And what a surprise it was when Santa walked through the door. Times must be tough at the North Pole because Santa was really slim and trim :)
Freya and Baby Henry with Great-Grandma.
Marilyn, Bev, Mother and Dad, & Susanne
Rebecca visiting with Grandma
Alyssa and Christi. I know.....they could pass for sisters!!
Mother and Dad, We love you.....Merry Christmas!
Jarod (Jenny K's husband, Christian (Sarah K's husband), and Richard bonding on the couch.
Ryan and Janelle holding Kayla and Claudia.
Rebecca, Ryan, and Brian with their big smiles.
Susanne, Christi, and Marilyn
We were without power from Tuesday AM until Friday Night. The first night without power Ryan and I played Uno, ate salsa and chips, and Ryan played computer games....until his battery ran down.
Richard bought a generator on Wednesday in Kansas City. It was wonderful to have lights, heat , and water again, but we still had to refuel the generator and the oil had to be changed every 20 hours.
The ice on the trees was incredible. It was a beautiful scenery.....if you had heat inside :)
Front yard trees
This tree didn't snap even though it was folded down like a banana!
Happy Birthday to Joshua who is 3 years old!
Trying to figure out how to operate his new guitar!
Is this really what I think it is? Ryan felt sorry for Tipper being out in the cold. When I went into Ryan's room to get him up for school, there was Tipper with Ryan!!
Joshua and Grandma were having some bonding time coloring a Christmas picture.
And meanwhile, Kayla was unloading and scattering papers as rapidly and furiously as possible.
Ready to eat Thanksgiving Dinner!
Plenty of food!
The Tuggles had their tree lit up as we were leaving for home. It's really pretty!
This picture of Ryan leaving in his truck looks pretty calm, pretty normal. But after you have eaten at El Mezcal, who knows......
Someone is having way too much fun !!
And it only gets better! It must have been the chips and salsa.
"Grandma, can I have a popsicle? ....and do you have a blue one!"
Yep, this happened on Thanksgiving and I won't even go there. "In everything give thanks..."
We had the Varner Family at our house for Thanksgiving Day. Jonathan and Tarren came from Kansas City.
Emily and Nathan are in the background and Robert M. is ready to play games!
While some played games, the rest of us just sat and visited.
Here's Robin, Bonnye, and Thomas!
Great Grandma spent time with Kayla!
It was so much fun to celebrate Kayla's 1st birthday Sunday evening. G/G Nelson were able to be here for a visit as well. The last year has gone by soooo quickly! This ice cream cake was a big hit and Kayla loved every bite. Check out Rebecca's blog to see just how much Kayla enjoyed her cake!!
Kayla took off with her new walker/car like she had been doing this for weeks. It had lights, sound, and music !
"Uncle Steve, help me figure this out!"
Kayla played with the birthday balloon for the first 10 minutes.
Look at those smiles. Makes you wonder what they're up to, doesn't it!
Last night was Senior Night to honor the seniors. So, last night it didn't affect me at all thinking about Ryan being a senior, but today it is really hitting me that this is his last year. Where has the time gone? Okay, this is a trivia question. How old was Ryan when he got his first pair of drumsticks and who gave them to him? 
During the pre-game show the entire 200 member band parades around the football field on the running track. Here are the two rows of snares passing by. Ryan is in the front row, center snare in case you couldn't pick him out !!
I'm so sorry I forgot to rotate this picture. When I was taught how to do blogs, I didn't learn how to edit the pictures once I add the image. I need to add this item to my 10-page "How to Manual." Trying to get Ryan to pose for a picture and actually look at the camera is an impossible task. Answer to trivia question: Ryan was three and Matt from the Continental Singers gave them to him.
The kids were bundled up for the cool evening. Kayla was decked out with coat, hat and gloves. And heaven forbid if her hat came down too far over her eyebrows!!
Since Joshua wouldn't look at me while I was taking pictures, Bryan accomodated. :)
Brian flew home for the weekend to celebrate his "23rd" birthday! His biggest obstacle right now seems to be getting his driver's license changed over to an Indiana license. Let's see....is that four trips you made, Brian??
Who's idea was it to put 23 candles on the cake? The wax is beginning to drip on the cake.
Make a wish, Brian!
I actually got a picture of the boys without goofing off.
One last picture before we say goodbye! Like your Elmo shirt, Lisa!
One evening the Kessler cousins came for a fun visit; it was like a party. We had eight children under the age of 7! Everyone had gone to the kitchen to eat and then I spotted little Wyatt guarding over our new baby! He was just checkin' him out!!
Lynae and Kyle are eating their pizza. I was disappointed my camera batteries went dead before I was finished taking pictures.
Stephen helped Max open gifts the cousins had brought. They REALLY hit the spot with a John Deere tractor and trailer and a brand new football. Max was sooooo proud of his new toys.
Kendall is Sarah & Christian's new 2 1/2 month old baby.
This was Max's other football before his brand new one!