Whitsitt/Miles Family Christmas!!

We celebrated our 3rd of 4 Christmas celebrations in Kansas City over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We got to go as a family to hear Landons first Christmas Eve service in his new church, which was great. Aiden started getting bored and tried to play with Grandmother Greats hair, which was just freakin hilarious!! :) After church we got the kiddos to bed and played a "friendly-ish" game of poker. :) It's all about the bracelet folks and who won? Yours truly!!!! Kicked butt, I did! (Alright, so Landon took it back the next night, but I didnt want to be a hog!:) Christmas morning, we held the dudes off from going upstairs until about 7:30, then it was free for all. They loved seeing what Santa brought and then Papa T read the Christmas story. He also took time to reflect on all the changes in our family in the last year, and it was really amazing to hear, put into words, just how much has happened, and how far we've come. So, a little background on the pics...I have one of my dudes, but it wont load for some reason, and Landon and his kids were already gone when we did photos...the picture of Dad and Connie shows the lighthouse Josh made for dad. We are pretty freakin proud of that thing...that is 22 pieces of steel, welded together, sanded and hand painted. He did a great job, and Josh was pleased that dad liked it so well. Then there is the pic of Josh with his new "bible", the beer brewing book! :) Ahhhh....what a great time!

Haven Miles Christmas

Well, we had our 2nd of 4 Christmas celebrations with the Miles Family in Haven Kansas. The boys were excited to see Grammy, Papa, Aunt Chrystal and Lee who came in from London! We had a good time with everyone, although Mama Miles was sick, she had a terrible sinus infection that hit right after we arrived. The boys enjoyed opening all their presents and then playing afterward. Ethan got an Erector Set, and I think Josh thought it was for him too! :) Micah got a keyboard with a mircophone, so he and Clay put on a concert for us. Pretty cute. The night before, Lee treated us to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and Clay treated all the diners with a performance of all the songs he's learned at school this year. Fun stuff!

Well, tis the season for holiday parties! We've hit Clays and Ethans in the last 2 days, and boy were they exciting! Claytons class made their sweatshirts (those are his handprints for the antlers) and sang about 6 songs in a program for us. That picture is of him waving when he saw Josh come in. He's a total ham, I tell you! After the program, we went back to his class and ate bunches of goodies, and then I volunteered Josh to read a story to all the kiddos.. :) The light haired lady wth Clay is his teachers aide, Ms. Edie, and the dark haired lady is his teacher Ms. Bullard. They are both extraordinary! We love them both. Then today we hit Ethans class party. Josh finally got to check out Ethans crush, Lauren.. :) He also got to have pizza for lunch and decorate sugar cookies. At the end, they made bags with reindeer dust in them so that they could sprinkle it outside so Santa had a path to follow. Pretty clever. Of course, he was shy about having his picture taken, so he didnt want me to take his pic with his teacher. The "santa" pic of him is when he decorated his face with frosting! Silly boy. We are glad to have the dudes home for awhile and give the teachers a much needed break! Although by the time 2 weeks is up, I'm sure we'll be ready for them to go back! :)

Tulsa Miles Christmas!!!!

Well, since we are headed out of town in a few days for the holidays, we decided to go ahead and do our family Christmas. The boys had a ball opening their stuff...Micah loved his talking rescue pack, Clay was very excited about his Flo's diner, and Ethan we majorly surprised at his new MP3 player! We had Ethan totally psyched out on the mp3 player...so funny!!! Josh got a gift certificate to High Gravity, now he can brew, brew, brew! And I got my Coach purse....make fun...I dont care...I'm in purse heaven!! :) Anyway, we had a great time opeining all our gifts and look forward to more fun with the rest of our families. MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aiden Eugene Whitsitt turns 1!!!!!

One year ago, December 16, 2005 at about 10:15pm, my dad got a phone call. It was from Ben, who was in Ft. Sill Oklahoma after just returning from his duty in Iraq. Falon was in labor!! Our family started being nuts (hard to believe, I know) and just at that moment, Landon and Jerilyn along with their kids arrived for Whitsitt family Christmas. Confusion!!! We were all supposed to be traveling the following day to a ceremony for Ben and the other troops that had returned, then he would get to come home with us to celebrate the holidays. Instead, one of the officers on the base drove him 1/2 way to Wichita, where one of Falons uncles then picked him up and drove him the rest of the way to Hutchinson. Before all at the Whitsitt house retired for the night, we took bets on when he would be born, would Ben make it, and how big he would be. Then we settled down for the night, as much as we could! I remember saying to Josh like, 4 million times, "I cant believe Ben is going to be a DAD!!!!" Hard to believe. I think the phone rang once an hour all through the night. Ben kept calling dad making sure he was going the right way, and I think, because he was so nervous! Well, Ben made it to the hospital about 45 minutes before little Aiden Eugene was born. So great. We all headed down that weekend to see our newest addition, and Ben whom we hadn't seen for a year. Now, here it is one year later, and look at them! What a year they've had. Ben and Bird got married, moved homes, Ben is about to take on a new job, and Falon is working hard on her degree. I am so proud of this little family and all they have done. I know it cannot have been easy for Bird to be pregnant with Ben on the other side of the world, we all know Bens duty in Iraq was not easy, and then them all adjusting to being together again, WITH A BABY!!! was a transition in itself. But they have held it together and are great parents. Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Aiden!!!!!

Miles Family Fun

This weekend we headed to Wichita/El Dorado for Aidens first birthday. One evening we decided to take photos in front of Aunt Chrystals new Christmas tree in her new house! The top one is Joshuas sister Chrystal and the dudes, then Chrystal with her dog Sebastian, the she and I, Josh and I and finally Grammy gazing at the fire with Ethan. Chrystal started a fire in the fireplace so that we could make s'mores with the guys. (I had made the mistake of telling Micah that we were going to "camp out" at Aunt Chrystals that weekend, and when he thinks of a camp out, he thinks s'mores!!!) Anyway, we had a fun time....

Rhema Lights!

Last week, Josh and I took the boys to Rhema Bible College in Broken Arrow to see the Christmas lights. Every year they have an unbelievable show, tons and tons of lights everywhere! The boys thought it was so cool....we've driven through other years, but it was too cold and the dudes were to small to get out, so this year, with everyone independently mobile and the weather being about 65 degrees, it was a perfect evening!

December Pack Meeting

Last night was Ethan's December pack meeting, and what a night it was! His troop got to "present the colors" and Ethan was in charge of the pack flag. Then, they got to sing a song for the whole group, and then they were present with their achievements for the last month. Ethan has worked really hard, and this time he got 7 awards!!!! Way to go E!!! After that , they had a drawing for popcorn prizes, and he won a tent. He was pretty excited. When the meeting was over, he got his prize for the amount of popcorn he'd sold, his new bow and arrow set. And, he got his pack t-shirt....it was a busy night! He is really excited about all the stuff they are doing...coming up in January is the Pinewood Derby race...we'll keep you posted! :) PS...isnt he just so freakin handsome????

Julian Baptism/Simon 5th Birthday/Landon Installed

Well, last weekend we spent in KC celebrating lots of stuff! The Whitsitt family was busy...Julian was baptized, Simon turned 5, and Landon was installed as pastor at their new church. Lots of family was able to come, which was a miracle, considering a snowstorm hit most of us the two days prior. :) Sunday morning, during the regular service, Julian was baptized. Landon and Jerilyns good friend Rocky performed the baptism, as well as gave Landon his charge in the installation service later in the afternoon. I know it was special to them all to have Rocky so involved in such an important day in their lives. After church, we had a wonderful lunch, then celebrated Simon turning 5 (his actual birthday was on Monday) with presents and cake. Later that afternoon, we had the service for Landons installation, and it was great. I know as a family we are so proud of Landon, and thrilled for his family to be back near all of us....of course, ask us in 6 months if we're still glad... :) The day was really busy, but so many wonderful things were celebrated, and it was just lots of fun to see family and friends we hadn't seen in awhile.