Iced to Perfection

...just a few pics of our Christmas Cookie Baking Extravaganza.

Below is Josie's "J" cookie. For as long as I can remember my brother Brandon has called our little sister "Juice". It always is varied somewhat. We've heard "Juicey", "Juicer", and "J's" to just name a few. Bandon has graciously handed down the lovely nickname to Josie.

2010 Christmas

My parents hosted the Francis Family Christmas this year. My dad is wearing my Grandpa's red sweater vest. Grandpa wore this sweater vest for every Christmas. I love seeing it...many memories of Grandpa are brought back.

This is our first snowfall. I would call it just a dusting, but Josie thought it was a huge amount.

This year I made a whole collection of Christmas trees to use as a count down to Christmas. Under each one I had a small piece of candy for Josie.

On Christmas day Josie got to lay Jesus in his crib. She was so upset that Jesus didn't have a birthday cake. Uncle Brandon and Aunt Jen gave her an Easy Bake Oven which was used to bake Jesus a cake. She was very particular about the sprinkles..."only boy colors, Mom. Jesus would not like pink or purple."

A Game of Catch Up

The last two months have come and gone without me even realizing how far behind I am on keeping our families happy with cute pics of the kids. I won't mention any names, but I have been told that the pictures of the kids are all that matters- typing thoughts without including pictures is strickly prohibited now. So, to please my audience, I've included many pictures to make up for my slacking.

My mom's 55th birthday- a limo ride to The Greene

G the Giraffe and Josie the Princess



What a mess this child can make

She survived this jump without any broken bones

In an attempt to get a picture of the two together, this was the best one


You should see the other guy




All the grandkids wore these shirts for Grandpa Bergman's 60th


Showing off their ribbons from the tractor pulls

Josie's first tractor pulls at the Russia Picnic



Our Mozart


Grandpa Bergman's 60th



One of Josie's favorite parts from the Disney on Ice show



Sleeping Beauty at the Disney on Ice show


Josie's first day of preschool

Josie and her Nana at the Francis reunion

My Handsome Boys

I don't know what it is about this picture, but there is just something that makes me absolutely love it. It could be several things. Grant looks so grown up as he patiently sits. Maybe it is that he appears so patient, but in reality his was not wanting to sit still for a moment. The toilet paper roll in Grant's hand is very Grant. He has to have something to keep him occupied at all times. I love Tony's concentration as all parents know; getting lace shoes on a 1 year old is tough business. Maybe it is the father/son matching shirts. Whatever it may be it is priceless to me.

Keeping Our Fingers Crossed...

in hopes that Grant made the Blue Man Group tryouts.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Happy 4th my sweet Josie! You are really becoming a very grown up little girl.





I LOVE the expressions the kids are making on this picture!













This is Josie's actual birthday. We also celebrated with the family a few days later.

Josie picked out her cake...Sleeping Beauty. She thought it was the prettiest cake ever made. The Sleeping Beauty/Prince figurine even spun around although the prince's foot drug in the icing.

Josie thought she had to have glasses on also, just like Nana.

Summer Swimming

Josie completed her first swimming lesson class recently. It was a week long class which started out a little rough. I am not quite sure if she got past getting her feet wet on the first day. By the last class she was going down the slide, learning how to float, and somewhat putting her face under water. Her good friend, Micah, was also in the class with her. They both were rewarded (or you can call it bribed) with M&M's afterwards.
The first two pictures are from a mom's outing to the pool with all the kids. I don't know what they loved more; the swimming or the 10 pounds of cheese balls they devoured. As you can see, Josie's friend, Sienna, along with all the other kids, had orange stained fingers for the next week!