Sharin' the Love

This was so sweet, I just have to share it!  Watch Jasara's reaction from last night when she saw that my Grandma and Mom had arrived to babysit.

♥ 

Christmas in Pictures

Some serious snowy fun!

 

Cutest thing you've ever seen or what?!?!

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this hill (located in Ames, IA) is SO steep!  Jake guessed they were going about 25 mph on the way down! 

 

Rough ride - Justice lost his hat!

Poor Jasara!  Check out her first ever ride on the sled.... 

 

She came out without even a scratch and was just fine except she decided that her first sledding ride would be her last!  She hitched a ride up the hill with Justice and was content to sit and watch from the top the rest of the time!

Jayla hitched a ride too! :)

Our house sits at an angle and all the snow blows in this huge drift right across our front yard.  It is the perfect recipe for a snow fort!

 

Putting the finishing touches on Jesus' birthday cake!

Loved hearing the following conversation in our house on the afternoon of Cmas Eve...

Jayla: “I can’t wait to open presents!”

Jennifer: “I can’t wait until Jesus comes!” (She thought Jesus was coming over to our house that night! :) 

JJ: “Hey, do you guys know that Christmas isn’t about presents? It’s about Jesus’ birthday. He died on the cross for our sins and that is the gift he gave us.”
♥

Christmas Eve cuties!!!!!

Celebrating hope, peace, new life, and freedom in Christ our Savior!

A little Wii dance party at Great-gram's!

Jasara likes to snuggle with my grandma - her great-gram.  I think she reminds Jasara of the cozy, comfy African ladies. :)

"As you celebrate the wonder of My birth in Bethlehem, celebrate also your rebirth into eternal life.  This everlasting gift was the sole purpose of My entering your sin-stained world.  Receive my gift with awe and humility.  Take time to explore the vast dimensions of My Love.  Allow thankfulness to flow freely from your heart in response to My glorious gift.  Let My peace rule in your heart, and be thankful."
~Jesus Calling~

 

Up to Minnesota & Some Firsts for Justice

Jake had a weekend break from tournaments last weekend so we took advantage and snuck away to visit Grandpa & Grandma Sullivan up in Minnesota! This also became a weekend of 'firsts' for Justice so I have to document via some pictures!

Our first night there Uncle Nick stopped by to see us. Uncle Nick just happens to be a cop, and my little mind didn’t even think to prepare him for Justice’s fascination with all things loud, weapon-y, fighting related, uniform related, good-guy vs. bad-guy stuff, etc. Let’s just say Uncle Nick figured it out first-hand. I wasn’t outside at the time Uncle Nick pulled up, but apparently Justice bombarded him with questions about every single weapon on his belt buckle, who rides in his cop car, if he gets to fight people, chasing scenarios, etc. Later on as Uncle Nick got ready to leave I caught some good pictures:

Sullivan boys

Explaining what pepper spray does. :)

Demonstrating the taser - I think that's what that is!

And yes, Sam got to come with us this weekend too! We've been getting to have him with us often, which has been SO GREAT!

Demonstrating the lights and siren! Meanwhile, Grandma Jane had her work cut out for her as she loved on her little girlies (Jayla & cousin Dakota) who did not leave her side…

I got to snuggle with my cutie nephew, Chase….really, he is oh-so-squeezable….

And for the first time we got to watch Justice interact with a baby! Since Justice has been with us he hasn’t been around a baby at all, so it was fun to see how he played with Chase….he loved it when Chase would smile at him.

I loved watching Jayla interact with him too. She liked to touch his face and give him kisses!

And as Jayla watched Auntie Crystal, she took notes on mothering skills. :)

Of course it would not be a trip to Minnesota without some basketball in the driveway against Uncle Nick...

And most certainly it is NOT a trip up to Minnesota without a day spent at the Mall of America!

(click to enlarge)

This again was another first for Justice! He had never been to an amusement park! He did work up the courage to go on one roller coaster, and loved it. His favorite, however? The bumper cars!

And the last 'first' of the weekend for Justice....LEGO LAND!!!!!!!!!!

You can imagine how much he loved this store! Wondering what's in the sack? A ninja castle! It will be the biggest lego construct he has attempted yet!

Somehow Grandpa Bill escaped my pictures from the weekend! He was there with us too - strolling Jayla around the stores so mommy and Grandma could shop, and disappearing into sports stores with the kids to make sure ‘they bought everything they needed’. :)

Thanks Grandpa & Grandma for a great weekend! (Cousins!)

At Grandma's

Over this past weekend we took everyone to my mom’s house for some down-home cookin! She and my Grandma split the cooking duties…one of them handled lunch, the other dinner. :) I just have to share some of my favorite pictures from the day! You see, my mom got a brand spankin’ new camera for her 50th birthday….she saved and saved all last year, and then she shopped and shopped until she found just the right one. Turns out she is a rebel. A cannon rebel that is. And it takes awesome, crisp, clear, pictures! Take a look…..

And guess who gets to use her old camera (which has a few years logged on it but is still an upgrade from my little digital)? Yes, yours truly. Thanks mom! I am excited to finally have a camera that takes ACTION pictures! I am going to need it in this crazy house! :)

Learning from the Best!

I think I’ve mentioned that JJ really likes to play cards…Old Maid, Go Fish, UNO,etc. Well, while we were on our trip, JJ learned card game strategies from the best….Great Grandpa!

My mom would take JJ and Jayla over to my grandparents house for lunch while we were gone (my grandparents live about ½ a mile from my mom) and apparently JJ would talk Great-Grandpa into playing. Everyone knows my Grandpa cannot turn down a challenge to play a game of cards….even if it is against a 3 year old playing Dora the Explorer Old Maid!

Come to think of it, Great-Grandpa has been playing Old Maid for a long time……even since 1988 when Mommy was a little girl!

Yes, I was taught by the best as well. I used to LOVE playing cards with my Grandpa......

And I still do!!!!!!!!!

City Grandma

When we go to Grandpa & Grandma Sullivan’s house, we say Hello big city!

Grandma Sullivan is known by JJ as the ‘puppy Grandma’ because she has a Chihuahua!

When we are in the big city we wake up to a fresh pot of coffee, and we do some sunning on the deck before our day begins. When you live in the city there is a lot to do….and Grandpa & Grandma Sullivan like to show us around. When you jump in the car to start the day you never know what cd will be in...maybe some rap music, or Alan Jackson, or Frank Sinatra, or Gloria Estefan! And, you never know what is on the agenda for the day…..maybe a trip to:

The amusment park at the Mall of America!

Don’t forget to swing by Underwater World!

How bout a stop at the Minnesota state fair?

Oh, let’s go to the park with the big bears!

We better squeeze in some swimming!

Have you been to the zoo lately? Okay, we'll go there tomorrow.

But, don’t bother us after 2pm….you’ll find us taking a nap, Grandpa Sullivan included.

Late afternoon we might play some croquet or talk about the good old days over dinner…. ‘Do you remember when we went to Las Vegas? Remember when we went to New York? The cruise sure was fun!’

Before bed it’s time for some popcorn with yummy loads of butter and maybe a quick game of cards. Then it’s off to sleep…bring your flannel jammies even in the summer….it’s COLD in Minnesota!
One thing is for sure, we get lots of love in the city, and there is ALWAYS something to do!