Happy New Years

We had a wonderful evening ringing in the New Year with the Kuder-Jaeger-Menges-Aunt Barbara clan!

Playtime with Grandpa

Who looks like they are having the most fun here?

Getting spoiled by Grandma

 Grandma and Grandpa sure know how to make a 3 year old happy. Lots of presents and yummy food. Owen was in heaven!

The Liaos

Our time in Cleveland happened to overlap that of our friends from San Francisco, the Liaos. Brian and Wilson have been friends since they were kids so it was nice to reconnect with his family. We finally got to meet Wilson and Hae-Won's son, Ethan, who crashed before this photo got taken. But we enjoyed seeing them all.

Kuder Daycare

Grandma Kuder takes care of cousin Elizabeth and Julianna one day a week, and we happened to be there visiting for one of those such days. The kids had a great time together. Owen and Elizabeth are immediate best buddies whenever they get together.

Christmas Day 2011

 Someone must have been a good boy because Santa sure had lots of gifts that he left. Owen wasted no time with the unwrapping.

The excitement for each gift was so much fun to watch. Owen loved it all. This year was filled with lots of Superhero toys, hotwheels tracks and cars as well as monster trucks.

The gift opening seemed to last most of the day, but the enthusiasm never ended.

Hotwheels tracks were new and exciting for the boys. I'm not sure who was more excited...Owen, Marcus or Daddy!!!

The boys were into helping Mommy and Daddy open their gifts as well!

 It was a wonderful Christmas. We had lots of fun playing, eating and enjoying time together. We spent a majority of the day in our pajamas, but it's that what Christmas is all about anyways?

Oh yeah, Owen had to show off his new outfit!

Cookies for Santa

Owen made sure that Santa had a snack waiting for him.

Gingerbread Happiness

Elizabeth brought over a gingerbread house for us to decorate again this year. Owen and I were excited to get it all decked out. We spent a little time each evening decorating (and tasting the candy as well).

Owen was excited with how the whole thing turned out.

Cutout Cookie Tradition

 One of our Christmas traditions is to make cutout cookies. The boys were thrilled to jump in on the whole project.

Owen was quite the expert at rolling out the dough. I think all the play-doh time is paying off. I was so proud of how helpful he was. He also loved picking out which designs to use. And of course the icing of the cookies was a good messy fun.

The Perfect Christmas Tree

 We went to a local farm to pick out our Christmas tree. Owen was very passionate about the search.

 And he loved making sure Daddy was cutting it down properly.

 Then there was the patient waiting while we waited...

 and waited...

 for the tractor ride that took us and our perfect tree back to our car.

At home, it was a fun challenge to help Daddy get the tree down from the car, in the tree stand, and in the house.

 Then decorating was was lots of fun where Owen insisted that he get to put the star on top.

All in a day's work!

Santa Comes to Lexington

 Tonight we went to Lexington Center to greet Santa. He made a grand entrance in a firetruck.

The boys loved seeing Santa, the big Christmas tree in the Center lit up, and all the excitement.

Wiped Out

Fridays are pajama days at our house since the boys just like to hang out at home with Mommy. I think I misjudged how tired Owen was this afternoon. I put Marcus up for his nap only to find that Owen was ready for his as well!

Christmas Excitement

We order a Christmas gift for Grandma Kuder that came in the mail today. Owen immediately insisted that we wrap it. It was quite the job to get one box wrapped with two overly excited boys who wanted to help every step of the way!

Mr. Cool

Owen is ready for the winter in his coat, hat and sunglass getup.