Christmas at Bethlehem Gulch

Note: Keep scrolling, I've loaded a bazillion pictures tonight. :) Abby, Caleb, and I were in the church Christmas play on December 21, called Christmas at Bethlehem Gulch. It was really cute, and more than that, Abby and Caleb were REALLY cute. Caleb didn't really want to stay on stage, so we didn't get many pictures of him. Abby stayed on stage, but even though she knew every word to every song, all she did was stare at the fire. Still, they were cute. Abby getting all gussied up.

Such a CUTE sheep!

Getting her ears fixed. It only took three of us. She's a wriggly little thing. Good thing Aunt Penny and Aunt Mamma were there to help.

Cookie, a.k.a. Michelle, and Shep, the trusty sheepdog. He didn't do much sheep herding.

Pretty fake fire.

Sheep at the manger scene. At least the lady sheep know to keep their legs together. :)

Caleb in his costume, and his baby friend, Ella, as an angel. Girl in white dress, boy in black suit...foreshadowing anyone? :)

Grandma and granddad so proud of their star sheep.

Nth annual Keaton Christmas party

We have been having this Christmas party so long, no one really remembers what year it is. The Keatons hold a party every year for all of us old fogie college friends to get together and remember the good ole days. (all 6-8 years ago). We always do a white elephant gift exchange which results in some GREAT gifts! This year was no exception. There has also been the added bonus of kids the last few years. That always makes things more interesting... :) Michelle got the Qapla this year. How exciting...

Duane recieved Chuck's gift. It was an ITunes gift card but everyone else got to pick the songs that went on it. We got such classics as 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton, Who Let the Dogs Out, Brittany Spears and Kevin Federline. Enjoy, Duane!!

Travis got a picture of "shredder" from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He thought it would make a good belt buckle. I agree, Travis, it fits perfectly.

Day with her new nightlight.

Brady being the life of the party.

Duane originally unwrapped dump trucks. The beauty of white elephant is that people can steal gifts, so Sarah stole it for her son, Noah. Then, at the last minute, Chuck came out of nowhere and stole them for Caleb. I love white elephant! :)

Michelle, Sarah W., and Dacian K. cookin' up some chocolate. YUMMY!!!!

Our treats. Abby and Alyce helped with the sprinkles. They were so good, we all had to waddle out of the house.

Isn't it beautiful? I think someone's a pampered chef consultant...

Best friends playin' puppets. I hope they stay friends forever and always, and I hope that we can continue to have such great friends forever and always. We had a blast and we love everyone of you all!

Christmas cookies

Sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated. You will be getting several updates in a row of all of our Christmas activities. One of the things we did was make Christmas cookies. For the first time, Abby was really able to help. It took twice as long and we made 10x as much mess, but that just means it was 10x as much fun. (Sorry the pictures are in reverse order, I didn't feel like going back and fixing them.) What happens when mommy is paying attention to Abby and daddy is trying to take a picture? Caleb steals a cookie... (he is fast, he was on the other side of the room when Chuck picked up the camera) :)
Caleb "helping" , notice Abby supervising- can't have a bad cookie

Abby decorating

Abby rolling dough

Licking the beaters

SNOW DAY!

We had our first snow day! And it wasn't some piddly little, by the time the kids get suited up, it's already melted snow. Abby was so excited this morning,s he could barely contain herself. I tried to get them all suited up, but unfortunately, Caleb's suit was too small. What did I do? I squeezed him into it anyway, of course!!! :) He could barely walk it was so tight, and the first thing he did was do a face plant in the snow. So, his first snow experience, was not the best, but Abby had a blast! Looking so cute in their get ups!

Caleb trying to move.

Abby throwing snowballs.

Abby hitting Emily Ferrell with a snowball. You would have thought she was shot.

Caleb sledding-which he did actually like

Making snowangels.

Calebs first fall. The second fall was much bigger and involved much snow in the face. :)

Uncle Pony

We kept Nikki's (my brother's fiance) children last weekend so Josh and Nikki could go out for her birthday. Abby had so much fun with her soon to be cousins. Caleb was just kind of confused by all the ruckus.

Gidde up, Uncle Pony! Chuck actually managed to get them all on his back. How he didn't break his back is beyond me...
Letting the air out of the mattress. Caleb was less than thrilled!

Jump, jump, jump.

A rare quiet moment. Actually, I think I might have captured the ONLY quiet moment on camera.

Helping Grandma and Granddad

We went to Great Grandma and Granddad's last weekend to visit for Thanksgiving (keep them in your prayers, grandma is having a hard time recovering from her surgery and granddad is missing her at home). Neal (Chuck's dad) and Bill (Chuck's uncle) were doing what they could to help out around the house. Abby and Caleb decided to help with the raking of the leaves. It only took about 45 minutes longer than it should have, but they had a great time!

Cincinnati Children's Museum

If you ever get a chance to go to the Cincinnati Children's museum, I highly suggest you go! It was awesome! We've been there twice, and I can't wait to take them back again. Both Abby and Caleb had a blast, and they have things for kids of all ages.

Abby and Caleb rowing a boat through Africa

Beep, beep, coming through

Get me off this thing!

The ball room (absolutely incredible!)

The water play area (nice and wet)

Caleb actually tried to climb in at one point. He almost succeeded.