Because....

Julie asked and I made Erika....

Uncle Royal's here we come....

TJ got another Transformer. Which he ADORES!
And Avarie got...dum, dum dum... an Easy Bake Oven!
She was thrilled and asks each day if we are making cookies in her "little oven"

Cute cousins! Seriously...is this not the cutest picture?

And the chaos begins....

After we opened our stockings we went in order (youngest to oldest) and each opened a present. We are truly blessed.TJ was totally bummed about this present.
Papa checking out his loot.

Tim will LOVE that I posted this one...

Another baby for Avarie...this time a boy. Whom she quickly named "cowboy"

Uncle getting a bit of help.

Look at that cute snowman!

Nanu opening her gift from us.

They are all going to love that I posted a picture of each of them!

Mwahhh...the power of a blog.

Hudy opening the gift Avarie and TJ picked out for him.

Nanny was happy with her loot too.

...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

What is Christmas without....

Family photo ops....The Fries kids
Ma and Pa and their grandkiddos...so far.

Nanny and Papa with TJ and Avarie.

Our little growing family.

Our sweet angels! They are truly a blessing to us! Thank you Lord for giving them to us for now...

Christmas Eve

It's true! Tim and I are some of "those people" who open our gifts on Christmas Eve.

Our kiddos seem to enjoy every minute of it. We have a nice dinner together (usually I cook up something tasty, but this year Tim treated us to Red Robin-I have a great husband) and then get home, do our last day of Advent and then open gifts. It is such a fun tradition for us and it is so awesome to watch the kiddos enjoy Christmas. This year they seemed to understand a bit more why we share presents, and that we are celebrating Christ. TJ especially seemed to "get it" this year. Avarie was extra interested in the "shephard candle" and loved the idea that sheep were at the manger with baby Jesus on His birthday. One of TJ's favorite gifts this year was anything Transformers!

He LOVES them.

He is hoping to be blessed with more transformers for his birthday in a couple of weeks!

Avarie got her very first American Girl doll! She is a "bitty baby" that Avarie has named "Daisy" (might have something to do with Mickey Mouse). She promptly placed that baby in her cradle and told us to be quiet as her baby was sleeping. She is going to be a great big sister!

Another favorite. A jewlery box. She was able to put her "precious" necklaces in there. She got a beautiful butterfly from Megan and it was the first one to be put in the box, as she told me "it is the prettiest thing ever".

TJ, obviously starting to take on the Fries smiling gene. Can't seem to smile "for real" for a picture any more.

He also got some pirate swords which have been a huge hit! Tim and TJ have had many battles since Christmas Eve.

Avarie got a hop along bouncy ball. Which is also a big hit, and thankfully means there will be no more fighting over the Buzz Lightyear one. Because now "the princess one is for girls".

We are so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with these children and that we are able to celebrate the birth of our Savior with them. Teaching them each day how important the love of Christ is.

Sledding anyone?

Last weekend before Christmas we went to our friends the Golbek's house, took the 4-wheeler and went sledding. Mind you it was like 10 degrees outside (not real great sledding weather). But the kids braved it anyway. They were able to sled for about 15 minutes and come back in for hot cocoa and a warm up by the fire. Then they headed back out. We have found that Avarie's skin is ultra sensitive to the cold (could she be taking after my mom??) So we had to be pretty careful with her. But they had a great time just the same!
Avarie on the sled. TJ and Cade were moving too fast, so I didn't get a picture of them on the 4-wheeler. Good thing it is snowing like crazy right now...maybe some warmer sledding is in our near future!

Avarie eats more snow than she plays in! What is it about fresh snow that makes my kids mouth water?

Merry Christmas Card!

I love sending out Christmas cards, but this year it came a little too fast for me, and so we are not going to get to it... expect to get a nice little something in April in the form of a birth announcement.

So instead I whipped this little card up of the kiddos. I love the picture! Sorry for the lack of preperation on our part. We still love you all and hope that you have a great Christmas!

I will try and post a "Christmas Letter" of some sort in the next week or so!

Christmas Caroling...

We were able to go sing Christmas carols at a retirement community here in town.

The kids were so excited! They got to sing, and then pass out treats to the folks at the home.

The grandmas and grandpas that live there LOVED the kids, and enjoyed the "performance". It was super cute, and a great opportunity to teach the kids about service and respect for the elderly. They were great at showing these folks God's love.

A little video of the festivities....

It's a.....

Girl!!

We had our ultrasound today and sure enough....my predictions are way off! We are having another little girl. We will name her Lyla, with a middle name of some sort. Not sure what yet. And of course the variation of the spelling may change.

Avarie is of course thrilled to be having a sister.... TJ not so much. We were in the ultrasound room having our appt. and the tech said... looks like a girl and TJ said... "I guess I will just play outside all day". He is "devestated" his words, not mine. I am sure he will love her when she gets here, but he is not thrilled at the moment.

So we are super excited. It will be fun to have a baby girl again.

Christmas Visit!

Mom came down from Anchorage and Tysen and Toni joined her. We had lunch and a nice time together.
Big girl Logen

Shelbie girl...

I had a bunch of pictures of all the kids and such, but they are all super dark...

Crisis Averted!

Just back from the doctor...and apparently it is just a virus! Again, frustrated with the Dr. and leaving feeling like I am not sure if I trust them. Maybe it is just time for us to find a new Dr.

So the good news is, it is viral, and unless he starts complaining of a sore throat it is nothing to worry about. And it is also not contagious...which is a blessing! So on with life we go.

Healthy??

So I keep a pretty good tab on my kids. We wash our hands, we brush our teeth, we stay away from places where germs tend to breed. But the last 2 weeks have been miserable for me! Our house has been infested with one sickness after another. Starting 2 days before Thanksgiving, TJ wakes in the middle of the night, acting fine, no cold or oddity EXCEPT for a fever of 104.8!! So the mom/worrier that I am I wait up with him while the beauty of Tylenol does its job so I don't have to take him the the ER at 4am. Wakes up the next day as though nothing has happened. No cold, NOTHING! Weird... I know. Then Avarie gets something similar the next week, only with a cold.... So as of Saturday I was thinking we were free from the illness (see I told you we didn't need a flu shot!)

And then last night, TJ is going to bed and what do we see but a rash on his arms and legs.... a hot, lacey red rash. GREAT!! So we are off to the doctor to see if he has fifth's disease...which would be awesome being that once they get the rash they are no longer contagious and the incubation time for fifths is 14-28 days BEFORE the rash. So if he does have it, then anyone we have been in contact with for the last month have the opportunity of getting it! So exciting. The best part (picking up the sarcasm?) is that fifths disease can actually be super dangerous for pregnancy. So please keep us in your prayers. I will update with diagnosis later!

"The Rash"

Thanksgiving!

One of the memories of my childhood I cherish the most is Thanksgiving. I remember going to Aunt Linda's house and everyone would be there...There would be like 50 of us, all playing games and eating and just spending time enjoying our family. My grandpa would always go hide in the back room all grouchy like, and we would take turns spending time trying to coax him out of the back room. He loved it when we all got together, but imagine 14 grand kids and it was a bit overwhelming! Then the rest of us would spend the day playing games! I can't even begin to tell you how much I miss that! We always capped off the night by going to a movie together. It was so much fun.

Unfortunately, that tradition is long gone, and I don't remember the last time we had a family Thanksgiving like that, where everyone put aside ill feelings and just enjoyed the blessing of family that God had given us. Now everyone lives in different places and we never get together, all of us, except for very special occasions. It is one of the things that is truly a regret for me. Many cousins (the ones that used to drive my grandpa crazy) have all grown and married and had babies and I would love to have traditions like that where our families get to experience what we experienced. But it seems to be just too hard, or too many hard feelings, or too something that keeps us from doing that. Many times I wonder if my grandpa was still with us if we would be trying harder to make that connection, for his sake.... but God in his sovereignty, chose to take him home and has directed each of us differently. Maybe one day we will be able to reunite under that banner of commonality and forgive and forget the past, push away our pride and be the family I remember.... but until that day, I will continue to pray for each of them, and try to create in the best way I can under the banner of God's grace traditions my children will remember when they are in their 30's.

So...this year, my cousin Joshua and his family invited us over to have breakfast with him and his sister, mom, dad and our grandma. It was such a blessing to me! I love spending time with Tim's family, they are everything I always hoped I would have in my husbands family, and I am so thankful for them. But having the time with my family, and my kids playing in the back room with their kids. It was just joyful for me. I am super thankful that we were able to make it happen with them. (2nd cousins)

Then after breakfast we came home and started the turkey. Bob and Velma came here this year as Jon and Erin were at her parents. We had a great time eating and playing Yahtzee, and in an effort to avoid a game of Monopoly I had a lot of help in the kitchen :) The kids loved it and they capped the night off with a trip to Nanny and Papa's (thank you!) so that Tim and I could get up at the crack of dawn to go shopping. It has become somewhat of a tradition for us. We normally aren't big shoppers, but for whatever reason we are up with the crazies on black Friday. Last year we took the kiddos with us, but this year we were able to do some kid free shopping, which was fun.

The weekend was so nice and relaxing and other than a few colds, was great!

I hope you too had a great holiday and are thankful for the things God has placed in your life, enjoying every moment!

Flamenco!

A family we know were in Europe last month and brought Avarie and TJ some gifts!

TJ got a batman he loves and a great bull fighting shirt.

And Avarie got this great flamenco dress. She LOVES it! But then again Avarie loves pretty much anything that involves a skirt and tights! I had to buy tights on black Friday just because she wears them literally every day!

No complaints here though!
Getting ready for her "ballerina" moves as she calls them.... I really need to get that girl into dance!

Our sweet little gun toter!

TJ got to go out shooting with Papa and Daddy on Saturday afternoon. He LOVED it! I know...shocker!

Always practice safety! Nice ear safety boys! You make a mommy proud!