Wow, What a Year!

It's been an incredible year for our little family. We have been blessed far beyond our imaginations. Jake is a healthy, happy, and smart little boy. Everyday brings new adventures and growth opportunities for him, as well as us. I can hardly believe he's that same little baby we started 2007 with. He's grown and changed so much, although his sweet personality has remained the same. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. He brings such joy and pleasure to us.

Our families enrich our lives as well and this year we've had many wonderful opportunities to visit with them. What would we do without each of you?!

We've also been blessed with great friends, who might as well be family. We so appreciate their friendship.

As we look forward to 2008 we already foresee a few changes in our lives... Jake turns 2 and we enter that exciting phase of toddlerhood, the arrival of our new daughter, John will be 35 this year, we'll celebrate our 5th anniversary, and I'm sure there will be many others. It's exciting to see what our future holds...

We wish you all a healthy & happy 2008.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Genealogy, I Am Doing It...

I got a new calling today... Ward Family History Consultant and I am so excited! I'm sad to be leaving my Activity Day girls, but this new job is right up my alley! AND... the church is releasing an amazing new on-line temple ready program as we speak... it's awesome and I am so excited to have the opportunity to help build the "Tree of Adam" (as it is being referred to) and help others do their part too!

When the new program is introduced in your temple district, let me know if you need help... I love doing family history and will gladly help out!

Genealogy, I am doing it... and am excited to help others too!

Happy 2nd Birthday Noellie!

It's Noellie's 2nd Birthday!

How that's possible I have no idea. She is such a sweet, outgoing, fun little girl.

We're so glad she's part of our lives!

That's Gotta Hurt!

John and I saw this picture in ESPN magazine the other day and thought to ourselves, "Who does that? And gets away with it?!" And then we were looking through my mom's pictures and found this.... nice. Apparently even Jake does it and gets away with it! :)

Happy Birthday "Uncle" Tom!!

Happy Birthday to our dear friend, "Uncle" Tom Styxxxer!!


We love you!
Wish we were at Disneyland this year... maybe next.
We hope you have a great celebration in Logan... wish we were there.
(Oh... and remember how I don't have ANY pictures of you??! You gotta stop hiding your cute face from the camera! That's Tom in the black glasses...)

Another Brick in the Wall...

Well, just when we thought Jake's forehead was going to be scratch-free, he decides to climb on the little brick retention wall in the backyard, fall off, and scrape up his forehead, arm, and foot. Will this kids face every be scrape, scratch, and bruise-free??? I'm beginning to wonder. He's so adventurous and unafraid, it worries me! :) He didn't even really cry... I heard a quick little cry and then he was right back up climbing on the wall.
A special thanks today to Elizabeth & Noelle and Meme & Norah for coming to watch Jake while I went to my appointment. He loves having friends over!! I do too! Sure love you girls.

An Elmo Christmas with Papa & Grandma Cheri...

Today we spent the day unpacking and getting used to being home. Jake continues to ask for Papa and Hadley. He sure misses them!

Tonight we had our last hoorah for Christmas with my Dad and Cheri. We was such a yummy dinner and special evening with them. Jake loves his stretchy Elmo and Elmo computer, as well as his colors and book. John loves his new XM, thank you!!! We love you.

Christmas with Gramma & GG'ma...

Once we landed at LAX we went straight to Gramma's for dinner and Christmas with her and GG'ma. Jake was very excited to see them and was such a little trooper having been up early, traveled for several hours, and then a late dinner and gifts. It was all worth it though. Christmas is about spending time with family... and that is just what we did!

Checking out his Elmo ornament for 2007.

Helping GG'ma open one of her gifts.
He's such a good little helper.

Christmas in the Northwest...

We had a wonderful week visiting with Grandma and Papa. While we were there we saw the Portland Temple, had dinner with my dear friend Amanda and her family, went to the Oregon Zoo for Zoolights (which Jake loved... especially the Choo-Choo), drove around and checked out some amazing Christmas light displays, played at the house, took a trip to PDX to pick up Dan, Megan, and Hadley (or Had-el-lee, as Jake says it.), spent many hours playing with Hadley, attended Grandma and Papa's ward and Nursery, made sugar cookies with Grandma & Papa, ate lots and lots of good food, met Santa and Mrs. Claus at Grandma & Papa's (they made a special stop on Christmas Eve), and had a wonderful Christmas morning together. It was a really relaxing trip, yet filled with many special memories we're so glad we were able to go. Now that we are home Jake's two favorite questions are: "Where's Papa?" and "Where's Had-el-lee?" ... poor guy! He had such a good time playing with them. He sure loves those two!! :)

Zoolights at the Oregon Zoo:

John and Jake playing with the bears

Just a few of the beautiful animal light displays

Riding the Choo-Choo (and freezing! It was 38 outside, dark, and cold!!)

Family Pictures after Church:Us

Dan, Megan, and Hadley

Grandma, Papa, Jake & Hadley

Making Cookies:

Meeting Santa & Mrs. Claus:

Hadley and Jake both had to be woken from their naps when Santa arrived. Hadley eventually warmed up and played with Santa, Jake on the other hand did not fully wake up until Santa was on his way out the door. Aren't these the cutest Santa and Mrs. Claus you've ever seen though?!?!

Reading Stories Together:

Christmas Morning:

Just a little of the excitement of Christmas morning. It was a short Christmas Day at Grandma and Papa's. Dan, Megan, & Hadley flew out at 1pm and we left at 3pm. We had a wonderful time together though and are so glad we were all there together. The only thing that would've made it absolutely perfect is if Scott, Gretchen, Sterling, Abi, & Miles had been there too! Thank you for having us for the week. We love and miss you already!!!

Our Bags Are Packed...

...We're ready to go...

We're leaving on a jet plane... in just a little while.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Stay tuned for our adventures in the Great Northwest...

A (Busy) Week In Review

I know, I know, I've been MIA the last week. I apologize. It's been fun, it's been busy, and I've missed documenting lots of it in pictures. So.... just for a quick overview... here we go:

Monday- visiting teaching, G'Gma's lunch, deliver Pampered Chef goodies

Tuesday- a "down day" helped G'Gma with lunch, ran Christmas errands

Wednesday- spent day with Elizabeth & Noelle in Simi. Jake and Noelle had fun playing, mom's had fun talking, went to lunch at a pizza buffet-- Jake ate two whole pieces of pizza... amazing! That evening was my ward Christmas Enrichment... fabulous food, great conversations, yummy and thought provoking classes... overall good times.

Thursday- watched Norah. She is such a good little girl. Jake loved having her here... and I think she liked being here too. They were very cute together. I tried to get a cute picture of them together but neither would cooperate at the same time! Go figure. Jake would try to help Norah face the right way... but no such luck. They were never looking at me at the same time. Meme joined in the fun around 5. We chatted for awhile, went to dinner at Corner Bakery and called it a night. We were all super tired and ready for bed, even Jakey was ready to crash!! Look how cute he is all snuggled up with his Mickey Mouse.

Friday- John took the day off. We helped Gramma with lunch, went to TJMaxx, Costco, and ran a few other Christmas errands. We all came home and crashed for an hour or so and then headed to the Keil's for dinner and Game Night, along with the Reagan's. Thanks guys... we had a great time!!! Funny story, as we were leaving Kyle was giving bye-bye hugs and Jake went to give one in return -- he's a bit bigger than Kyle and they fell over still hugging. It was so cute, but I think it scared Kyle a little, so they gave a bye-bye high five instead.

Saturday- We finished Christmas shopping (for now... tax-free shopping comes later this week!). We ran a bunch of errands-- Gramma's house, Wal-mart (yuck!), lunch at Olive Garden (yum!), and the Post Office. It was a busy day. That night was our ward Christmas party. Jake got a chance to sit with Santa again. This time he actually sat on his lap, all by himself, without crying. When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas he pointed to the nearby basket of candy. So easy to please....

Today- was church. Jake went straight into the nursery without clinging to me-- even without a nap-- and played the entire two hours. When John picked him up he had a huge smile on his face and was ready to come home. Tonight we had our annual Christmas dinner with the Jones family. I love getting together with this group of friends. We've been through a lot together and they mean the world to me! Thanks for a fabulous dinner Elizabeth and dessert Wilde's. Jake and Noelle play so well together. It's so nice. As each year passes it's fun to see where our lives go. Next year: 2- almost 3 year old's, 1- 18 month old, 1- 9 month old, and .... time shall tell! :) It was so good to see Foxy too, it's been way. too. long! And I love, love, love this new "Favortie Things" idea. Let's keep that going.

Now we prepare for our upcoming trip to Grandma & Grandpa's!! We can't wait!!

**** hopefully more pictures will be added as other's update their blogs! ****

Schlicher Family Christmas

Today was the yearly Schlicher Family Christmas. It's an event we all look forward to all year long. A time when we get together with all the Schlicher children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and now great great grandchildren. I love Schlicher Family Christmas. It started years and years ago with my great grandparents, George & Dorothy Schlicher, who wanted to get their kids and grandkids together each year to celebrate this special time of year together and the tradition continues. No matter where you live in the country, you are invited to come, sometimes people make it and sometimes they don't. But it's always a wonderful time to catch up with family and reminisce the past.

This year it was my turn to pick the theme-- yes, there's a theme... Aunt Joyce says it started in 1984 when Grandpa Great chose Teddy Bears.... and each year since someones name is drawn to pick the theme for the following year. I chose Peppermint Candies (because they're red & white, fun, and had never been chosen). When we walked into Aunt Merial and Uncle Don's home the whole place was decorated in peppermint candies and all things Christmas... just as it is every year. We had the women's gift exchange, which also goes along with the theme, I received the Bath & Body Works Peppermint lotion, body spray, soaps, and loofah from Patty. It's always fun to see what each woman comes up with for the theme and there were some fabulous gifts!!

Every year there's also the tradition of taking family pictures at the fireplace. Of coarse I didn't take everyone's picture-- you already feel like you're being stalked by the paparazzi when it's your turn-- but these are the one's I got:
Our family~

John, Jake & I, Grandma, Dad & Cheri~

Four Generations: Jake, me, Dad, & Grandma~

Dad & Cheri~

The Gerard Family: Aunt Linda, Roxann, Angel, & Damien, Alan with Grandma~

Grandma and 3 of her 4: Linda, Jim & Dave~

Uncle Jim & Marti~

Uncle Don & Aunt Merial~

Each year there's also a special appearance from Santa. We wondered how Jake would do-- last year he freaked out and he did again. He wouldn't let me go so I stayed with him while he visited with Santa and received his gift. Everyone got a good laugh about how he wouldn't go near Santa, but as soon as they started taking pictures of him with Santa he looked at the cameras and said cheese! That silly boy!

It was a wonderful day. I am so grateful to live here in Southern California so I can attend Schlicher Family Christmas each year. It means a lot to me, as well as so many others. I truly have been blessed with incredible people to be family with. I love them all so much and treasure the time we get to spend together. I hope Family Christmas never ends... some of my fondest memories from childhood are with my cousins at Schlicher Family Christmas. I hope Jakey gets those too...

Cruisin'... Cheapest Date Ever!

John's work holiday party (aka The Booze Cruise) was tonight. Neither of us were really excited about it, I mean how fun can it be for two non-drinkers to be stuck on a boat with a bunch of "boozers"? But it was actually a really nice evening. We sailed from the Long Beach Harbor and saw lots of beautiful Christmas lights on amazing homes. Dinner was ok, but our table companions were a lot of fun to visit and laugh with. It was fun doing something I've always wanted to do and have someone else pay for it.

Once we docked John had a special surprise for me... so we drove here, rode a few rides and waited for the fireworks. Unfortunately due to "high winds at upper elevations" the fireworks were canceled, but we still stood on Main Street and enjoyed the snow. It was really peaceful. That's my very favorite part about Disneyland at Christmas... the snow, along with the music. It's perfect.

On our drive home we stopped at Starbucks for some hot chocolate and hot apple cider to warm up. It was a perfect evening with the perfect date... and the whole night was free -- even the Starbucks- thanks to an old gift card in John's car- and parking at Disneyland!

A special thanks to Eden and Gramma for watching this guy so we could have such a nice evening together! We sure appreciate your help.

A Few Favorites...

We picked up our portraits today... and we really like them! Here are a few of my personal favorites -- although there's one of all of us that we really like but you'll have to wait to see that one when your Christmas card arrives... If I don't have your current address you better hurry and send me an email. :)





I love Jake's reaction in this one!

He's a total Daddy's Boy and this picture reflects just how much he loves his Dadda. I absolutely love it.

True- Blooded Aggie

Dear Melly & Tom,

You two are too cute!

Thanks for our new Aggie shirts... we love 'em!!

(And you really didn't have to, but thank you! Come again anytime... soon works for us!!)

Love,

Kelsi, John, & Jake

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

This weekend we helped Gramma decorate her Christmas tree...


We worked on a few Christmas projects.

And, today, in Nursery Jake made his very first gingerbread house... we think he did a fabulous job... he does too!

Party & Pictures...

This morning I hosted my very first Pampered Chef party. It's honestly not something I ever planned on doing. I'm not the biggest fan of "home shows", but there were a few things I wanted and figured this might be the way to get them at a cheaper price. And... I was right! Amazingly friends showed up and shopped. THANK YOU! It was fun having all the mom's here with toddlers everywhere, John was such a trooper being Mr. Nanny in Jake's room controling the crowd, although I'm not sure how much Briana enjoyed working through the chaos, but at least hers was one of the one's running around. She made these yummy, yummy cinnamon rolls and Heather brought over an egg casserole and everyone went. to. town. The food was perfect.

This afternoon we took family portraits at this really pretty man-made lake here in town. Heather took them, since she's a pro and all. Hopefully we look good in them, taking pictures always makes me nervous, especially when I'm the size of a house and Jake says "Cheese!" with his pirate face (as Meme calls it!). *** Edited to add the sneak-peek picture. I can't wait to see what the rest turn out like because I really like this one! (No worries Heather, even though it isn't my best side, I like it!)***

Tonight I'm heading to Book Club. Did I read the book? Nope. Just getting out should be nice... although I've had quite a few days of 'out' lately. John goes back to work tomorrow, dang, this outing should tide me over for awhile.