Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. It was so fun seeing the kid's faces light up when they came out and saw all the fun presents. We snuck Austin and Ashley into Josh's room to get ready this morning. Then when they were all ready we let them come out at the same time. I'll have to try and post the video, it was pretty fun to see their little faces, they didn't know where to start first. It was also fun getting to skype with both set of granparents. We sure wish we could have celebrated with them, but I suppose skyping is the next best thing. It was a fun day and we hope you enjoy the photos.

Looks like Santa came by.

Josh LOVES trains, planes and automobiles (Isn't that a movie?)

Ashley loves her new baby. She likes to share the babies binkie!

Ashley LOVED the dino's, all morning she was carrying them around and growling!

Josh was so excited when he unwrapped some Junior Mints. He must get that from Grandma.

At first the kids weren't too sure what to do. They just wanted to play with whatever they opened. Pretty soon they, especially Ash, realized there was cool stuff under the wrapping paper. She was going nuts unwrapping stuff, looking at it for a second, and then hurrying on to the next one.

Sometimes they all wanted the same toy.

Austin loves talking on the phone. He carried this around for awhile. I wonder who he was talking to? Probably Grandpa!

This castle was a BIG hit. We set it up while the kids were napping (well, they were suppose to be napping) and surprised them with it when they got up. The twins were first up and they played for at least a half hour. It was so funny, we couldn't get them to come out.

Austin kind of has a thing for bouncy houses. I think he thought the castle was one at first. He tried to jump a bunch when he first got in there.

Ashley was having a great time running in and out looking at Austin through the windows.

The kids loved all the new books they got.

This is one of their favorite games. We got them a parachute and some cute ocean fish. Then we sing this silly song about the fish swimming in the ocean and eventually "splash" them really high. They have to run around and pick them up and we do it again. And again. It's a lot of fun and they all laugh like crazy when the fish "splash".

When Josh got up from his nap he was also excited to play in the castle. He liked opening the flap and yelling "Boo" to the twins.

One of Ashley's favorite gifts. This cute alphabet quiet book. Two of her favorite things.

We also got a few new puzzles. The kids love puzzle time!

Finally, it's bed time. The kids loved snuggling up in their new jammies from Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas Break

It is always nice when we have a long weekend. It's even more nice when its Christmas weekend. We had fun getting some last minute shopping done and getting everything ready for the holiday. Tyler and I were really looking forward to this year. The kids are all a little older and we knew they would enjoy Christmas morning so much more this year. Another nice thing about long weekends, Tyler will usually take the kids for a few hours so I can get out of the house. I always look forward to these little breaks. It really helps me recharge my battery and get ready for another week home with the kiddos. Anyway, below are a few pictures from our weekend. I thought they were cute and wanted to share them, but didn't want to put them on the Christmas post since that one is already pretty full. Enjoy.

It took a few tries, but we finally got one with them all looking. Including Charlie!

Ty was home with the kids and he realized they were playing awfully quite. This is what he found when he went to investigate. See, they aren't always up to mischeif!

Austin had been taking an unusally long nap one day. So I snuck in to see what was up. Doesn't he just look adorable?

Ashley needed a little post-nap snuggle. Ozzy of course had to join in on the action.

The kids saw mommy taking a nap (another perk of having Daddy home on weekends) and wanted to do they same. They kept making sleeping noises and wouldn't get up!

Christmas Eve we decided to check out the mall. It was SO crowded, normally it is prety empty. It was a lot of fun though and the kids enjoyed it.

They had a live band, Josh couldn't get enough.

Just some minor meltdowns. Nothing a little ice creams couldn't fix!

So, they had these Santa Clowns all around the mall giving away these little blow-up Santa's. They say "Many Christmas" on them. We're thinking someone goofed on the translation...

Courtney Fair and Good News

This past week we got some pretty exciting news. Tyler has been selected for Major! I was always confident that Tyler would be selected, but we have been nervous and anxious to finally get word that it happened. I'm so proud of him and so glad we get to stay in the Marines for as long as we want now. If all goes as planned, the kids and I will be moving back to Utah for the summer while Ty goes on another mini deployment. From there we are hoping to get stationed back east. We haven't gotten the official orders yet, but we're hoping to get North Carolina. Anyway, the kids are all doing well. They've had nasty colds this week, but other than that they are still very busy and getting excited for Christmas.

An early Christmas present. Ashley loves her new "bike".

I came out to find all the kiddos and daddy "pretending" to sleep. They even had sound effects, fake snoring!

Ashley has become our little cleaner. She loves to organize and put things away (which is awesome). Today she was putting her favorite stuffed animals on the shelf. She was very particular about which animals were allowed on the shelf.

The twins love to hold hands during meal time. Austin loves to give Ashley kisses on her hand.

We took the kids to a fair on Camp Courtney. They loved it.

The twins were a little mad that Josh got to ride on the train and they didn't. I know, we're mean, but once you let the twins out of the stroller there is no putting them back in.

Josh LOVED the train. He was so excited and kept making "choo choo" sounds for the whole ride.

I guess it pays to be the oldest. Not only did Josh get to walk around he also got to do lots of fun things. Like go fishing (where he won a toy train), meet scary people dressed up as dogs (Josh did not like them) and get to ride in cool military vehicles.