A Very Nicholl Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Nicholl clan at Mom and Ron's house.  As has been the case the past two years, Nick Schale, a former colleague of Ron, came over to take our family pictures.  He did a great job, and was especially great with the kids, and we got a lot of great pictures.

I snapped a few pictures of my own, including cute little Benjamin and an excited Joshua exploring his new book.

We had a great home-cooked meal, and thanks to Mom and Ron's house size and layout, we were able to have everyone eat in one of two large groups.

We later did gifts, and Mom received a violin from Grandpa and Grandma.  She used to play when she was little, but even though she hasn't picked up a violin since then, she immediately nailed some scales as if she still regularly played.  I was quite impressed.  Later, Grandpa received some food items that were branded with a certain sponge who shares his first name.  Grandpa is not counted among the sponge's many fans, and thus he was not thrilled to receive the items.  The perpetrator of this scheme was not definitively determined, but Grandpa had his suspicions, as this scenario has played out without fail for many years now.  Grandma, on the other hand, seemed quite pleased by the whole scenario.

Later in the afternoon and at night some of us played games, including a game called Say Anything that was a nice twist on Apples to Apples, and another new game called Wits & Wagers, which I loved, as it involved knowledge, estimation, and betting.

It was another great Christmas, and it was great to have everyone together (Elle was there for the pictures but had to leave after that) for the celebration.

David and Elle's Wedding

With Joanna's wedding last year, only one of the Nicholl/Leach siblings remained unmarried.  But tonight the final piece was put in place, as David and Elle got married in a beautiful ceremony.  The theme was Boho-Chic / Colorado Christmas Lodge.  Clara already had a perfect outfit, and we were able to put together outfits for Joshua and Hannah that were on-theme.  Meghan also did a nice job of coming up with an outfit for herself.  I, on the other hand, didn't perform as well.  Although my outfit was actually fairly boho-chic, it was too casual for the occasion, so I ended up modifying it on the fly to make it a little less boho-chic but also a little less informal.

The kids enjoyed the dance floor as a place to run around between events.  Here Benjamin watches in the background and considers joining in on the action.

The event was held at the Buffalo Lodge out in Missouri, and it was the perfect setting for the wedding, as it fit the theme perfectly.  We are so excited to have Elle as part of our family and for David to have found the woman of his dreams.

Fun, Family, and Fireworks

For 4th of July this year, Meghan again did a great job of planning coordination outfits for the kids.

After naptime, we went over to Mom and Ron's house, where they were hosting a 4th of July party.  Uncle Brent, Joanna, and Kirk were all in town from Texas, so including those who were local, we had our full crew, short of Abby who was out of town for the weekend.  David brought Elle, whom most of us had either not met or only met once, so we all enjoyed getting to know her better. 


Joanna and Kirk took the time to help Clara sharpen her soccer skills using the new soccer ball that Mom and Ron got for the kids.

David brought his new drone with him and demonstrated it by flying it in the back yard.  I thought it was totally awesome, as it can fly up to a mile away from the base, but it's completely remote controlled while assisted by GPS when needed.  It also takes video and pictures while it flies, giving amazing bird's eye views of the world.

The kids enjoyed playing in the yard, and we were also able to get a family picture in our festive outfits.

The day was not only a celebration of Independence Day, but also a party to celebrate Mom and Ron's birthdays.  Ron's is today, and Mom's was a week and a half ago.  They had a cake, which the kids assisted in the blowing out of the candles, but more importantly (from their perspective) in the consumption of it.  Hannah liked it so much, she considering alternate methods of acquiring more.

After the party, we went to the Olathe fireworks show.  For the past five or six years, we've watched them from the parking lot of the Great Mall, but it's always such a pain to get out of there.  This year I decided to find a new location for us, and earlier today I scouted out a place that I thought would allow us to have a much easier exit AND allow us to be even closer to the fireworks.  It worked out perfectly, as it was a great spot with excellent views and plenty of space to ourselves, all while allowing us to quickly leave the area after the show.  Also, all of the kids, while seeming a little concerned during the biggest booms, enjoyed it overall, and no one cried this year, which was a plus.

It was a full day of activities, but it was really nice to get to spend so much of the day with family and then to cap it off with a great fireworks show.

"Baby" Dedication - Better Late Than Never

We had always wanted to dedicate or baptize the kids when they were babies, but we never really got around to it.  We changed churches, had three babies, I was sick so long when I was pregnant, all those kind of things that it never happened even though it really should have. So even though most people do it when their babies are about three months, we got all three kids dedicated today (including Hannah, though I don't have a good picture of her since she chose to be held).

 The church we attend does both infant baptisms and dedications, which is unusual. We got to choose which one we wanted to do and we chose dedication. We hope that our kids will choose to be baptized as believers when they are old enough to make that choice.

 I am not sure the kids really understood much about what went on, though Joshua was able to answer the question of who is his Lord and Savior. We were relieved he got it right. We had practiced. We knew he knew it, but sometimes he goes for comedy and says things like "Jesus Frog" or whatever. Luckily he decided to play it straight for the actual service.

We were glad that GG and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Matt and Abby, and the Fouts (Benjamin's naptime is around noon so they couldn't stay for pictures afterwards) were able to make it to share the special day with us.

Jesus is Alive!

For Easter this year we went with a lavender theme with yellow and light green accents.  The kids looked adorable, and we were able to get a picture with our whole family, which somehow we forgot to do last Easter.

We went to church at LBC, with Mom, Ron, and Uncle Brent joining us.  In Sunday School, Joshua made a megaphone that they decorated with stickers.  He used it to repeatedly shout through it, "Jesus is Alive!" which is presumably what the teachers taught them to say, which is a pretty cute and applicable craft project for small kids on Easter.  We then went to Mom and Ron's house to meet up with everyone.  Mom and Ron had prepared Easter baskets for each of the four cousins, complete with books and bubbles, which were a hit.

At their house, in addition to the LBC crew, we were joined by Grandpa and Grandma; Julie, Andrew, and Benjamin; Matt and Abby; and David and Elle.  It was nice to have time to relax and catch up with everyone as well as to meet Elle, though unfortunately I didn't get a chance to chat with her, so hopefully that works out next time.

Grandma's birthday was yesterday, so we celebrated it today while we were all together.  Julie made some very tasty cupcakes, and we were able to sing for her and give her cards (except I left our card for her at home, so I'll have to bring it to her later).  Later, Grandma and Clara enjoyed eating cupcakes together.

We didn't really have a chance to do our family Easter time in the morning, so we did it in the early evening once we were home.  I hid eggs around the family room and play room.  Joshua's were blue, so I put those in locations that were a little harder to find (higher up, behind pillows, etc.), and Clara and Hannah shared the purple and pink ones, so those were in pretty obvious places (you can actually see three of them in the photo on the right).

Each egg had two to three pieces of candy in it, and the kids were supposed to put the eggs in a big bowl after they found them, but they quickly realized there were treats inside, and pretty much just tried to eat all the candy in each egg as soon as they found them.  But we managed to save some, and once the kids were up to the table they were allowed to fully dig in.  Here you can see where Hannah finished hers as she eyes Joshua's and seems like she's contemplating stealing his in a desperate attempt to acquire more.  Meghan sewed backpacks for the kids which served as their Easter baskets this year (I apparently didn't get a good picture of them), so the kids got some additional goods in addition to the candy.  It was a special day with lots of celebrations and lots of family and fun.