Locks of Love Donation

Joy and the three oldest decided to donate their hair to Locks of Love. About now, 10-12inches of each of their hair is headed to Florida. Enjoy the before and after pics.

Let it snow.....

Kai enjoyed his first sledding experience, albeit down a very dinky hill in front of our house. The snow keeps falling. It's beautiful:)

How Time Flies

I'm not sure if you can it make out the pine tree in the back of the picture. My parents have a picture of just me in front of this same tree from when we moved into our house in Portage 22 years ago. At the time, the tree was my height or smaller (keeping in mind I was in like sixth grade at the time and I was a short sixth grader no less). Obviously you can't see the entire tree here, but it towers above the yard. I thought it'd be cool to get a picture of my family in front too. I wish I could post the older picture too, but alas it's buried deep within the recesses of my parent's house somwhere:) Who could have imagined at the time, I know I couldn't, that 22 years later, I'd stand in front of the same tree with four daughters! Wow, how time truly does fly by!

Here's our most recent family picture. Aah, will we ever be able to take the elusive "great" family picture where everyone is looking and smiling at the same time:) Probably not anytime soon, that's for sure

Apparently flannel is back in! Kai enjoyed spending the holiday with family he doesn't get to see all that much. Here he is with his cousin Justin.

Speaking of Kai, it's hard to believe that just a year ago there was so much uncertaintly regarding his health and birth. God is truly awesome. Kai is doing amazing; he was nine months old on Christmas day and his midsection is so wide, he can't fit into 6-9 mo. clothes! We're so thankful for this little guy. He's always smiling.

Yes, Illinois got it's first real snow before Christmas. This poor little snowman was Nadia's creation. Unfortunately, it melted the next day.

All the ladies enjoying the snow!

Happy 2nd to our sweet girl + big guy

We were so blessed to have both sets of Grandparents around to celebrate Karina's 2nd birthday this past weekend!

Karina with her two favorite characters: Cookie Monster and Curious George!

It's hard to believe Kai's seven months old and is doing so well. He's obviously healthy based on the picture above:)

The girls love their bro!

Trip to Hallowed Ground:)

Mikaya and I took a trip to SouthBend, IN on Wednesday for a funeral. We lost a very dear family member; she was 94. I always knew Dorothy as "Aunt" when in reality she was a cousin. In spite of that, I always appreciated Dorothy's love for others and her concern for our family. She'll be missed!

Mikaya didn't have preschool that day so I decided she needed some QT time and she had a nice time seeing Grandma and Grandpa as well as other family members she's never met. Her sisters were extremely jealous of course, but it was a great time just the two of us.

In the afternoon, we just had to stop by the campus of Notre Dame. Aah, the first of my children to step foot on campus:) I wish I could zoom in on the top. We're in front of the golden dome! We also visited Knute Rockne's grave (famous coach).

Lots of Smiles