January Hangover

Have you ever felt like that - that January is the hangover from the Christmas fun? No more holidays (at least till Valentines Day), no more anticipation, and, in my case, 10 1/2 weeks and counting until baby boy #4 comes. But, here are some of the things we have been keeping busy with.

The day after Christmas we were excited to have Matt's parents and sisters come for a visit. Mostly we were just happy to be together, but we did venture out for a day of sledding. Of course, in all the anticipation and after an hour and a half drive I realized I had forgotten my carefully packed bag of gloves and hats for our family. Ah! I was so frustrated - little kids think snow is so fun until their hands freeze (which takes all of two minutes) and then they are done. Luckily, my dear in-laws had brought enough to share some so we put adult sized gloves and hats on the kids and were able to make do. Whew! After that, everyone had a great time.

Aunt Megan holding Luke - he spend most of his time in someone's arms. Megan brought this adorable hat with her - Luke looked so cute!

Aunt Melanie and Lukie (good thing he had lots of family willing to hold him!)
One of Nathan's favorite snow activities: eating it.

Carter's favorite snow activity: throwing it.
Nathan looking oh-so sly with this snowball. At least his snowballs were all aimed at one place: daddy's head.
Lukie just being stinkin cute.


Nathan's attempt at a snowman. This is as far as it got, the snow was too packed and not fresh.

Matt always loves sledding and will do hills of any size. Nathan was braver this year and even did a solo run. Luke did some small hills with dad and grandpa until he decided that wasn't his thing. Carter wouldn't touch the sled, he just walked around trying to make snowballs to throw at people, mainly his mom!

Grandpa and Nathan

Matt on one of his solo runs down the big hill.

Nathan daring the sled for the first time by himself! He ended it with "That was awesome!"

We got our first (and only) snow this year the day before Matt's family left. The kids of course wanted to run outside and build a snowman. They settled for trying to catch the flakes.

Also, Matt's parents generously bought Luke his very own toddler bed, as well as a new set of bunk beds for the bigger boys (the ones they had were getting old). So, Matt and his dad assembled them and Luke was excited to sleep in his big bed. Or maybe he was excited about the not sleeping part, because that is what he does best every night - partying with his brothers. It's gotten to the point we have had to take the bookcase out of the room, as well as the dresser. Every night Luke would empty the contents of the bookcase, and then one night we found him jumping on the top shelf of the bookcase. They still party, but a little more safely. For a week straight they were so excited about their new beds all they wanted to do was play "sleep". Fine by me - what a nice quiet game!

For New Years we went and visited my oldest brother, Jonathan, and his wife Jenelle, and three daughters (Annika - 2, and twin baby sisters Clara and Nicolyn) in Portland. It was quite the bunch of kids for one house, but the boys were excited to visit their cousins with "two babies". Jenelle said Annika seemed the most excited about Luke coming to visit, probably because they are only 8 months apart and he is the calmest of the group. Except of course when he got bored and stopped loving on the babies (which he did a lot) and started picking on them. Sorry Clara and Nicolyn!

Annika just looking pretty. You can tell she will be quite the looker in ten years!

My boys in front of the Portland temple, where Jonathan and Jenelle got married.

Jonathan, Annika, Matt and our boys on the temple grounds.

Luke found this Santa hat at Jonathan's house and couldn't resist walking around shouting, "Ho, ho, ho!" It was so adorable!

Finally, Carter wanted an upclose shot of "my eyeballs". This picture is proof of the minimal evidence that these adorable children are not just Michaelis'. It sums up the only Vance resemblance in my kids - Carter's freckles, white skin, and gray-blue eyes. Sorry buddy, no tan skin or brown eyes for you!