Randoms from Christmas Vacation

Uncle Jared helped Derek decorate his gingerbread bear

 I think the adults were more absorbed in decorating than the boys. :)

 The best part of course!

 Look at these handsome boys!

 Andrew is very protective of his playdough. Derek knows this and takes his stuff merely to get a rise out of him. Little punk. Isaac and Andrew have special blankets that Derek likes to grab and run off with to make them chase him, too. Haha!

 Uncle Superman and Superman, Jr.

 It's happy to be eaten

Jeff deep-fried some AWESOME turkeys!

Baby Blessing

We blessed our sweet baby Bryce tonight. He did great! Not a peep while Mitchell pronounced one of the most beautiful blessings I've ever heard: full of wonderful promises and blessings. Some of my family came out to Prosper where we blessed three babies in Jeff and Tammy's new home. It was such a wonderful night with great food and awesome family. I hope we can make this a family tradition. 

Savanna - a week shy of 2 months

Bryce - 2 months and a few days. Our little brick all dressed up for his blessing. Aunt Sereen made the coolest vested onesie out of an old men's shirt.

Emeri - 5 months

 
Isaac adores his adopted Nana

All these kiddos were born in 2012! Crazy!

I'm so glad my grandparents, my mom and two of my sisters were able to make it!

My grandparents and Bryce. Bryce's middle name (William) comes from both of my grandfathers.

Gammy and Papa sure are loved!

Uncle Cool-ton

What a wonderful year 2012 was! I am so blessed with two wonderful little boys and the love of my life.

Whirly Ball and Pole Position

We did Whirly Ball and Laser Tag on Wednesday but I figured I'd lump them together in one post. My mom and Amy were amazingly nice to come watch the older cousins while we went to play whirly ball/laser tag and then they came back to watch the kids AGAIN yesterday (which happened to be my mom's birthday) when we went to do the indoor go-kart racing. That time, they watched ALL the kids. Rather a daunting task if you ask me. Thanks Mom! Thanks Amy! The whirly ball pictures are a bit artistic but it's kind of like basketball meets lacross on bumper cars going 3-5 miles an hour. We're all very competitive so it's a wonder we don't draw blood. Laser Tag was fun too. It's always a smart idea to be on Jeff's team, but Colton was a force to be reckoned with too. 

Lanae going for a shot

The hand-off

That's me in car 11

Notice anything funny about Austin's bumper car? (HINT: He's the one in the yellow car reaching for the ball.)

You score one point by hitting the colored backboard and two points when you hit the plexiglass circle in the middle and make it light up. It's only one point if it doesn't light up. Super fun!

When we play, it's like watching little kids play soccer - we all follow the ball from one end of the court to the other :)

Our view of the go-kart track at Pole Position in Plano

Colton was a pro at this!

Aren't they cute! You can really see Isaac's resemblance to Liz here. 

Ninjas!

Here we (well, I) go!

Mitchell takes off...

It's husband vs wife and I'm not in the lead! I claimed the distinct honor of finishing in last place for both of our races. Yes, Mitchell is lapping me here.

Gotta love the photo-bombing Ninja...

Love on the battlefield

Jared in the lead followed by Sereen!

There goes Sereen!

Yep, I'm hot!

We could totally start a Heath Family Biker Gang

Flights of Fancy

 After one of our outings, Jared made the mistake of tossing one of the boys onto the love sac in the media room. I say "mistake" because that immediately opened the floodgates of "my turn!" It sure made for one of the more memorable photo shoots of the trip though. The camera especially loved Andrew's flights of fancy.

 There he goes!

 Not all kids land on their feet...

 Derek was thrilled with all the adrenaline, excitement and physical interaction. He's such a boy.

 Preston ventured up the stairs to join us

What sweet cousins!

 David acted as official cat wrangler while the other kittens waited their turn

I wish I was still small enough to experience this for myself. :)

Christmas Morning

 Christmas morning was bright and snowy! It was wonderful to sleep in since none of the kids were really old enough to insist on presents at 6 am. Derek even slept in til 7:30! Tammy made some seriously yummy English scones, hot chocolate and apple cider. It was a feast fit for Santa for sure. After breakfast, Jeff read the nativity story out of the book of Luke while Tammy gave us a visual using her pretty nativity (with some assistance from Emeri as the guiding angel). Then Jeff passed out gifts for the grandkids, we gave brother/sister gifts and Colton passed out his gifts to all of us from Mexico. What a wonderful morning!

Bryce has discovered his fists

Bryce was a great hit with all the cousins, but especially with Isaac.

 

2 months old!

The guiding angel!

 

Patrons of the Heath Family Theater

The boys were entranced with the whole production

 Thick as thieves

 Andrew attempted to dismantle the tree

 Derek couldn't believe his good fortune

 Matching RC motorcycles! Let the battle begin!

 Nowadays you have to break out the powertools to even get the toy out of the box

 Almost too busy to say "cheese" for mom. :)

 Translation: "The Grandparents' House"

 Mitchell and Austin got super cool swords with inscriptions on them - Austin's reads "Don't use me without reason and sheath me with honor." Mitchell's reads "You taught me to pee now I want you to drown." Oooookay.... apparently that last one is a common saying among Mexican work crews...at least, according to Colton.

 I decided to wrap Derek's presents inside out so you could see the pretty colors when it was unwrapped. Then I decided to play the name game on the front so I could remember which gift was which. :)

There were lots of happy...

 ...smiling...

...adorable faces this morning!

 Preston, of course, was more enamoured with the duck now that Logan was absorbed in other gifts. :)

This was the best gift of all! Grandpa and Grandma Wade surprised us by coming for a few days before Christmas! It was AWESOME!!!! Grandma brought amazing cookies, caramels and peanut brittle that were gone within the week (that's saying something considering there were 4 cheesecakes and multiple cakes and pies in the house). We love you Grandma and Grandpa!!