Retirement/65th birthday party

On Saturday, January 9th, my mom had a combination retirement and birthday party for my dad.  The whole family was able to make it, as well as Aunt Marilyn, Uncle David, Jacob, and his fiance, Lesley.    

The crew after church on Sunday.

Display of John Deere mementos and pictures of Dad's life.  Rachel also came up with a quiz, "How well do you know Mel?"  Dad said it reminded him of a graduation party.

Notice a theme?!

We had tractors as centerpieces, which quickly became things for the kids to play with!

Grandpa and Daniel in their flannel shirts.

That night, we celebrated the January birthdays in the family (Dad, James and Bella) with two red cakes.

A gift from Aunt Marilyn and Uncle David--painting of Rock Castle, which was on their old stomping grounds.  It had been hanging in the old bank, and Aunt Marilyn got it when they moved to the new bank.

Wisconsin Christmas

We spent several days after Christmas at Ryan and Rachel's house in Wisconsin.  All of my side of the family was there.  We had fun playing a lot of games, opening presents, going sledding, and just being together.

Seven grandchildren before the chaos of opening presents!

Basketball Hoop

Jonathan's parents and Aunt Mary and Uncle Ken got the boys a basketball hoop for Christmas.  They were very excited to try it out.  It took a while to get it put together--as you can see from the pictures, they are racing against the dark to get it up!  Come spring and the melting of our snow, they'll be a lot of hours spent shooting hoops!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Benjamin was Caesar Augustus and Paul was a shepherd for the children's Christmas Eve program.

Paul, showing off his skills of eating an apple without his front teeth.  The apple was part of the goodie bag the kids get after the program.

Christmas Day pictures

Jonathan's parents visited us the week or two before Christmas, and David flew in late Christmas Eve.

First piano recital

Benjamin started learning piano this year.  He had his first recital at a nursing home right before Christmas.  He played Jingle Bells and We Three Kings.

Jingle Bells

Christmas Tree

We had a bit of a saga getting our tree this year.  We went to cut it down the Sunday afternoon after Thanksgiving, but found a dead battery on the van.  After Jonathan removed the battery, took it to an auto parts store, and then replaced it with a new one, it was nearly dark.  We managed to make it to a tree farm, but found absolutely no trees left.  We figured we would have to wait until the next weekend to get our tree, but ended up finding a place close by that was open during the week. So, we went to cut down a tree after school the next day.  It was a pay-by-the-foot place, and of course we unknownly chose the most expensive kind of tree!  In the end, it was a very nice tree.  We put it in front of the window this year.

This is Paul proudly showing off his Student of the Month certificate.  Unfortunately, he was home sick the day it was presented in chapel.

Christmas Eve

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...

First Snow

Our first snow was way back on November 21st.  We've had several snows since then, of course, but the boys were excited for the first one!

And then, it's always nice to come in and warm up...

Playing War

And reading

Thanksgiving

We went to Jonathan and Sarah's house in Illinois for Thanksgiving.  Mom and Dad were also there. We didn't take too many pictures, but we had a great time eating and playing with cousins and doing a little shopping.

Here's Paul showing off his pilgrim costume from his school feast.  

One of the exciting events that happened over Thanksgiving was Paul losing two of his loose teeth, with the assistance of the trampoline and cousins in the basement at Jonathan and Sarah's house.

David came over for a few hours on Thanksgiving--here he is reading to Paul.

3rd and 4th Grade Basketball

Benjamin played basketball at school this year.  This was his first time ever playing organized basketball.  Their team did great--they were undefeated, and Benjamin got better and more comfortable with every game.  It was a short season--only six games, and they were done before Christmas.