Merry Christmas..Rejoice!!

Christmas at the Roses....yep, that would be 11 grandchildren from 3 kids!!!!

The Rose family picture after children's mass-it was a beautiful and serene night...at church!

Vann got a bat and ball-he was thrilled, really he was!

The girls got MP3 players, Maggie is happy and we haven't heard her stop singing yet.

Katie LOVES horses and she was excited to get this DVD.

Jack and Beau with their new bikes.

Our handmade Christmas cookies we leave for Santa..always fun to make!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with our family and are looking forward to more family get togethers over the next week as we travel to Georgia to be with my family. Merry Christmas to you all and may you all find peace and joy in Christ this year!

"For unto us there is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you:You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." Luke 2:11-12

Decorating the Tree

Sunday evening, we put up our trees. We always have one in our dining room and this year we decided to put one up in basement as well. Santa has "agreed" to bring the presents downstairs this year, rest assured! I love white lights and homemade ornaments and Brian loves colored lights with colored ball ornaments. Brian finally got his colored tree! He was happy:) Actually the colored lights are growing on me, and to think, all those years I put my foot down on the white lights. Our girls are old enough now to really help and remember the traditions from year to year. They love getting out all of the boxes with decorations and ornaments. Of course, it reminds me of when I used to do the same at my house. I loved all the decorations my mom had, the house was so beautiful and it was a fun family tradition I cherish. I was so proud of my children too, they all helped each other and took turns hanging "their" ornament. The Christmas spirit was definitely upon us! Our most cherished part of setting up is arranging the manger. We carefully select where we think each person was that glorious night and stand back in awe of this beautiful sight. We put baby Jesus up until Christmas morning and the kids think that that is more special than anything Santa brings. They come downstairs and check the manger, sure enough, Christ Our Savior, is born!!

Katie's and Vann's Birthdays

Katie's new ear peircing!
Griffin, Vann, and Katie ( I know, my camera is blurry...aagghh!!!)
Katie's cake (It's a homemade Grandma icecream cake)
Griffin's and Vann's dinosaur cake
The slumber party crew

So we celebrated yet another set of birthdays this past weekend. Katie turned 8 and Vann turned 4. Katie had 4 friends from school spend the night on Friday night and they had fun. I would have thought they would have kept me up all night but at midnight they were all snoozing! Thank goodness. On Saturday night we went to Jana and Dan's(Brian's sister) house to celebrate birthdays because their son, Griffin, also shares a birthday with Vann! Think of all the gifts, it's like Christmas! Vann ended up with some more Power Rangers and Transformers(they are much harder to transform than you would think) and some trucks. Katie got some games, money, a holy water font and her ears pierced. She is such a trooper. Her eyes welled up just a tad with the first click but she was ready to get the next one done right away. We are now getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and put up Christmas decorations next weekend. Phew! It's like a whirlwind of events lately but it keeps us going!

As you know, we have been celebrating a lot of birthdays with more to come in the following days. The boys recieved birthday money from Mina and Papa, as well as Papa and Nana Mossman. So, last Friday, we set out for a Target adventure in the freezing weather to see what we could find. Oh, we found lots of things but we settled on a frog tent, Power Rangers figurines and a Scooby Doo video. They were all so excited as was I! (we are in need of some new things to play with in the basement!) When we got home, I set up the tent and it was too cute. It is huge, which works out well for our family and it has tongue that rolls out. The boys thought it was a riot. They held onto their Power Rangers, sat in the tent and giggled at their new movie. It was a fun day! Thank you Mina, Papa, Nana and Papa!!

Singing Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Boys!

Maggie and Sammy

Katie and Shelby

Griffin, Vann, Zack and Ruthy

Beau really concentrating on a wish

"We can eat cake" says Jack

We celebrated Jack's and Beau's Birthday this past Sunday with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins over at our house(of course we missed the Mossman side of the family) It was fun, we had 11 children playing all throughout the house, enjoying new toys and giggling everywhere they went. We were blessed with an abundance of tractors and trucks, which you can really never have enough of with three boys. It's hard to believe that my baby, Beau, is 2 years old now, so close to being potty trained and getting more independent everyday! Jack, who has actually been 3 for two weeks, relishes the fact that he is the same age of his older brother. Vann will turn 4 in two weeks but has a hard time understanding how Jack and he are "free" as he says with a confused look! Jack's favorite part, hands down, though, is eating the cake!! That little guy loves his birthday cakes.

Happy Veterans Day

I know I am late on this important holiday but I want to say thank you to all of those brave men and women who have fought valiantly for our country & for our freedoms! Thank you, Thank you. Katie was so excited when she came home from school on Tuesday to call her Grandpa Rose and thank him for his service and this is how it began...Katie: Hi Grandpa Grandpa Rose: Well Hi Katie, how are you? Katie: Good, I just wanted to call and wish you Happy Vet..Happy Veternarian's Day!!!
Oops! Brian's dad had no idea he had switched careers! Ha. He got quite a chuckle out of it and so did we.

Another Uncle Courtney

The original Uncle Courtney and the new life sized one! Happy birthday Jack!

Jack's Aunt Courtney just sent him his best birthday present ever! He loves the life sized penguin that he affectionately has nicknamed Uncle Courtney(see previous post from September named Uncle Courtney)

Indian summer

The boys were getting in close to kiss our "adopted" dog, George.

Beau with George enjoying one of our last warm days of the year:(

Katie and Maggie up in their favorite tree, and yes that is a stroller. They pack it up there and then put their cat, Gabriella, in it. They say she likes it?

Our House in the Fall

Our gorgeous trees in the front yard..I love the beautiful shades of gold!
This is looking out the front across the street, the pic doesn't do justice to the rolling hills!
We just painted our door and shutters, I love them!

My Precious Children

Beau
Jack
Vann
Maggie
Katie