Christmas Morning

Christmas morning Jaren was quite excited to find 2 gifts under the tree for him and Landen from Santa Claus! Santa had come!!!! Jaren tore into his gift to find a Peterbilt truck and cattle trailer - now he can haul his own calves to Veteran!

Once again, Landen was very interested in the tag attached more than the ripping of the paper. His gift contained an animal Fisher Price train which he seems to REALLY like (thankfully!)! He loves the music and just bounces with glee as it plays. We'll have the songs memorized probably by the end of today!!

"How do I get this thing out of here?"

Celebrating Christmas Day

For Christmas dinner we headed to Lacombe to spend time with family at the Bell's house. I think there was 24 people (including ALL the little kids) there eating a wonderful meal that was prepared by many different hands. It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and is now gone!!

All the variations of Letniak/Bell family members that were able to be together yesterday.

Our handsome matching little boys!

Thanks to Auntie Randi who always has such impeccable taste in clothing!! What darlings!

Christmas Eve

Wow, Christmas Eve!!! Hard to believe! Tonight was filled with much excitement from our Jaren who couldn't hardly wait and believe that he was FINALLY going to be able to tear into those gifts that have been under that tree now for a couple weeks! We started off the night with a quiet supper with Ron and Connie and then we moved the "party" into the living room where the boys opened numerous gifts from the family!

Jaren proudly sporting his new JD lawn tractor that is just like his Grandpa Sparks'!

Showing Landen how the opening of gifts is done....and once again Landen was MUCH more interested in the paper than the presents.

We even had a little visit from Santa (who's beard of paper towel was falling off!). Jaren wasn't too sure about this guy, he did notice though that Santa was wearing the same socks that his Daddy wore! How observant!! Forget the voice and the ratty coveralls! What a kid!

Enjoying his 1st Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.......

Pretty much the way things are around here right now, so I'd best join my family in getting a good night's rest. We'll need it as we are heading to Lacombe tomorrow to have Christmas dinner with the rest of the Letniak clan. Could be a long day with the kidlets!!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas Eve with family and friends and to my family.........miss you all dearly and wish we were together to share in the memories made this Christmas of 2008! Love you and Merry Christmas!

Hemaruka Christmas Supper

On Monday night we had our annual Hemaruka Community Christmas supper. It is always a great time to visit with neighbours that you only get to see a couple times a year because of these functions. Everyone gets soo busy so it is nice to stop for a meal together and get caught up. Landen showed up as a little elf with his hat on and he was ready to spread some good cheer!

One sleepy little Santa's Helper - been a busy season!

Ready to go again after a short cat-nap

And of course a visit from Santa......Jaren was quite disappointed when all he pulled out of Santa's bag was some candy treats! He was hoping there was going to be a CASE front-end loader tractor! Such big expectations from such a little person!

Merry Christmas to All!

I have to apologize because this year I didn't send out a Christmas letter with our cards - I figured why repeat everything that I have posted on this blog and waste a bunch of paper! For those who have been following us this past 2008 we have had MANY blessings to be thankful for. The biggest one of course is our 2 healthy boys who add so much life to our home - it has been quite the year getting acquainted with Landen and loving him more and more everyday. It was great seeing many of you this past year and we look forward hopefully reuniting again with everyone in the year to come. Who knows what's in store for us in 2009?? By God's grace I pray that it will be another year of health and happiness. May this beautiful time of year inspire you and bring you lasting happiness!

Holiday hugs from our family to yours.......Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Kevin, Angie, Jaren & Landen

(& Keesha too!!)

Saturday Night Fun

The week of Christmas is already upon us and so are the nights of visiting and having fun with family and friends during the holiday season. On Saturday night we went over to Lawrence and Debbie's for supper and an evening of games. Kevin and I had our first encounter with Wii - now that's my kind of golfing!! Ryan was home for a visit so it was also nice to get caught up with him again too and have him meet Landen for the first time.

Ryan and Kevin having a boxing match

Always enjoying the action around him.

Here's a little clip of Kevin and Ryan at their boxing match - Kevin's first time playing a Wii.

Water Works

Tonight Landen had the time of his life in the bathtub making HUGE splashes. It was the cutest thing to watch him giggle, laugh and splash! It may not be so cute when every time I bath him I'll have to pull out the mop and pail!! Who's got mommy wrapped around those little fingers?? We may have to bath with the shower curtain pulled and a rain coat on!

Having fun in the tub with splashes and giggles.

Now we REALLY get going - I should have taken a picture of the bathroom floor after he was done his bath!

Callan's Birthday Party

Last night we ventured out into the frigid cold temperatures to attend Callan's 3rd birthday party supper. It was a great evening to visit with the Robinson family and have the kids all play together.

Jaren, Grandma Lorna Robinson and Callan

Landen enjoyed playing with one of the bags that the gift came in! Christmas should be cheap this year for him!!

Some of the children at the table eating the birthday meal.

We awoke this morning to have our temperature a whole high of -38 degrees Celsius! YIKES! It was a good day to stay inside and bake some buns!

9 Months Old (tomorrow)!

Tomorrow our little Landen will already be 9 months! Wow! Trying to get a good picture of him today was quite hard. He is now intentionally smiling for the camera every time that he sees it. And when he smiles his eyes close, just like his daddy, and he would get this goofy look on his face! What a character! While we were in town last week I went into the Health Unit to have him weighed and he was 17 lbs 13 1/2 oz (with clothes on) and 26 1/2 inches long. He is steadily growing all the time. We are so lucky to have such a healthy happy little boy!

Youngstown Christmas Concert

Last night I took the boys to watch the Youngstown School Christmas concert. A good friend of mine teaches the kindergarten class so she invited us to their program which was put on by kids from kindergarten through to grade 6. It was cute and entertaining. The best part was to watch the excitement from both Jaren and Landen as they watched the plays and listened to the songs. A special treat at the end was another visit from Good Ol' Saint Nic! Jaren once again had to tell him of his list that he has and the toys that he expects! He may be a little surprised! :) (Mommy and Daddy can't keep up to the list because it changes on a daily basis!)