It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!  As soon as we got home from Indiana the Christmas preparations began. Andrea and I both really enjoy Christmas and the decorations and fun that come with the season.  I am pretty sure the boys share our enthusiasm.

Eli getting the little tree ready for upstairs.

Eli putting on the final touches.  (I wish I had his posture!!)

Cute close up of baby Si-Si.

Emmett in the Santa hat.

Andrea and the boys getting the tree ready.
Eli looks like he has grandpa Gwinn's supervising abilities!

Christmas can tire you out!
Little did we know he found the Santa hat after we put him down!

Dada and Si.

Beautiful decoration that Andrea made!!

Quick Trip to IN

Our trip to Indiana was a quick one but we got to see lots of family.  It was good to see everyone and spend a little time with them; we saw people from 8 families in about two and a half days.  Andrea and Simon got to see a cousin play a hockey game while Dada sat in the car while the older two napped.  We also got to go to the amish restaurant and store that we really like.  The trip home was another adventure!  Return trip summary includes melted bag of Amish candy, multiple poopy explosions, and a 14+ hour car ride in on and off snow..... fun times :-)

The Gwinn boys and Mowery girls!

The Mowery fam.

The Gwinns with Grammie and Grampy

Grammie and Simon.

The Gwinns and great-grandma and great-grandpa Nichter.

Uncle Doug playing with the older boys.

Aunt Vicky and Si Guy!

Thanksgiving in KY

This year we spend Thanksgiving in Kentucky with my family.  We had a fun time and ate some good food.  We were able to see Pops a couple of times and even got him to come to the house for Thanksgiving dinner!  After a few days in Kentucky we made a whirlwind trip to Indiana and then back home.

Grandpa and Si

Si gnawing and drooling as usual.

Auntie Jill captivated by the games!

Dada and a sleepy Si Guy.

Pops and great-grandson #3.

Pops and great-grandson #2.

Mama and her boys.

Grandpa and Si hanging out on the counter.

The fam and Pops! (too bad we didn't move the walker....)

The Gwinns!!!

Cute Emmett Playing

This is a cute video of Emmett playing with some toys in mid-November.

Silly Sleepers

Sometimes sleep is hard to come by in our house and at others it is very easy.  We have found that the harder they fight it the sillier the position you find them in....

Andrea found Emmett sleeping sitting up here one day but she woke him up trying to get a picture....

Same area as above....

In the middle of the living room.

While looking at flash cards with your alien!

Dedication & "Camping"

In early November we were able to "dedicate" the boys at church.  We had been wanting to do this since Eli was born but the stars never really aligned.  Our church doesn't do a baby dedication or baptism because they want us to focus on our role as parents in raising them faithfully.  So, the Summit does a parent commissioning.  Just like we commission and pray for missionaries the parents are given the challenge and make a covenant of faith that their kids will be their first and foremost mission field and that they will be raised in the light of the Gospel.  We love raising our boys and are so thankful for God's grace as we do so!!!  (there are no pics because they didn't come out well...... sorry.  But believe me we looked good gussied up!!)

Grandma Mutti, Grandpa Vati and the Renfrow's came up for the commissioning so after the ceremony we went back to our house and had a campfire and the next day hung out at Grandma's house.  Since it was a pretty hectic year and fall this was our annual "camping" trip.  It was a lot of fun and let me tell you these cousins love being together!!!!

Emmett and Eli getting their s'more on.

Wyatt roasting a marshmallow with Simon and grandpa looking on.

Silly Claire eating a s'more on the slide.

The twins sharing a marshmallow.

Dada and a sleepy Simon.

Emmett and Paige playing at grandma's.

The aunties did a craft time.

Grandma helping on one of the God's eyes.

Wyatt working on a tasty craft.

Boys.....

Auntie Alison giving instructions.

Cleaning up this craft is way yummy!!! It's chocolate frosting!!!

Sampling the supplies....

Delicious acorns... Hershey's kiss, chocolate frosting, mini-nilla wafer, and pretzel.

Six turkeys and some yummy acorns!