Mom and her six siblings singing Grandma Anderson’s favorite song.

Some of the crew enjoying ice-cream. There were about 20 children at the reunion! Always a cousin to play with. Our boys had so much fun and were quite sad the night before we left, knowing we had to leave in the morning. The cute little blond girl is Annika, she and Lincoln hit it off quite well.

I have so many pictures of our family on these porch swings from reunions past.

Ethan and Madelyn.

Future boy band? I doubt it!

A sweet moment between Misha and Jude.

Anderson and Lincoln were SO cute together! I could just eat them both up!

They played a game where they pretended to be asleep. :)

Bug hunting! This is what entertained the kids for the majority of the weekend!

Isaac and Jayce were good buddies. I had to remind Isaac hundreds of times that his name is not “Jason” it’s just “Jayce!” :)

How many kids can we fit into a baby pool? More than you would think!

Sweet brothers.

Always lots of yummy food at our cookouts!

Ethan enjoyed playing basketball.

Isaac walked around and took several pictures (not sure where he gets that from)!

Halle and Lincoln didn’t care much for the noise of the firecrackers the neighbors were setting off.

Glow sticks for all the kids! It made keeping an eye on them much easier once the sun went down.

The kids played in our backyard while they waited for the 10:00 fireworks. We love having an amusement park out back so we can sit in the comfort of our own yard and watch a wonderful display of fireworks.

Dan, Kari, and the boys came for fireworks. Alex seemed afraid of the noise.

But, was much happier when Dan plugged his ears! :)

They LOVED this pool!

Charlie grilled delicious burgers and hot-dogs for us.

My sister and I standing at her front door.

My handsome husband.  :-)

Aunt Lisa bought the boys sidewalk chalk and bubbles to keep them entertained.

Debbie and Dad

Back at our hotel after a long, long, day.

The Emu were among the first animals we encountered. They were certainly not intimidated by us. They frightened us by getting a little too close and sticking their long necks into the van. We laughed and laughed as we inched our way towards the front of the van.

Aunt Lisa and Ethan still waiting for the emu to leave us alone. :)

We saw some beautiful animals.

And some pretty ugly ones too.

We always love giraffes.

Their antlers were so velvety soft.

WARNING: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

Bad hair day? Don’t worry, we all have days like that.

Lincoln, Owen, Simon and Ethan

Owen, Alex, Isaac, Lincoln

Sweet Harrison & Elise

I was so happy to spend a day at Midway. This small amusement park hasn’t changed too much from when I was little.

Isaac was a little worried he wouldn’t like this roller coaster. He was right. :)

Grandma

Tilt-a-whirl

Lincoln LOVED this car! Good thing too, he was crushed after waiting in line with Daddy for several minutes to ride the bumper cars only to find out he was too little for them. This boy loves cars more than anything.

Isaac’s catch!

Mrs. Mohl made a taco spread and we all enjoyed it!

The hotel pool was used often by our family!  We learned it was a great way to tire the boys out and get them to fall asleep within minutes of turning the lights out.

Ethan mostly hung out in the 5 ft. area of the pool because it was the deepest end.

The kids spent lots of time trading and comparing silly bandz after Grandma surprised them each with a new package.

Our NY trip would not be complete without a few trips to the Ice Cream Shack! I think I had four cones of White Lightening. It’s the BEST ever. I’m not normally a big ice-cream fan, but I can’t resist White Lightening. It’s probably a good thing we don’t have Perry’s ice-cream around our house!

Ethan really enjoyed the “Piece of Cake” flavor, Isaac was a “White Lightening” fan, and Lincoln just ate whatever was placed in front of him. :)

On Father’s Day before making the long trip back home we enjoyed a large breakfast with friends and family.

Ethan loved holding his smallest cousin, Claire. He was so good with her!

Somewhere along the way home we stopped for lunch at McDonald’s, where else!? Nathan and Elise left NY at the same time we did and they were near us on the interstate at lunch time. It was nice to stop, eat, and enjoy their company.

Lincoln, Isaac, Ethan, Emma, and Anna

Feeding the giraffe, a highlight for sure!

Petting some kind of lizard/snake thing.

Emma and Ethan are growing up so fast. Seems like yesterday they were laying in a hammock together as tiny babies for a photo shoot.

Riding the train around the zoo. Lincoln was so very excited and loved this part.

The polar bear was so entertaining and the kids had a great view!

Feeding the birds was another highlight. They were so colorful and friendly.

Isaac chose this animal to ride because it matched his shirt. (Is he my kid or what?) Actually, come to think of it Ethan rode the elephant for the same reason.

My favorite :) There were several Mama’s with their babies.

This monkey was just hanging out (literally) with about 10 feet of nothing below him. Lincoln studied him for a moment and in a very concerned voice said, “Uh-oh Mommy! He meeds help!”

Instead of ice-cream they all chose a blue icy. What a fun, long, day at the zoo!

On this particular night the kids stayed in their bathing suits and went from the little pool, to sprinklers, to water balloons. They caught lightening bugs in the dark while wearing glow- in -the- dark bracelets and watched the fireworks in the backyard. We all ate too much and had a great time!  I know I say it a lot, but our cul-de-sac is the best!

I think Lincoln held this smile for the whole hour they played!

This picture is FULL of personality – I love it!

Alex loves Buzz and Woody so his birthday theme was Toy Story. (I think Lincoln is shooting Buzz, not Alex :)  )

Here’s the culprit responsible for the Vault shortage. (Sorry Dan!)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Alex! Glad we could celebrate with you!

Lincoln played with it for almost 3 solid hours!

It was fun listening and watching the boys play…they’re quite imaginative!

While they were busy Warren and I mulched our landscaping. It feels so nice to have accomplished that.

Can’t beat a beautiful Saturday morning outside listening to happy children, birds singing, and getting work done all at the same time!

I’m so blessed to me the Mommy of these three handsome boys.

I was able to capture some great action shots as the boys played Frisbee.

A half second before they collided!

Get it Lincoln!

Nice catch, Daddy!

Such determination on Ethan’s face.

Our sweaty, dirty, happy boys!

Ethan and Lincoln are relaxing on the front porch of Grandma and Grandpa’s house after a long car ride.

Lincoln enjoyed his game of peek-a-boo with Aunt Melissa.

There seemed to be random games here and there over the course of the weekend. Makes for good memories.

Here are the cookies I made. They were way too time consuming to exclude from the blog!

Isaac plopped this egg in the blue dye and let it sit a good long time. He wasn’t too interested in coloring any others. He just wanted a really cool blue egg and that’s just what he got.

Ethan colored a couple of eggs but had more fun goofing off with his cousins.

Lincoln woke up from his nap just in time to color an egg… or six. All the kids had finished at this point and he was left with all the dye and left-over eggs. Mommy stepped in when he got a little too “dye-happy.”

Dad, Warren, Evan, and Nathan.

Dad, and his four sons, Elise, little Harrison,  Bethany ( & Baby Claire.)

The newest Falk. He belongs to Nathan and Elise and big brother Simon. Isn’t he sweet?

This tree was so pretty!

There’s Isaac in the pretty tree.

Cuddly cousins…looks at those happy faces.

More games with Grandma! I think this was a highlight for Isaac.

Easter weekend + beautiful weather + candy filled eggs = heaven on earth for our little sugar addict!

Jude and Lincoln

Our 3 handsome boys!

Easter baskets from Mommy and Daddy!

The kids went a little crazy with the paint…

I love our cul-de-sac! Always someone for the kids to play with. Lots of boys! I see many future football, kickball, baseball, etc. games being played in the cul-de-sac.

Cuddling with Mickey

Isaac’s idea of “playing outside.” When I got on him for playing the DS and not playing outside, in all seriousness he replied, “But, I AM playing outside.”

Playing in the woods, collecting sticks (skicks) for fighting the bad guys, and eating a snack just wouldn’t be the same without a great brother to share it with. These two are so close!

Soon, Warren won’t need to be shoveling at all!

Austin, Halle, and Isaac

Silly boys!

“Weee!!!”

King of the mountain!

The boys were thrilled with their snow days! Ethan got two days off and Isaac got three days off due to a 2-hour delay with no AM Kindergarten. School tomorrow and then a 3-day-weekend!

The boys were thrilled to play outside! Isaac couldn’t wait to ride his bike for the first time in a couple of months. Ethan was at school when I took these pictures, but he got his chance to enjoy the weather as well.

Isaac was so sweet and patient as he tried to teach Lincoln how to use his peddles.

We replaced it with a big boy bed for Lincoln. It was our gift to him on his 2nd birthday.

Lincoln was the first to wake up. At 6:15 I heard him open his bedroom door and run into the boys room. He climbed in bed with Ethan and I listened for a moment as they talked and cuddled. Soon, (we had to wake Daddy) we headed downstairs with three very anxious, bright-eyed, smiling boys! The stockings were opened first.

“Forget the pictures, Mom! Lets open the presents!”

Our tree-shaped cinnamon rolls were very tasty. They are a lot of work without a bread machine. Warren really likes them. The boys would probably like the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls just as much and it sure would be a lot easier!  Hmmm…very tempting.

Isaac enjoyed exploring with his new binoculars.  While we were testing the binoculars out, Lincoln had some plans of his own…

Caught you red-handed!

I have been wanting a new blender for some time. Now I can make smoothies again! Thanks, Hun, for listening to all of my hints.

Little Critter books for our little critter.

Three rubber band guns…what have I done?  (Turns out they don’t work that well and the boys are much more interested in the Nerf guns)

Lincoln needed Daddy’s help to open his gigantic gift!

Oh how fun!

I love this picture because Lincoln looks so small. :)

Ethan lost his pocket knife and was very happy to get a new one!

Here’s a picture of Lincoln’s “Are you sure this isn’t real?” face.  Lincoln thinks spiders are fascinating, especially if they aren’t real.  So when I saw this remote-controlled tarantula I thought it would be perfect for him.  He was really excited when he first saw it – we gave him the remote and he pushed the button a couple times and the spider moved and he seemed to enjoy it from a distance… that is until he approached it, squatted down, and just as he stuck out his little hand to pet it, accidentally squished the remote between his leg and belly, which pushed the “go” button.  You’d have thought it bared its fangs and hissed as fast as his hand snapped back and he darted away in reverse. He hasn’t played with it since…

Wait! I need a picture!

My Willow Tree family. Perfect for our family. :)

Ethan and Isaac agree that their Gogo’s Crazybones was the best present! Most people have never heard of these, they are just starting to catch on in the United States.

So tired after a long (fun!) day.

Here Ethan and Isaac are playing with their Gogos.  Each of these is just a hard plastic character.  They can trade them and play several different games with them – it’s a little like marbles with faces and feet.  They have books that rate each one for its speed, bounce and balance of all eighty different gogo characters.

What a good feeling to be finished with all the preparations! My back hurt more at the end of Christmas Eve than it’s ever hurt before. I was on my feet in the kitchen for more than 12 hours! Not to mention all the other things that needed to be done in order to have a relaxing (lazy!) Christmas day. So much work, but so worth it to give the boys a memorable Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we allow the boys to each open one gift.

While watching “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” Lincoln became fascinated with the  Abominable Snow Monster. He asked over and over, “where he go?” if he wasn’t in a particular scene. I happened to find this at CVS and knew I had to get it for Lincoln! It  roars like a monster and then sings a nice Christmas song. Lincoln slept with it the first night and carries it all around. I think it’s at the top of his favorite Christmas gifts list! Don’t you just love finding the perfect gift?!

Isaac liked his micro remote-controlled car. But, I’m not so sure it’s still up and running.

Don’t be deceived…he may LOOK like he’s patiently waiting his turn to open a present. It’s tough being the oldest!

He opened his Nerf  key chain, a gift from Isaac.

Twas’ the Night Before Christmas