Christmas-part 3

After all the Christmas day (and day after) festivities, we had a good day spending time with my family at their home before we had to leave Thursday afternoon. Kathryn enjoyed playing with her aunt and uncle, and of course, opening more presents!

And, one of the best gifts that Kathryn got all Christmas, time with her Grammy. Grammy loves feeding Kathryn her bottles, and spoiling her with lots of hugs and cuddles.

Christmas day-part 2

After Christmas morning/afternoon at Johnny's parents, we headed up the road to the Harrisonburg area (more specifically, McGaheysville) to spend Christmas evening with my mom's side of the family at my Aunt Darlene's house, a tradition that's been going on for pretty much as long as I can remember! It's not quite as crazy as it was with a dozen (or more) cousins, plus all the aunts and uncles and friends, and various 4-legged critters. But, we still had lots of people around to enjoy the day.

Here's Kathryn with her Great-Grandma, affectionately dubbed "G-G" (Grandma came up with that nickname herself, and I love it!) Kathryn loved being around all the dogs (how many were there? At least 5 I think...), and especially loves my grandma's boxer, Ginger.
Kathryn with her Great-Uncle Dave.

The day after Christmas, we went back to my Aunt Darlene's to spend some more time with family and ride horses. I spent a good bit of my childhood riding, and even though I haven't ridden in quite a while, was able to get right back up and really enjoy it. There is something in my soul that feels at home on a horse! Kathryn got to ride with me too, and she loved it!

My sister Ali. Isn't she beautiful?!?

Kathryn loved hugging the horse! (It kinda looks like she's falling off, but don't worry, I was holding her very tight! She loved reaching down and hugging him!)

Johnny also enjoyed riding, and did a great job! He even trotted like a pro!


Once I got down, Kathryn wanted me to hold her, so I held her while I walked around with Johnny, giving him some pointers.
Our family.

Christmas day-part 1

This is part 1 of our Christmas day installment. After having our family Christmas at our house, including opening gifts and reading Luke 2 together, we headed over to Johnny's parents for breakfast and more family time and gifts. We didn't snap any pictures of our time at our home (although we took video), so here are pictures from Bobby and Sandra's.



Opening a gift with Granddaddy.


One of Kathryn's favorite gifts...a walk-behind truck to practice walking!

A family Christmas picture.
Kathryn loves her daddy!

Christmas traditions

We wanted to share with you some of our family Christmas traditions. The night that we decorate the Christmas tree, after we're all done, we turn off all the lights (except for the ones on the tree!), turn on some Christmas music, and enjoy a bowl of ice cream as we sit at the tree. It's a neat time to spend together, and a sweet memory of mine from childhood. Johnny is demonstrating how we eat the ice cream...
The second tradition comes from Johnny's family: Chex mix! Every year we make a big triple batch of Chex mix to munch on as we prepare for the holidays. We also give some away...as much as we have after Johnny eats most of it! :) In fact, at one of my bridal showers before we got married, we got the roaster shown in the picture...not for roasting turkeys, but for making Chex mix. The giver of the gift? Johnny's mom! (She knew why it was on our registry!)

Doesn't it look yummy? It was!

pretty Christmas dress

Sink Family Christmas Dinner

I am very behind on my updates, mostly because we've been doing so much the past couple of weeks with the holidays, there is lots to update on! So, here is the first of many. Every year the extended Sink family has a Christmas dinner the weekend or so before Christmas. This is Kathryn in Santa's lap. She wasn't scared of him, and even crawled back up to him to get more presents!
Walking back with her present.

Opening her present.

Aunt K-K on Santa's lap.

All the kids at the dinner. Kathryn is sitting on her cousin Josh's lap.

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:8-20

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

This Christmas, may you "ponder in your heart" what it means that Christ was born, born to die, to give us the greatest gift: life.

Christmas is coming!!!

Anniversary!

We celebrated our 3-year anniversary on December 18. To celebrate, we took a trip to Greensboro, NC the first weekend in December to celebrate the past 3 years. We left Kathryn with Johnny's parents...our first nights away from her since she's been born! (THANK YOU to Johnny's parents for taking such great care of her!) Despite Johnny getting sick over the weekend, we had a great time together. On Saturday, after Johnny was feeling a little better, we went to Old Salem to walk around for a little while. This is a picture of a building there.
After Old Salem, we went to the Festival of Lights, a lights display in a park in the area. Although we had to wait in line (in the car) for over an hour before even getting in, it was a neat show.

blog referral

Check out Randy & Lindsay's blog for pictures of Kathryn (and some other family members) at the annual Sink family Christmas dinner. There's even a video of her "walking" up to Santa to get her gift, then walking back. She doesn't usually walk when we hold only one of her hands, but I guess the gift in the other hand helped her feel secure enough to take steps. Enjoy the pictures, video, and commentary from Randy!

like Madeline....and some new tricks!

I had to show off my outfit that is the same as Madeline's...man, that girl's got good style already! I think I'm gonna like her!
"How big is Kathryn?" "Sooooooooo big!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Kathryn likes to eat duck, in particular, the head. She'd probably like to go to Beijing....they are known for their good duck.


We were so excited yesterday when Kathryn signed "please" by rubbing her hand on her chest (and sometimes belly, but it's close enough!). We've been working on that sign for quite a while now, and it was so cool to see her finally get it and do it! She's also learned how to point, and now goes around everywhere pointing at everything. It's really funny. It is so cool to see how she learns new things almost every day, now. Each day with a little one is an adventure, from trying a new food (tortelli was last night, and she loooooved it!), to communicating needs, to new physical feats. We sure do love our girl!

Thanks Noa!!!

My good friend, Noa Noll, sent me some really cool Japanese presents. I got them the last time I was visiting my grandparents in Harrisonburg from Noa's aunt Martha. Mommy took pictures of me opening my presents so Noa could see.

I'm clapping because of my new presents...I like them so much!
This is my sporting my sweet new bib. It catches all the food that misses my mouth, so mommy likes when I wear it.
THANK YOU, NOA! I LOVE YOU!!!!

11 months old!!!

Sorry I'm a bit late in posting this, but as of last Wednesday, Kathryn turned 11 months old! It's hard to believe in less than 1 month she'll be a 1-year-old! Enjoy some pictures I took of her on Wednesday, and learning about her latest tricks and skills!Cheesing for the camera with mommy in a self-portrait!


So, for her latest tricks and skills. She is now signing "all done", which consists of waving her hands when she's finished with whatever she's doing. She's kind of getting over baby food, but is a little hesitant about people food. One of her favorites right now, though, is chicken noodle soup. She gets to eat noodles (which she loves), along with pieces of chicken and carrots. Yum! Bread, crackers, and bananas continue to be among her favorite foods, along with Cheerios. She loves to clap and be clapped for, and will clap anytime you ask her to, as well as when you say "Yay" or "Good girl", and when you start singing "If You're Happy and You Know It". Really, all I have to do is say the first two words, "If yooooooou're....", and she'll start clapping. She can now do the whole pattycake, clapping for the first part, then the rolling part too. She loves to dance to music, both bouncing up and down and rocking back and forth. She also does something called "boogey woogy", which means whenever I say that, she'll shake her upper body and arms side to side. She also "wiggles", which is shaking/bobbing her head back and forth, especially when we're changing her diaper or she's laying on the floor. She loves reading books, and her job is to turn the pages. She gets so excited to turn them she often doesn't wait for you to be done reading one page before flipping to another! She also still loves to hug people, but doesn't really give kisses anymore unless she's kissing a baby, her reflection in the mirror, or a baby in a book. She babbles all the time, and her latest "muttering" is the sound "ish" or "this". She is such a sweet girl, and we are continually so thankful for her.

back blog-Thanksgiving

This is a back-blog of our Thanksgiving day/weekend. Before Thanksgiving dinner with Johnny's family, we spent some time outside in the beautiful warm sun raking leaves together. Of course, I mainly just raked a big pile of leaves for Kathryn to play in. She loved being in the middle of the pile, and didn't think she was allowed to move, because she stayed in the middle until we helped her get out.
Later that afternoon, we went to Johnny's parent's house for dinner with the family. This is Kathryn with her cousin Josh. He's technically her 3rd cousin. :)
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was the UVA vs. Va Tech football game in Charlottesville. It was too cold for Kathryn to be out at the game, so we enjoyed watching it at Sal and Virginia's with Aunt KK while the rest of the family froze at the game! We had a great time, and then enjoyed a meal together afterwards. This is Kathryn ready to go after a long day of football. She loves her Uncle Randy!!!

Coming soon....Kathryn's 11 month post!

Kathryn's new friend!!!

Kathryn wanted me to post and welcome her new friend, Madeline Ann Glenn, into the world. She was born last night (Saturday, Dec. 1). When we told Kathryn this morning that Madeline was born, she got a huge smile on her face and clapped her hands! She is so excited for another BFF to love! To see more of her pictures, you can go to her mommy's and daddy's blog page (Andrew & Naomi). Welcome Madeline!