Catching Up

We haven't been up to much other than enjoying our time together.  Hope you enjoy the blog!

We LOVE playing outside in all of the snow:

Video taken January 2015

Daddy made Julia an "Elsa Ice Castle."

Our friends Coach, the dog, and Brian came over to visit us.

We wrestle with Daddy every single night.

The three amigos--they love Hazel soooo much.

Our buddy Jacob has come over to play a few times.

The three amigos.

As part of Haune's vicarage assignment, he was required to create an Evangelism Project --aka community outreach program with a purpose -- for our church.  He organized an extremely successful 5K run/walk called the Frozen Chozen.  189 runners and walker's race fees raised over $4,100 for a local non-profit organization called Family Promise.  Family Promise works with homeless families throughout western New York.  We were so proud of him!

"Runners take your mark, get set, GO!"

Part of the crew.

Prayer before the race.

This little lady is two months old on the 30th.  Wow!

She gets lots of hugs and kisses each day from big brother and sister.

Video taken January 10, 2015

Grandma Sue's Visit

We all loved having Grandma Sue stay with us!  We enjoyed having her around to help us with our regular everyday activities.  Thanks again for coming to visit us, Grandma Sue!  We love and miss you!

Grandma's kiddos.

These two are always hugging, kissing, or holding Hazel.

Hazel at 5 weeks.

I've had fun looking back at pictures of all three of our children around the same age in the same outfits:

Hazel--5 weeks

Julia--2 weeks

Hazel

Julia

Calboy

Tummy time for all three.

Picnic and pez with Grandma.

The two best cheerleaders this side of the Mississippi.

We went to the musical "Tangled With a Twist: Pirate and Princess
Adventures" with Grandma Sue the weekend before she left.

"We're soooo excited for the show to start!"

"We love you!"

An icicle that hung from the church. (!)

Hazel Gene 7 weeks old.

Hazel's One Month

Our baby girl is one month old!

Hazel

Julia

Calboy

Christmas 2015

It is hard to believe it's already 2015.  We celebrated Christmas in Orchard Park this year, however, the boys in our house were unfortunately batteling the stomach flu both on Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day.  :(  We were so very disappointed that we weren't able to experience Christmas with our St. John's family.  Other than having the illness in our house, we enjoyed spending time together as a family.  The kids were really into Christmas this year, we had so much fun watching their excitement.  Our newest little gift, Hazel, added a lot of extra sparkle to our holiday as well.  We have so much to be thankful for!

"Barb from the Bank" spoiled our family with lots of love and gifts.  Thanks again, Barb!

"Thanks, Auntie Barb!  We love you!"

The aftermath of Barb's packages. :)

Video taken December 2014

Before the flu hit we had fun celebrating our own little Christmas traditions.

Making cookies with Grandma Sue

Such an alert baby!

Sprinkling reindeer food for Santa's reindeer.  (Calboy was taking a nap...)

Cookies for Santa.  (Again, Cal was sleeping...)

Christmas Morning

These two boys were feeling pretty terrible.  They both woke up to open presents
for about 15 minutes then went back to bed. :(

Happy Birthday, Jesus cupcakes.

We celebrated Christmas a bit more later that night after the boys were feeling better.

A favorite local taco joint.

Grandma Sue made us aprons from Grandpa Gene's
old shirts.  They're beautiful and so very special to us all!  Thanks, Mom!

A delayed Christmas dinner.

Julia is very much into crafts and creating things--all day every day.
This is her manger necklace... you'll see baby Jesus wrapped up on the bottom.

We were able to get together with the Harke's for a belated Christmas as well:

Nate, Laura, and Hazel.

Hartke/Hauan crew.

Abby and Hazel.

Jenna and Hazel.

*I neglected to include this video in the previous post.  It's pretty cute so I had to include it here in the Christmas post.*

Video taken December 2014