Leaving Kentland.....

Tonight is our last night here in Kentland :( It has been great being here with our families for the holidays but a little sad too since Justin couldn't be here since he had to work. The boys spent time with both sets of grandparents and got loads of stuff for Christmas. They also got to see their cousins again which was great. It is amazing how never skip a beat. They see one another a few times a year and it seems like when they get together that they have never been apart. I am so happy that they get along as well as kids can that is. We are headed to Noblesville to stay the night with my sister then on home to Ohio on Thursday. We will make it home in time for our neighbors New Years Party which we are looking forward to. Plus the boys will get to spend the entire weekend with their dad :) Hope everyone had a great holiday and has a wonderful and prosperous New Year!!

Homemade Jelly

Last night while the boy visited their Mamaw & Papaw Cupp, Mom & I hit the kitchen to make homemade Blackraspberry Jelly. Which by the way is my favorite. I had never made jelly before so this was a whole new experience for me. It was a lot of fun and we laughed alot. It was a great way to spend the night. We got 17 jars made and still had some juice left over. We ran out of jars so we are hoping that Aunt Sue has some so we can finish off what we have juiced. It was not as hard or complicated as I thought it would be just time consuming since we did the squeezing by hand instead of using a juicer. I learned something new and enjoyed the quality time with my mom:) Hope everyone has a great week!

More Snow

Today the boys headed back outside to fix our snowman that fell down. They got him sitting back up and put his hat back on him. Owen was upset when he fell over but explained that when we built him we must have put him on hill so he tried his best and got him moved over a bit today. It has been snowing for 2 days and it looks like it is done for a bit. They boys stayed out until they were numb but they enjoyed every single minute of it. I am glad they had fun and it gave mom and I a chance to get some stuff done around here.

After Christmas shopping

Today we took the boys over to Watseka to Walmart to spend their gift cards. They had a great time shopping and looking thru all the toys. Ashton got a bowling set, two lego race cars, Storm Shadow dress up set, Axe shower set, and Bod cologne spray. Owen got Star Wars lego set, a shot gun, hand cuffs, and the power ranger 3 in one gun. They have also started compiling a list of stuff that they want for their birthdays :) Owen and mom started putting the Darth Vader ship together but unfortunately he gave up and now mom and dad are putting it together.

Christmas @ Grammy & Papa Bills 2009

Opening presents
Opening presents
Owen, Ashton, & Aunt Amanda

Aunt Berb

Christmas at mom and dad's was very eventful! We had to do some running around in the morning get some stuff that we had forgotten so already the day was off to a rocky start. Then we started cooking everything and the power kept going out. As we finished off the desserts and got the ham in the oven (while waiting for the rolls to finish rising mind you) the power decided to go off and stay off completely. It was out for a few hours and we decided to call Steve and have him come over so we could open presents early while their was still some light in the house. The boys had never been without power before so it was an experience for them. Owen asked Aunt Amanda how long the power was going to be out and she told him the story about when we were little and the power was out for 11 days. His got HUGE and he said "What, 11 Days are you kidding?" Needless to say at that point he was freaking out at the thought of no cartoons for 11 days. The power did come back on after 4 hours and we warmed the rest of our dinner up. Despite the power outage it was a great day. Everyone got really nice Christmas gifts and it was nice to just be together and enjoy each others company.

Amber visits

Aunt Berb putting the puzzle together
Grammy & Lily

The boys playing a game

Amber came to see us @ moms on her days off. It was nice to get to spend some time with her. We decided that we were going to finish a puzzle that we started a few years ago. Unfortunately we did not finish it but we did get half way done. Oh Well, maybe we can finish it next year. We also played some games with the boys and watched movies. We even had some minor power issues while we were watching one movie. A transformer blew by my parents and the power went out during the best part of our movie. We ended up having to start the movie over 3 times before we finally finished it. All I have to say is Thank Goodness for scene selection on dvds :) It is always a lot of laughs that fill the house when we all get together.

Dec 23rd

We spent the day getting ready for our family get together on Christmas Eve. Aunt Sue stopped by after work so we could visit a bit with her before she left town to go and see her son. I didn't have any pictures of them with Aunt Sue so I thought I better take one while she was here and while I was thinking about it. Because we all know if I don't do it while I am thinking about it, I will forget :) Aunt Amanda & Uncle Trent also stopped by Grammy & Papa's house before they went to a funeral. The boys were so excited to see them and would not leave Uncle Trent alone. The boys didn't want them to leave but understood that they were going to support a friend who lost a loved one and that they would see them the next day. Then the boys bowled the rest of the day with Ashton's new bowling set while Mom and I cleaned up the house and put together stuff for Christmas.