ONE !!!

Our Colton turned ONE on December 17th!!!!
Here he is enjoying his birthday cake...yummm!
I made a separate cupcake just for him to enjoy! He cupped the cupcake and went to town on it!
He didn't stop until it was ALL gone!!
The party was at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so that all the family could come! (we had also invited some old friends of the family and Melissa brought her daughter Elise to keep our kiddies company, she was so cute!)
Mommy made birthday CAKE!
Me with my sweet 1 year old!
The "feast" and an anxious big brother ready to "dig in"! :)
Happy 1st Birthday our sweet, sweet Colton!!!!!!!!!!!

* My birthday is in December also (Dec 18th). We celebrated my birthday by going to Nicole's mom and dad's party. Jeanne and I share a birthday, and this year she had a fabulous party at their house. There was a DJ at the party, so we danced all night! We had a great time with family and friends!
Here are a couple of pictures from the night!
Sisters--Nicole, me and Kate
Brett and I
During the party, Jeanne and Jim renewed their vows. They have been married almost 29 years!

Above are Brett's parents, Bryan and Jill, and grandparents: Bill and Dodie (i just have to say I married into a good looking family. ;)

Christmas program

Sunday was the Christmas program at our church...
Grandpa, Grandma, aunt Nicole, and uncle Bryce(pictured) met us at the church. After the program, we all came to our house to hang out, have lunch and set up the kids' new bunk beds! (thank you Bryce and Nicole for the bunk beds- K and B lOvE them and have NEvER been this excited to go to bed!)

Grandpa with Colton...

Grandma with Kylie (Nice poze Bryce, glad you finally decided to accept my excessive picture snapping and cooperated!!!! hahaha)

The kids did a great job singing and reciting their lines-- how fun!

* If you just received our Christmas card in the mail and are looking for our Christmas letter, please scroll down and read the post "Merry Christmas"!!

Merry Christmas!

I have decided to write our Christmas letter on our blog this year, since most of the "happenings" that I will be writing about can be backed up by pictures and more details on our blog!

2009 has been a good year for our little family!
Kylie will be turning 5 in January! She started Preschool in the fall and is loving it! She took swimming lessons in the spring and fall and enjoyed every minute of it! Kylie has been attending AWANA for the past 2 years, and this year she moved from being a "Cubbie" to being a "Spark." When Kylie earned her Sparks membership card, she came home and announced to her dad that she now has a credit card! Kylie loves playing with her brothers, reading books, playing house, dress-up, and she is quite the little artist!

Brayden turned 2 in July and is a very active little man! He loves to follow his sister around, watch football with his dad and yell at the top of his lungs" Let's Go Hawks!!!" no matter who is playing. He loves to play with his trucks, cars, and "shoot baketball". One of the favorite things to do is going to "gwandpa's" farm and ride the four wheeler to do chores, the tractor or the combine! He misses Kylie when she is in school and asks every other minute "where did Kylie go?". I love watching them grow up together and create a bond!

Colton will be turning 1 on December 17th. I can't believe it's happening. This year has gone by in a blink of an eye and so much has changed about my sweet baby boy. He is no longer a light little bundle...he is now a somewhat "heavy", squirmy little man. He has the cutest facial expressions, a charming smile, he mumbles words like "dadda" and "mamma" and "hiii" and he now officially has 5 teeth!!! He is not walking by himself as of yet, but it looks like it will be happening in the very near future!

Brett and I have been busy raising these little bundles of joy and they keep us busy let me tell you!! It's a good kind of busy, we are so grateful they are healthy and happy. Brett continues to work for University of Dubuque and is enjoying the time he spends flying. He will be going to Florida for work in February and we decided it will be nice for me to tag along. He will be busy during the day, but I will be able to have lunch with him and we'll have the evenings all to ourselves. I am looking forward to spending some quality time just the two of us while the kids will be getting spoiled at Grandma and Grandpa's. I have been loving being able to be a full time stay-at-home mom. I treasure and enjoy every minute I spend with our children, I know it will not last forever.

You can keep up with the events in our family on our blog year-round, so please don't be a stranger!

I will end all the bragging now, but not before I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with many blessings.

Brett, Iuliana, Kylie, Brayden and Colton

Christmas 2009

Recently I....

* have been thinking about and praying for young girls and boys of Congo...
* have been listening to Christmas music
* have been reading Romans
* went to see the movie "Blindside" and I loved it!
* have been watching the TV series "Gilmore Girls" (thanks Anna)
* want to read the book "Half the sky" by Nicholas Kristof
* decorated the house for Christmas! (Brett did the outside :D )



* made a variety of Romanian desserts
* I have been reminded of how AdORAbLE my sons are!!

* had taken a picture of our kids with their great- grandparents.

* had the pleasure of meeting Carley, Dakota's girlfriend!

Recently, I have also been changing lots and lots of poopy diapers and have been doing lots and lots of laundry. :D