Tis the Season!

Another wonderful year has flown by for the Whitmer Family. What a fantastic year, though! Here are a few photos from our Christmas celebrations this year. First we visted Santa so Brady could tell him what he was wishing for.

Next we stopped at the inlaws to celebrate Christmas! Our first stop was the Whitmer Family Christmas and then over to Grandma and Grandpa Schaible's. We were excited to see that Great Grandma Whitmer joined us! Here is a picture of Jason, Brady, and Great Grandma.

Grandma and Grandpa take a photo with Brady!

To look through the eyes of a five year old during the Christmas season is so wonderful. The magic of Christmas surrounds us. Here is Brady leaving cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, and then the tradition of reading Twas the Night Before Christmas.

And last but not least, we had the Johnson Family Christmas. Here is a photo of Grandma and Grandpa Johnson with their grandchildren:

We wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Living in the Moment

As of the Monday before Thanksgiving, we had plans of having a nice Thanksgiving dinner at home, putting the Christmas tree up, decorating the house, and relaxing. Within 24 hours, we had different plans! We packed up the car and headed to where our family was - Gulf Shores, Alabama. This was quite the challenge for me, Mrs. Planner. However, I can't thank Jason enough for talking me into it. It was probably better that I only had a couple of hours to plan and prepare - teaching me to live in the moment! We had such a fantastic trip! We packed the car and headed for the white sandy beaches but most importantly, to be with family during the holidays. Mom, Dad, Aunt Pat, Uncle Paul (or Uncle Pat and Aunt Paul as Brady likes to say), Aunt Rose, and Uncle Bill were all so surprised to see us! We were so proud of Brady - he did not complain once in the car during the 14 hour drive. He was perfectly content sleeping, watching movies, or reading. It was wonderful leaving 20 degree weather behind and enjoying 70 degree weather one last time this year! Their condo is amazing - it is located directly on the beach and every morning we sat on the balcony and watched the dolphins swim. Mom and Aunt Rose allowed me to join in their daily power walk up and down the beach - I think they took it easy on me. We enjoyed hanging out on the beach, picking up sea shells and playing in the sand. We also enjoyed playing cards and dominos with everybody. And the Thanksgiving meal was fantastic - Jason made the comment "well Stacy never makes Turkey so we had to drive 14 hours to get one!" Here are a few photos of our fantastic vacation...

Just to remind of us reality, we came home to our first snowfall of the season - about 4-5 inches of the white stuff! Thankfully it was the heavy packing snow - so we made the first snowman of the season!

A New Sport

It took me awhile before I agreed to sign Brady up to play hockey. Sharp razor blades on shoes doesn't necessarily appeal to me. However, hockey is one of Jason's favorite sports so it's pretty cool to see Brady out there...like father, like son! Our first session was interesting. Poor Brady fell so much that I thought he's either going to hate this sport or will love it... he walked off the ice and said "I LOVE IT!" We 've been at it for a few weeks now, and although he is improving quickly (he no longer falls first thing when he steps on the ice), he still falls down quite often. He always pops right back up and tries again. I was the camera mom out there snapping everything, waving, and worried that he was getting hurt...I think Jason was a tad embarrassed. The photos below capture what we see all too often...in slow motion...

Going, going, gone...

Our Little Hockey Tot!!

Children's Museum Visit

Recently we drove up to Naperville to meet some friends of ours. Stacie and I have been friends since grade school and we try to get together at least a couple of times a year. It's fun getting together and letting our kids play together. This time we decided on visiting a children's museum. The kids sure had fun, just take a look at some of the photos!
Brady's favorite activity was building "something" out of wood...using real tools! Daddy was right there with him, helping him build this masterpiece. I personally think it's Rudolph. We thought it turned out just perfect!

Walt Disney World

We visited Walt Disney World for the first time in October. Brady is five now, which is the perfect age for this adventure. We spent seven days in Orlando and managed to visit every theme park and Sea World. By the end of the trip, we were exhausted - but it was worth it! Magic Kingdom was so much fun, we went there three or four times. The castle is beautiful and everything we had imagined. It changes colors at night and the fireworks show is stunning. Tinkerbell even "flies" from the castle shortly before the fireworks. Leave it to Brady to look up, notice the wire and say "Tinkerbell is ziplining!"

We surprised Brady with a character meal at Chef Mickey's - which was an amazing experience. I was a little nervous as to how Brady would react around the characters. We had traumatized him a couple of years ago when I had front row seats to see Sesame Street Live and Elmo scared him (he was quite large when we were so close to him). We've been talking about Mickey and his friends for almost a year now, so thankfully it paid off. He loved the characters!!

To our pleasant surprise, Brady is a huge fan of roller coasters...the bigger the better! It must be genetic! One of his favorite rides was the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. And to think, I was scared to let him go on it. After all, he was only one inch taller than the minimum height requirement. As soon as the ride ended, I heard "Let's go again!" Jason and I went on two rides that he couldn't go on...Rockin' Roller Coaster and Kraken (at Sea World). It won't be long before he's ready for the front row on the fastest coaster at a theme park! His other favorite rides werethe Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Big Thunder Mountain Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom) and Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom). We rode all of them multiple times.

We were there during Halloween week, so we bought tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. They close the park down to everybody except those with tickets. We had so much fun - everything from the rides, trick or treating with the characters, Boo to You parade, and the fireworks. Our little pirate had a wonderful Halloween experience - and so did mom & dad. Disney is truly a magical experience. This was one vacation that will forever live in our hearts.