Jingle All The Way

It wouldn't be Christmas without a Christmas Program! Hard to believe but Landon had his very first program this week and was blessed to have so many of his favorite people come and watch him sing his heart out. He was very casual about the whole thing and didn't seem nervous at all. His only comment, "Mom, all the seats were full." It was in fact a packed house as moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, and friends came to watch these adorable preschoolers shared their Christmas cheer.

Grandpa Kizer and Grandma Kizer came to watch Landon's performance.

Grandma Warta came but Grandpa had to work.

Grandpa Stan, Jack, and Great Grandma Gerry made the trip to watch our little guy. Great Grandma treated us all to McDonald's for lunch...Landon's choice.

Landon with his buddy, Audrey. These two have known each other since birth.

Claire was so excited to go to Brother's school that she tried to climb in Auntie Angie's van when she picked Landon up for preschool.

Just the 4 of us.

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread House

Tim and I have been decorating gingerbread houses since we first got married. We've continued the tradition with our kids and this year Grandpa Stan joined in on the fun. This was the first year that Claire could really get involved and much to my surprise, she didn't eat as much candy as I thought she would. Landon was all business and ready to get to work...pronto! Grandpa? He was just along for the ride.

Let the construction begin!

Claire had a hot chocolate mustache and a dribble on her shirt but that didn't stop her from taking her job as sprinkle patrol very seriously.

Landon referred to the frosting as "glue" and would let Grandpa know where he needed more.

Landon did the peppermints on the top all by himself. Except for the two greens together, his alternating pattern was perfect. I asked him what you call it when you alternate red, green, red, green, his response, "It's called a line, Mom!" Which was followed by a "you can't be THAT dumb" look.

The house is almost complete.

Tada!! Great job guys! Thanks for helping, Dad!

O Christmas Tree

This was our 9th year Christmas tree "hunting" and we loved every minute of it. There's never a dull moment and each year we add a few more memories to the book.

Here's a picture of our group. This year we were a group of 16.

Landon was beyond excited and had trouble sleeping the night before. I think it's preview of what Christmas Eve will be like this year.

Everyone brought saucers or toboggans to play with. The kids had so much fun but someone always gets hurt...

Landon and Daddy head down the hill.

Thanks Austin and Hunter for sharing your tractors with Landon, he loved it.

John's turn!

My little snow bunnies.

All the kids jumped in to help build a snowman which actually ended up being a snow blob. Claire didn't seem to mind the snow one bit and worked on the snow blob with Daddy.

I love the relationship between these two. Claire definitely has a thing for her daddy.

Landon ate his weight in snow. When I told him lunch was ready, he said, "I don't need to eat lunch because I'm eating snow."

More helpers.

Here's our day camp.

A hunting we will go!

Mommy and Claire

Our family

Oh, how I love that face!

The original Christmas tree hunters...boy, has our group grown over the past 9 years.

The snow seemed to be pretty tasty.

More snow eating. I'm telling you, he did this all day long.

It was so beautiful and peaceful on the mountain.

While Tim and Geoff went further up the hill, Leah and I decided to take the kids back down. The little girls LOVED riding in the sled which made us mommies pretty happy since they were getting very heavy.

That look says it all, she's having so much fun.

Landon's legs got tired so he joined the girls.

The men bringing their "kill" back to camp.

This was the first year that the Rogers joined our group.

Landon NEVER forgets about Bethany. He cut her a tree last year for her bedroom and we couldn't leave without making sure she had a tree for her room this year.

All the kids (well most of them) with their snow blob.

Just us with our tree.

The Bear fell fast asleep just minutes after being put in her car seat.

Oh, and about that someone who got hurt...it was Landon. He took off on a sled and headed straight into a rock. He's a little banged up but Daddy knew just what to say to cheer him up, "Gnarly face, Dude!"

Thanks Harris, Fitch, and Rogers families for a great day!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Turkey Day

We have so much to be THANKFUL for...

Colorful trees that show us God's glory...

Fires that warm our home...

Grandmas that let us help in the kitchen...

Doggies that let us snuggle them...

Christmas sale ads that let us dream BIG...

Uncles that give us airplane rides and play games with us...

Rest and relaxation...

Great Grammas that draw us pretty pictures...

Tiny friends...

Taste testing in the kitchen...

Brother's love and protection...

Sweet baby girls who grow up way too fast...

Grandpas who let us use an electric knife to carve the turkey...

Great Grammas who shower us with love and praise...

Good beer and football...

Great Grandpas who NEVER let us put olives on our fingers (we miss you Grandpa Jim)...

Grandma's lap after a big holiday meal...

The love of family.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I was blessed to spend a weekend with my girlfriends in Fort Bragg. It was a weekend of junk food, chick flicks, eating out, shopping, wine, laughter, late nights (or should I say early mornings), sleeping late, intimate conversations, and New Moon. It was very hard for four mommies to get away especially since leading up to the trip kids were either sick or injured but we managed to leave it all behind and have a weekend to just be girls again.

We spent a day in Mendocino and found it to be a very cute little town. We had lunch on the deck of a small cafe.

This was our view from our table.

All four of us at the house where we stayed.

Ladies,

I had so much fun getting to know you all better and I will cherish the memories we created.

Love you all!

Casey

P.S. - "Squirrel!"

Back Road Brewery Special

The Back Road Brewery heard of Landon's LOVE of Rootbeer so they decided to make a special brew just for him.

Bottled and labeled just for Landon.

It passed the taste test.


The creaters of the special brew.

Thanks Back Road Brewery for making this little guy as happy as can be.

Happy 8th Anniversary

November 11, 2000

Tim surprised me with a day trip to Tahoe. At the time I was working and going to school so days off were few and far between. We decided to take a walk by the lake and much to my surprise, a fresh layer of snow started to fall! I was so excited over the snow that I didn't realize that Tim was on one knee waiting for me to acknowledge him. When I saw him there waiting patiently, my eyes filled with tears and I knew this was the moment I had dreamed about since I was a little girl.

Tim and I LOVE fall and decided that since we both love the season and we got engaged in November that it was fitting to have a fall wedding. We wanted our wedding date to be as close to our engagement date as possible so we decided on November 10, 2001.

My handsome groom.

The guys.

Mom and Dad Warta - Thank you for modeling a Godly marriage and giving me such a wonderful man for a husband.

Going to the chapel.

My mom and I.

The girls.

My two dads.

Tim and I didn't want to see each other before the ceremony and it was well worth the wait. I will never forget the quiet moments we shared.

Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Warta

I think we were on cloud 15 here.

Our first dance...EVER!!!

I got the cake in the face but I saw that one coming.

And away we go...

Timmy,

Happy 8th Anniversary! The years have flown by and as I look back on our special day, I can honestly say that I love you deeper, harder, stronger, and more today than I did 8 years ago when we said, "I do." Thank you for being a devoted husband, father, and friend.

I love you!