Merry Christmas

We couldn't afford to send our Christmas letter to all of our friends and family so hopefully the online version can still bring you cheer!

Dear  Friends and Family,

What a year 2010 has been!  The big news is that we added a beautiful little girl to our family and we love her.  The boys can hardly leave her alone most of the time.  They just love to give her kisses.

Ryan completed his last final exam for his penultimate semester of school, and we're all excited for school to be over and see what the future holds for us.  He just might have arranged it so that he has no final exams in his last semester, but let's not count our eggs before the chickens hatch.

April has had some success in her photography business until little Nora got here, and she has really been honing her skill.  Now she spends her time on Nora's schedule, while managing two boys with the energy of an entire basketball team.

Cameron is in preschool and he loves to be on time every day.  He tells us he wants to be the first one there and the first one to leave every day.  He has lots of friends there and really loves show and tell day on Thursdays.  Last week he told me he wanted to take "my car bin and aaaaaaaaall the cars." (That's about 50 cars.)  He settled for taking his toy medical supply kit instead.

Azer loves to do whatever Cameron is doing, watch Toy Story 3, love/kiss/ride Nora when mom isn't looking and otherwise create havoc when possible. He's a great kid who makes us laugh and he loves to laugh himself.  Azer loves to take a drive up to the University Hospital where we can see the helicopter that lands on top of a parking garage.  He always insists that we get out of the car to take the elevator to the small observation area where we are on the same level as the helicopter.  But heaven forbid a helicopter should actually land while we’re there…he’s afraid someone will offer to let him get close to it, and that terrified him!

Nora is adorable, she loves dad's kisses, might detest her brothers just a little bit, and sleeps to the beat of her own drum...or alarm clock.  Once she even slept for six hours straight.  That was sure nice of her!  Oh, and she’s been very smiley as of about ten days ago, and she knows how valuable every gorgeous smile is to us.

Merry Christmas, we hope you have all had a great year!

Love,

the Farnsworth’s.

The Grateful Post

I really wish that Thanksgiving weren't the skipped over holiday. It's that time where we all get to remember and count our blessings - not that we shouldn't be doing that all year it's just more abundant now. People already have their Christmas decorations up and we haven't even cooked the turkey yet. I have so much to be thankful for this year and I need to get it out there for everyone to enjoy.

First, and foremost I'm so grateful for my children. When I hear stories about terrible things that happen to kids (sickness, kidnapping, etc.) it makes me scared and fearful. Then I am reminded that instead of living in fear I need to be grateful for all that my kids are. I'm am such a blessed mom and only hope I can live up to the mom that they deserve to have.

I'm also thankful for my husband. He sacrifices a lot for our family and doesn't complain about it. He also puts up with my extensive craziness with (mostly ;)) patience. He is such a great dad for our kids - the boys race to the door as soon as he is home because they are always excited to see him.

I am grateful for all of my family. They always support me and are there if I ever need anything. Wherever we have lived we've always had family take the time to come and visit us. We all really appreciate that and everything that is done for us.

I'm also so thankful for friends. I'm moved a lot and in every place I've lived I've met people that will be my friends for life. Even people in places that I've never lived have become my true friends. I'm am so grateful for people who have helped shape me and make me better for me  having known them. I'm so thankful for the friends that I've had forever and have known me through a lot of my life's stages and still stick by me.

I know I complain a lot about our current situation - and it's hard not to focus on the bad when you are constantly faced with it, but I am very blessed. More blessed than any of my challenges should be able to weigh down. I think every day should be Thanksgiving - we'd all be thankful and full. I hope everyone gets to enjoy some pie tomorrow!

Who's Who...

We can't quite decide which of the boys N. looks like. So, we're bringing it to the blog for you to decide. If you want to help out pick your choice from the poll on the side. These are all of our kids at one month with poses as close as possible.

Boy A ------------------------------- Boy B

If you know which baby is which don't spoil the anonymity by calling them out ;)

A Month...

I can't believe Miss N. is a month old! It's crazy how time flies. It seems like she's always been in our family - and I can't imagine life without her. She drives us crazy from 6-7pm to 11-1pm with her fussy time but she's worth it. We sure do love her! The boys love to kiss and hug on her and are so sweet to her. I thought the novelty of having a baby would fade... but, nope. I was worried about Az-man becoming a big brother but he has been fabulous and Cam is still a great brother too.

Awwww.... The boys sure do love "Baby Weepie (Sweet Pea)"

The boys had to get in on our photo session because I didn't "ask" them to. I guess I know how to trick them now... act like I don't want pictures of them.

193

The number of days until Ryan GRADUATES!!!

The number of days until our student life starts to change.

I can't wait to get on to the next part of our lives. It's sure to be an adventure.

Ghosts and Goblins and...

Flowers! Oh my! We had a fun Halloween despite the rain. The boys were able to do some trick-or-treating and get some candy. They had fun dressing up in their costumes (which they do all the time) and having a costume parade with our neighbors.

Power Ranger, Dinosaur, and Flower

You talkin' to me???

The photo post...

Here are a couple recent shots of our beauty: