Merry Christmas

This time of year is so great, yet very hectic. It has been a blessing staying at home for the past week and a half - its been a FULL HOUSE - with Jamin home, too. We enjoyed the snow as a family and of course, Christmas. It was so great to see Jamin's brother Taylor and his adorable family Stephanie (my sister-in-law), Kaitlyn (20 months) and Alexis (2 1/2 months). They were visiting from Idaho - sure wish they lived closer:-) The kids had a blast on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, Christmas Day, Christmas Evening, the day after Christmas...it hasn't stopped. Just too much "stuff" to play with. All in all, I can honestly say we feel so blessed to have a healthy and happy family. We hope everyone is enjoying their holiday time and looking forward to a wonderful New Year in a few days. Here are a few pics from the past week:
This was the night of Dec. 21 - Jamin had to scrape the sidewalk and driveway at around 11p that night:-)

"Help I can't walk and definitely can't crawl in this huge snow suit-thing you have on me" (thank you Sarah Cypher for the snow gear hand-me down)Kara and Bryce hangin' out

Here is Bryce with his cousin Brittney on Christmas Eve (that would be my brother's daughter - I know I think this is the first time my brother's family has had a picture on this blog!) Merry Christmas:-) I can never get all 3 of them to smile at the same time. Two out of three is always good. (this was Christmas Morning) Thank you Grammie for the Christmas pj's. Yes, she makes ALL her grandchildren Christmas pj's every year! And the number of grandchildren continues to grow. I think it might slow down after the next two arrive (total 13 by next Christmas).

Jace Turns 3!

Jace's birthday once again has been trumped by weather! On his first birthday we had those major wind storms and most of the area had no electricity, but luckily we never lost power. The problem was that we had planned his party at the YMCA and they had lost power. I was on the phone by 10a that morning inviting everyone over to our house:-) It was crazy, but still a great first birthday. Well, behold birthday #3 rolls around and we decide to try the YMCA again and this time everything seems to be alright until we arrive at 4:45p for the 5p party. We were welcomed with the building supervisor's news that the Y was closing at 6p! I almost started crying on the spot. I held it together and we improvised. Needless to say, Jace had a blast with all his friends and cousins. Jace was none the wiser and loved his birthday party. Thank you to everyone who joined us - we completely understand those who could not due to weather. We are going to have to celebrate his birthday early in the month:-) Ok, enough of that. He just went to bed saying "I can't believe...this and that." He loved all his gifts and just had so much fun. THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Ok, back it up a little: My baby boy - excuse me - my big boy (as he would say) just turned 3 years old this weekend. We have had such a great birthday weekend. It all started last Wed. with the arrival of SNOW! Jamin and I have been home since then and having a ton of fun with the kids. Saturday morning we woke up and Jace picked donuts for his birthday breakfast and then he opened all the gifts from us. He was so cute saying things like "Awesome" and "I can't believe it." He is such a sweet boy. We then went to Red Robin for his b-day dinner followed by the trip to Toys R Us where he gets to pick out one toy. It was dumping snow off and on all day, so it was fun driving around to dinner. The snow is very beautiful (especially when your destination is close). What an amazing gift - celebrating your child's birthday. I still cry...even though its his 3rd birthday. Will it ever stop? I am not sure - I cried at Kara's 5th birthday. Now its on to Christmas! I love this time of year. Merry Christmas EVERYONE:-)

Here comes December...

It's December already...what the heck. Luckily, we got out the Advent calendar tree (that's all I could accomplish over Thanksgiving weekend unlike most of you over-acheivers who already have ALL the decorations up and tree up)that has become the BIG tradition for the kids this year. Kara has been talking about it since early November (thank you Grammie for the great tradition). So the countdown to Christmas begins - and lucky for the Marecle family - Jace's birthday, too.

So this past weekend we headed over to Selah, Wa to visit some of our college friends that all seem to reside on the east side. When we arrived on Saturday, we headed out to an old train depot and saw all sorts of train sets and then took a very short train ride to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus. The kids had a blast. This was something I didn't know about, so it was a very nice surprise.

Jace, Kara, Adley Franklin, Sam Neeley and Aidan Franklin (not pictured Molly Neeley)

Here is Jace & Kara riding on the train up in some weird seats!

Then it was pictures with Santa! Yeah, I know Santa twice in one weekend - we didn't plan it that way, it just happened. This time we were back in P-town and we did this really great event where the kids got free Reindeer Webkinz! It was quite the hit - a little crowded and all, but 'tis the season:-) Jace didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but had no problem giving him high-5's and finally standing in front of him. Of course, by the time we had convinced Jace to stand in front of Santa, Bryce was done so the pictures is truly a memory piece.

Bryce wasn't terrified in this picture. He actually liked Santa's beard.
Kara, Carly and Kiersten eating their cookies and sipping on hot cocoa.

Thanksgiving Good Times

Thanksgiving is such a fun time - eat and be lazy:-) The newest tradition in the Marecle family is to go to Grammies house in the morning for breakfast, which honestly is what we look forward to even more than the turkey dinner. Homemade cinnamon rolls, christmas casserole, egg nog and if you want orange julius. Its delicious. The cousins all ran around having a blast while all the men took naps and the women started getting ready for dinner. The sister-in-laws actually all looked through the ads for the next day of shopping:-) So a HUGE thank you to Grammie, Papa and Marissa for all the food. Jessica, Natalie and I all contributed a little something in the food department. It was a great day.

We love our family:-)