! Here are some of Addison, and now that the boys are older, here are some of them after their bath!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

I don't know about the rest of you, but every year, we test the patience of our marriage and we decorate the Christmas tree. It seems so fun, until we start to put the lights on. This year, we had minimal problems in comparison to years past. It took a lot of work to actually get the tree in the stand and to make it straight. We only had to put the lights on the tree once, but each strand of lights had to have bulbs replaced in order to get the whole strand to work. Usually we'll check the lights before we put them on the tree, they'll work, and by the time we get them on the tree, only half the lights would work and we would have to take the lights all off again. You would think we would learn from year to year, but each year it is a stress just to get the lights on the tree. After Christmas, I did buy some new lights that should all work from the beginning. We'll see!

The boys helped put the ornaments on and were excited to hang up "their" ornaments and to hear where each of them came from. We only had one broken ball and all the rest was safe.

While we were decorating we enjoyed some eggnog with sprite and some Christmas treats. It was a pleasant evening and it was gorgeous when we were finished.

Walter's Ferry

The first week in December, we met up with my family and walked through Walter's Ferry, which is just below Dan's Ferry Service in Melba. It was a gorgeous day and the walk was quite interesting. There are statues and quotes all along the pathway and each area has a different theme. It was definitely an experience! We went back a week later and they had a night light walk that you could go on. It was a little chilly, but the kids still enjoyed it.