Post Christmas Blues

DR went home yesterday and we are already missing him. Christmas was so much fun with Ryan's brother here visiting. Here are some pictures that were taken the last night of his visit. They didn't really enjoy the "photo shoot" (I got a couple comments such as "you are worse than mom"), but I caught a few genuine moments.

surrounded by boys

dr1, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ryan & DR

dr3, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

smooch

dr2, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ollie & Uncle DR

dr4, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

ollie&me

ollie&me, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

christmas jammies

christmas jammies, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Christmas Morning

scooter, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

uncle dirt

uncle dirt, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Christmas Eve

me&boys, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Aren't the matching sweaters adorable? Ollie does not appear to be thrilled about it.

brothers

brothers, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

crazed

crazed, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

say cheese

say cheese, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

ta da

ta da, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Look! I made my first turkey, and it actually turned out good. (Thanks to Harry & David.)

yum

yum, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ryan loves raw turkey.

burn out

burnout, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

fun times

gpa, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

gpa2, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

This year I made my Grandpa's birthday dinner. It was so fun to be able to celebrate it with him.

first christmas tree

ollietree, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

ollie was fascinated by the tree.

found it

foundit, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ryan, Simon and my dad spent Saturday in search of the perfect Christmas trees. After hours of searching Ryan and Simon found it.

Papa's tree

simontree, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

This is the tree my dad chose.

coolio

coolio, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

bath

bath, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

cutie

cutie, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

simon

simon, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Simon helped Papa put up the Christmas lights this year.

snow1

snow4, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

When we woke up this morning there was a teensy bit of snow and since it snows so rarely here it is always big fun for Simon. These were taken in our back yard which he describes as "jungley".

snow2

snow1, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

snow3

snow2, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

snow4

snow3, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

boys

boys, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

I was trying to take pictures of Ollie and Simon decided he wanted to be in them too. He is at the age where he insists on dressing himself. I find this quite humorous for the most part. This outfit he has been wearing for the past couple of days, even sleeping with the hat on, and when he goes outside he puts on his faux berks. Very stylish. Fortunately he's in the bath right now so I can grab his clothes and throw them in the wash.
I just heard him in the bathroom talking to himself saying, "Christmas is for giving". Well, maybe we are doing something right.

tummy time

tummytime, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

look who's walking

walking, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

tym

tym, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

faux cake

bday2, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

The girls aren't eating sugar yet so Shanna got them these cute wooden things (can't remember the technical name for them).

birthday girls

b-day, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

The twins had their first birthday celebration which we unfortunately missed. Looks like they had fun! These pictures are so adorable that I wanted to share them.

welovenate

welovenate, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

We had so much fun with Nate during his visit. It's always so wonderful to spend time with old friends. I meant to take tons of pictures while he was here, but these were the only two I took. I guess we were too busy laughing to take pictures.

sym&nate

sym&nate, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

All Simon wanted to do for Thanksgiving was wrestle with Nate. We love having Nate here!

papa&boys

papa&boys, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Ollie at 4 months

Ollie at 4 months, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

dora&boots

dora&boots, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ryan and Simon set off to feed the ducks.

ollie

ollie, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

what?

what?, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Violet & Ilana

twins2, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Look at these cuties!

simon loves his twins

simontwins, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

This was taken before the girls moved. Simon loves to make the twins laugh.

swing

swing, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ollie is trying so hard to sit up. He only likes to sit in his swing when it's turned off, that way he can lean forward and prop himself up. I'm not sure why he's in such a hurry to do everything, but he sure is cute.

The Boys

The Boys, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

ScreaminOllie

ScreaminOllie, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

Ryan,Jamie,Oliver

Ryan,Jamie,Oliver, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

cowboy

cowboy, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

daddy in the kitchen

daddy in the kitchen, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.

I loved this picture that Simon took because it reminded me of how a child looks at their dad. So big and important. What a responsibility, huh?
Those are a friend's crutches. We are all okay. :)

smiles

smile's, originally uploaded by simon&ollie.