I like to eat...

critter barn

this afternoon we went with grammie to the critter barn to see all the animals and the live nativity. Jonah wasn't quite so sure about holding the baby chicks and ducks himself, but loved to pet them if mommy was holding them. I think Jonah's favorite was the room full of cats. We had a great little tour guide, 11 year old Megan, who did a great job and knew all about the animals! We then had a private showing of the nativity (we were the only ones there) so Megan and the rest of the crew quickly changed into their costumes, and we got to go see baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and of course more animals. While we were listening to the Christmas story, Jonah looks at baby Jesus, and then turns to me confused.. "but Mom, baby Jesus lives in my heart!" How sweet is he???

Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. As busy as it is, I love getting together with family and friends for all the parties, we are so blessed to have so many loved ones to share the holidays with. We celebrated with the DeKock family and the Maat family the last two Sundays, then had the Driy party on Wednesday, our own little family party on Thursday morning, and then we went up to Cadillac with my family for the weekend and had our party on Christmas day. We've enjoyed lots of good food, games, laughs, and lots and lots (and lots) of new toys! I hope you all had a blessed holiday as well! Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Griffins

Last night we got some free tickets from Innotec for the Griffins hockey game. So we ventured out into the "blizzard" (there really wasn't much snow at the time, but the warning seemed to keep everyone else home.. the place was empty!!)
The highlight of the night was Chris and some of his buddies were asked to be in a tricycle race after the first period. They WON!! WOO HOOO! :) Unfortunatly there was no big prize for their victory, but it did give us a good laugh! Jeff and Keith did get to ride on the Zamboni though!

go, Chris, go!!

snowlump

yeah.. so Jonah has been wanting to make a snowman ever since the first snowflakes fell on Thursday. today we finally attempted to build one. lets just say the snow was no longer in prime condition for snowmen.. our snowman is more of a snowlump :) oh well, looks like we'll have a lot more opportunities later in the week.

Hershey kiss eyes, a carrot nose, and a licorice mouth that wouldn't quite curl into a smile.. :)

train ride to the big city

On Monday (Jonah's birthday!) we took a ride on the train from Michigan City to Chicago. Shedd's Aquarium had special "Community Days" on Mondays and Tuesdays this fall where they had free admission, so we took advantage of that for Jonah's special day! Jonah's favorite things at the aquarium were the seahorses, froggies, and Nemo. We had a fun time at the aquarium, but with an early start to our morning we were done already by noon, so we had some time to kill. We thought "Navy Pier doesn't look so far.. lets walk over there" Ok, so it was a LONG walk, especially since we had opted not to take the stroller along!! We wandered around the mall there for awhile, and had some McDonald's for lunch (birthday boy's choice!), and then had to walk to Michigan Ave to catch a bus back to the aquarium (yeah, we decided we weren't walking all the way back again!) Jonah was very excited to get to ride on a bus, but after about 2 minutes of our ride he was OUT. So we had to RUN back to the train station carrying a sleeping Jonah, and made it with about 2 minutes to spare! It was a fun but exhausting day for all of us!

riding on the train with Daddy

outside the aquarium

the big city!

checking out the fountain at Navy Pier

having a little chat with a statue ;)

Three!

Last Sunday night we had a Pirate birthday party with my side of the family...Grammie and Grampa, Auntie Liz, Uncle Jonny, Great Grampa and Gramma Maat, and Great Gramma DeKock. We enjoyed our time together eating pizza, ice cream cake, and opening LOTS of presents. I have one spoiled little man!

Jonah trying out his new big boy bike


blowing out the candles...
his pirate birthday cake says
"Jonah, you ARRRRR 3!"
Cheesy, I know :)


sweet new motorcycle from Auntie

showing off his pirate cookies he helped make..

(or helped eat the frosting anyway)

Jonah, I can't believe you are 3 already. Where has the time gone? You are growing up so fast! You have been such a blessing to your mommy and daddy over the last three years. Everyday you challenge us, but all of your smiles, big hugs, and laughs you give us make it well worth it! We hope you enjoy your year being three, and that we can celebrate many many more birthdays with you! Love you Jonah!!