Granddad

Sadly, we received a call Christmas eve morning letting us know that Frank's Granddad had passed away.  We will always treasure our last trip, we made earlier this Fall, to see his Grandmother and Granddad and wouldn't trade this photo of our boys with their Great-Grandparents. 

Here Frank is with his namesake (Frank Mallory).  This photo brings such fond memories, he will always remember his Granddad playing dominoes with him.

birthday blessings

My birthday present from Parker, as of Dec 22, he can get himself onto the couch without any assistance...I guess on the bright side, he's only actually JUMPED off by himself once (that I know of!).  UGH!  I'm pretty sure we're in some serious trouble with this one!

Parker looks annoyed in this photo because we haven't eaten the cupcakes yet!

This picture doesn't do them justice but I had to take a quick snapshot of these beautiful and yummy cupcakes I was spoiled with on my birthday, thanks Mom & Dad!

Blue frosting was everywhere!  

The greatest gift was having both my parents and brother here to help us celebrate!  Love you guys!

Arrival!

Much fun and many, many snuggles with Grandpa and Grandma O when they arrived!

We took the Max to go to the zoo, and once inside, rode the zoo train and saw all of the zoo lights, consequently, it was a HUGE hit with the boys!

We also put them to work with us filling food boxes at our church for the annual Christmas food and toy drive, what great sports!

That grin looks like he's up to no good but he was soooo excited to decorate this gingerbread boy given to us by our neighbor.  Too bad they never taste as good as they look ;)

teeth

About a week and a half ago Parker finally popped through 4 new teeth, 2 top molars and 2 lower teeth.  He's still working on his bottom 2 molars but they are almost through...I think!  Amidst all the teething the poor guy had his first round of antibiotics, after we got home from Thanksgiving, for his double ear infection, then five days after they ran out we headed back to the pediatrician for another round of antibiotics because the ear infections had hung on.  He's had a rough few weeks/months!

On another note, Parker has taken a liking to Grant's Lightening McQueen light-up Disneyland hat.  He points, grunts and squeals like crazy when it's out of his reach and then insists on us putting it on for him.  He absolutely loves it and will keep it on for considerable lengths of time, I find it to be quite adorable and funny!

Love you Bear!

family photos

We had family photos taken back in October and having not been able to decide which ones were going to be gifted to our families and used for the Christmas card I decided to wait before posting them. 

We found our photographer through a friend of mine, and Koren turned out to be wonderful!  We had a grand time despite Frank's yearly reluctancy to have family photos taken...thanks honey, you're a good sport!  He knows how much I treasure them and that I have a rather high appreciation for photography and will cherish these photos, particularly of our boys, for years and years to come. 

My yearly argument: they're only little once so let's not miss it!  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE honey!  Pretty persuasive, ha, he must have a soft spot in his heart for his wife! 

Here are just a few of my favorites.

guitar...I mean soccer star

Grant's last Pee Wee Soccer class was today and there were only three kiddos so he got a lot of ball time and seemed to be quite happy about it!

Here he is giving me the "look" saying do I really have to keep running after the ball some more?!

During this session of soccer Grant stopped during a few of the classes, in the middle of the court, and would let his ball roll off to wherever it so pleased and would proceed to begin strumming his chest like he's playing a guitar (frequently he would actually have a guitar of some sort on his shirt).  All the while he would be tapping his toe, keeping the beat to the music playing on the court next to his.  We are seriously considering starting a "music lesson" fund for this child.

~Mercy~

31 BIBLICAL VIRTUES to pray for your kids
8. Mercy. "May my children always be merciful, just as their Father is merciful" (Lk. 6:36).