Christmas Card 2010

December Fun

Phew..where has time gone?! It's Christmas week already! We started off the month by going to the Christmas parade in Zeeland. We had never been and it wasn't too cold out so we headed downtown. It was actually pretty good!
Sometimes it's hard to get outside b/c of Trey so I decided to take the snow inside one day and put food coloring in it. Carter was in his glory!Brian was gone for a week hunting in Iowa so I decided to surprise him and potty train Carter. He was definitely showing signs that he was ready and has been going on the potty since Trey was born so it was just of matter of hammering down and doing it. He has been doing awesome and stays dry for naps and almost every night as well!
When daddy came home we treated Carter to Build-a-Bear for being such a big boy. He had never been so he thought it was pretty cool.

Washing off the fuzzies!Then we headed to see Santa Clause. I am pretty sure he almost fell out of his chair when he asked Carter what he wanted for Christmas and he told him, "Socks and underwear!" Thanks for Grandpa and Grandma DJ for teaching him that one! He still tells people that if you ask. :)
The next night we had the Meeuwsen Christmas party....Santa Clause was there when we got there!

Friday night we had the Top Christmas party (Brian's moms side). We even Skyped our nieces in Nebraska so we could all say Hi so that was fun.

Me and my love bug. Checking out Trey's new toy.

Saturday morning we went to the train exhibit at the library in Zeeland. Carter loved it....we spent a lot of time there along with LOTS of other little boys! Today we made Christmas cookies. Not Christmas without this tradition, right? Carter had a blast helping me.
When we were done every single sprinkle container in the house was empty. Brian is going to LOVE him tonight! His favorite!

Picking out the perfect tree

Last Saturday we headed to Borculo to pick out our Christmas tree. Every year it gets more fun b/c Carter is that much more excited about it. After checking out a few we found a great one.
Daddy and Carter watching them shake it, then they drilled it and wrapped it up tight.
Then we loaded it up and were ready to go! Always a quick and easy process.

Once we got home Carter was excited to help decorate it. He did a great job and even convinced daddy to pitch in.
Still need to take a picture of it all decorated yet!

Our little Turkeys

We had a great Thanksgiving day. We went to church and then to my Uncle Dave and Aunt Betty's house for a De Jonge Thanksgiving feast and hung out for the afternoon. The boys took great naps and then we were off to Brian's Uncle Arlen and Aunt Cathie's house for the Meeuwsen get together. We are so thankful for these little boys in our lives!
(flash is broke on my camera...hence not the greatest pics...argh!)

Our trip to Nebraska

As most of you know, Brian's brother Eric and his family moved to Nebraska at the end of the summer to run Nebraska Corn Processing, the ethanol plant ZFS purchased last year. We miss them dearly so we decided to take a road trip out to see what the small town of Cambridge was all about. My parents decided to take the trek with us and it was great to have them along. Overall the boys did GREAT on the 13 hour car ride and we had a really good time.

Our nieces, Karinda and Kylie, didn't know we were coming so we got them out of bed and surprised them when we got there Friday morning.
Later on Friday we headed to NCP for a quick tour. Carter and the girls had to climb up on the train engine.
They get so much corn in that there isn't enough room for it. Yes, this is one a of few HUGE piles of corn! Saturday all the guys did some road touring and then back to NCP for a more thorough tour. Kylie and Carter were best buds all weekend so they went along too.
Karinda took care of Trey most of the time so they stayed back with the ladies and we went to a craft show and then met up with everyone for lunch. All the kiddos snuggled up with their daddies on our last night.

And of course we had to stop at the Worlds Biggest Truck Stop along I-80 on the way home. Carter could have stayed there all night looking at everything.

We are looking forward to having them home at the end of December and hanging out with them again. Thanks Eric and Kate for a great time!

Our little zoo animals

What a fun Halloween we had! Friday night we went to my parents house to trick or treat. Carter was a lion this year and Trey was a monkey.

And our little chili pepper nephew Kasen came over too...isn't he cute?

Saturday night we went to DeWitts to trick or treat in their subdivision with Huyers and DeHaans. We picked up Vitales (a must!) on the way and had dinner together and then headed out. Here's all the kiddos....from left to right > Trey, Carter, Liam, Deacon escaping in the back, Norah, Jacob and Ethan. Carter ate it right up...he was SO ADORABLE. He had a blast going from door to door. I just loved watching him run around having so much fun. Trey just took it all in from the stroller. :)

Thanks Jason and Martha for inviting us! We had a lot of fun!

Super trucking

A few weeks ago Carter got spoiled and got to go to work with daddy for the morning. Since riding in trucks is probably a bit more exciting than sitting at a desk with daddy, Carter got to go with Brian's cousin Mike hauling corn back and forth to Hamilton for the morning. I guess Carter was pretty quiet but loved it and Mike even got him out to watch the corn be dumped. The glare is kind of bad on this picture but Carter had a great view from his car seat!

There they go!

He wanted to give Mike a hug and kiss when they were done but I guess Mike wasn't falling for that. :) Carter LOVES to go to ZFS and watch all the big trucks. I am pretty sure he could probe trucks and test beans with all the time we spent their during harvest!

Girlfriends Getaway!

Last weekend some of my friends and I headed to downtown Chicago with a bus full of 45 women for some awesome girl time! This was my second time going on this trip and it is definitely going to become an annual trip! We started off on Friday stopping at Michigan City for a few hours of shopping.

Friday night we grabbed some dinner (appetizers and margaritas!) at a great little mexican restaurant we found then we went to a Second City show. It was hilarious and I would definitely go again. From left to right: Martha, Amy, Sarah, Debi, Jenni, me and Marti.

Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel (made to order omelets....yum!) and headed out for shopping. It rained a little bit and then was a gorgeous day. Tim...this picture is for you. :)
Saturday night we went on a dinner cruise off of Navy Pier. Awesome dinner, fireworks and dancing!

This was the view from the boat...pretty sweet, eh?

Saturday morning we decided to go check out the Skydeck.
The views were awesome and it was pretty cool. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be but it was hilarious watching some people that would not walk out on it.

Thanks girls for such an awesome weekend! Can't wait til next year!

Trey at 6 months

Trey had his 6 month appt. on Monday. He weighed 16 lbs. 10 oz. and was 26.25 inches. Pretty average boy. Carter weighed 16 lbs. 13 oz. and was 27.25 inches so an inch taller than Trey but that has been the case since birth. Thankfully Brian met me at the Dr. b/c we took Carter along for his flu shot and I wasn't about to try it by myself. Carter did fine...just a few tears. Trey on the other hand has a yeast infection (who knew boys could get them?) that I had no clue about, they tested him for some form of strep and we got a Rx for his excema. It has really helped except for a spot on his cheek...I think we are going to have to go to the dermatologist. It's been there for about 6 weeks and just won't go away. We go to the eye Dr. on Monday for his wandering/lazy eye so we will see what she says. Thankfully Trey is SO incredibly happy and sleeps like champ so none of this stuff bothers him a bit! We tried some solid food this week which he definitely likes better than the rice cereal...he HATES that stuff!

Look alikes?

Another Crane's visit

Last night we took our annual family trip to Crane's for dinner and to the Todd farms to look for deer. It was a beautiful night and Carter had fun playing on this tractor while waiting for dinner.

Post Family Farms

Last Friday we took our annual trip to Post Family Farms with my childhood friends. Our group keeps growing and growing and there are 3 more on the way! From left to right, Royce and Jax (Beth's), my boys are between Alyssa and Kaylee (Vicki's) and then our main squeeze, Liam (Jen's). We had to snap a bunch b/4 Jax and Carter dumped off the babies. This one of Trey's pouting face cracked me up. :) We should have taken a pic of us moms too...hopefully next time! First we took some pics of the kids by all the pumkins.


Then it was off to the see animals. Carter was seriously trying to rip the beard off this goat...the kid has no fear.

And of course the pumpkin train! Carter has been asking about it since pumpkins have come out. He loved it.

Then we took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. Carter picked out enough for all of us. He had quite the pile.

It was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon and we had a great time. We finished the day with pumpkin donuts....they are the best!