Christmas at the Grate's

The dining room (I LOVE the window sill!)

Pictures of the living room.

The Charlie Brown Christmas tree (hey, it was free AND it's real!!)
The snowmen in our room.
Emmy's tree (Barbie, of course!)
The tree in the boys room
The Christmas village
The stairway
P.S.- Sorry for all the haphazard posting, but I can't get it all in the right spot! Any suggestions?? The only way I can view it to make any sense is by clicking on each post separtely in the left hand column...

Elijah's 8th Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated Elijah's 8th birthday at a hotel here in GR with an indoor waterpark. After being presented with many different options for his birthday and party, he opted for no presents from Mom and Dad and a trip to the waterpark! We had an absolute blast. We went swimming and then all joined up for pizza ,cake, and presents. Mom and Dad-Josh, Shelly and Noah and Zoe- and Brad, Sara and Ethan and Lily Emerson were all there. His birthday isn't really until the 14th, but it was the only free weekend we had, so we did it a couple weeks early! Here are some pictures from the event!

Look who we visited!!!

We had an extra special Thanksgiving this year. We we privileged to visit Burke and JoEllen Hummel and meet their precious babies Maylee and Jakobi. I was looking forward to this day more than you can imagine. Seeing their journey through blogland just wasn't quite enough - so while we were in OH for the weekend we took a jog over to Canton. What a blessing it was. I was overcome with such emotion seeing those little miracles. I stood outside of little Maylee's isolette and bawled my little head off. Funny how things affect you. After spending some good cuddle time with Jakobi, we went out to lunch. Let me just say, the four of us should never be allowed in a public place at one time. What a zoo! I think our waitress though we were totally nuts. Oh well!! We had a blast! A special thank you to Burke and JoEllen for taking the time to see us and sharing the babies for a little while!
Note the OSU Buckeye in the crib- this was an endless top for Burke and Jay... endless.....