Thea Belle's Hair in the Morning

Christmas 2011

This year we went to my folks for Christmas. All of my siblings were there. The nine first cousins were all assembled. Atticus is the oldest at 5 1/2. Wow. My mom made them all pajamas and this is our first official all-cousin Christmas Eve photo.

My dad reading the Christmas story before opening gifts.

(p.s. I wish I could figure out the light settings on my point and shoot -- seems like I get wildly different results on exactly the same set-up).

My brother Aaron and his son Grant

 

My sister Bekah holding Thea Belle

Celebrating Dietrich's birthday happened earlier on Christmas Eve.

Watching some movies...

Talking...

Chewing on frisbees (standard Christmas tradition) and wearing beads with brightly patterned tunics (par).

My Dad with Lincoln -- both looking cute...

 

And Thea Belle does this when almost anyone other than Brad and I or (feel honored -- ) Liz or Leah try to hold her. Poor Thea! I am glad my Dad was laughing (-: -- Thank you for understanding, Dad!

Then we went to Brad's folks over in Des Moines. But Atticus, Brad and then myself got the stomach flu. And I lost my camera (which was found as we were packing to leave) so these are the only pictures. And we came home to Minneapolis earlier than normal to go to a Dawes concert at the Varsity over in St.Paul (Christmas gift to Brad from me (-:). And we were feeling better by the New Year. For New Year's Eve we played games with kids until we put them to bed around 9 pm) ripped out our kitchen floor (to start our kitchen remodel), drank a glass of wine and watched the first half of Moonlight in Paris (which we bought for ourselves as a New Year's gift). We love Owen Wilson. We love not having the stomach flu. We love our families. We love coming home to Minneapolis.

And we had our own Christmas with just us back at home -- nice and quiet before the marathon of late, late nights working on the kitchen project. But for one day we tried to ignore all the vacation laundry and the kitchen appliances in the dining room and our still-queasy flu stomachs and just enjoy each other as a family. It was a good morning together.

Rahrr.

Atticus likes face paint. He wore this all day until bedtime.

Dietrich did not like face paint. It was itchy. It was removed directly after this photo.

 

 

Dietrich Lewis is Four!

Dietrich Lewis turned FOUR on Dec.20th right before we left for Christmas family visits. He gets a party at home and one at each of his grandparents' houses. He loves Batman and his Razor Scooter and stories about heroes who save the day. He wishes he could grow up and be a super hero with special powers. I tell him that he can but not necessarily the way he thinks -- that super powers are thin and small in comparison to being able to be faithful and noble and honorable and responsible and kind and generous and wise. And to live that way day after day in the small and the big things no matter when it gets hard or when you are tired or when you get discouraged or restless or annoyed. He said, "Hm. But I really wish I had super powers." I am still trying to find out about him. I know that he is very focused and deliberate and determined. He figures out anything he applies himself to. He is intense and emotional and sometimes completely affectionate and thoughtful. He is always thinking and trying to work out what he hears and find a way to assimilate it. Sometimes when he can't sleep at night he will come down and sit on our bed and ask questions and then tell us what he has been thinking about. He is getting better at learning how to be gentle and play with Thea Belle. He is learning that Lincoln can be very fun to play with especially because he likes playing with action figures and coming up with all sorts of stories too. Dietrich adores Atticus and also has an acute ability to instantly make Atticus insane with emotional fury -- and to do this without breaking a single house rule. It is horrible and amazing. Dietrich hates winter coats and sleeves that touch his wrists. He loves Gonzo from the Muppets. He loves to recite the names of the three Members of the Trinity. But he is not sure he wants to have Jesus be his King mostly because he doesn't think it is necessary since Dietrich is so very strong that he will punch all bad guys including Satan in the nose and also because he agrees with God that we should be good and not do bad things so Dietrich will just go ahead and do that without having to trouble Jesus about it. Sigh. 

We had a small party for him the Sunday before his birthday with our family from up here -- Aunt Bekah, the Millers and the Bergets.

 

 

  

A few days later on Dietrich's actual birthday, we all celebrated early before Brad dropped Atticus off at school (to give us a little more time together as a family with Dietrich). His favorite gifts were the Razor Scooter he's wanted since last Christmas and a Gonzo doll that he likes to have ride on the handlebars.