Christmas 2010 with the Cripe's

This year we drove up to Heather's home in Holland, MI to celebrate with Randy's family the day after Christmas.  They have a huge pole barn that they set up for the gathering.  Joshua had a blast and the time with family was wonderful!

Joshua loved Judah the doggy and the scooter!!

Aunt Heather and Cousin Lindsay

Cousin Brennan

Ping Pong with cousin Ian

Havin' some fun!

Cutest kid ever!!!

Da' Boyz - Joshua, Brennan and Ian

way cool!

Mommy and Joshua went on a "bear hunt" through the forests on their property

we found a mound of sand near the pond and had so much fun!

Time to head inside to warm up and take a nice nap!!

Christmas 2010

Joshua had a list a mile long of every kind of animal you can imagine - he was thrilled as he unwrapped about 30 different animals this year - check out the tiger!!!

Mocha LOVES Christmas just as much, if not more than Joshua - we wrap her gifts just before it's time to open them - as soon as they hit the floor she tears them open and plays like a pup -it's adorable!

more animals

Randy is hilarious when he opens presents - sooo excited!!!

anxiously waiting to open presents on Christmas Eve at Papa and Grandma's

now Joshua can make words just like the Word World guys!!!

Daddy gave Joshua an anteater for Christmas!!!

Christmas morning at Papa and Grandma's

beautful table

Very cool blanket of Cody

my silly boy

what could possibly be in this big box from Papa and Grandma???

Joshua just found out what it is and is super excited....

He can hardly contain himself - it's a giant giraffe!!!

Gotta love it!

so proud!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!

Lights!!!

It's tradition - we always go to see the Wayne County Lightfest before Christmas.  So, Nick, Keisha, Daniel, Joshua and I hopped in the car (we were bummed that Randy had to work), grabbed our traditional Dunkin Donuts and were off to see the lights - we had a lot of fun and wanted to share some of our favorite shots -

Christmas happenings

This was by far one of the best Christmas celebrations we've had in a long time.  Joshua has been anticipating all of the fun parties, presents, family outings etc. since Halloween ended.  We're just now starting to wind down and put our house back into some kind of order.  Here are a few of the silly things we've been up to:

Watching Daddy label which order Mommy has to open her presents in

Joshua opened one present from his stocking each night for the week leading up to Christmas - he LOVED doing this!

A while ago I wrapped this huge cheetah and put it under near the tree - Joshua couldn't wait to open it.  Well, it was supposed to be his "big" gift, but on the night we went to see the lights he hurt his finger pretty badly and had to have his first band-aid.  Randy and I are both pretty wimpy so we gave him his "big" gift to enjoy with his cousins - he was SUPER excited and the pain from his injury simply vanised as he welcomed his new cheetah into our home!

Gotta love the Cheetah

The cheetah box was a hit - here is Nick stuffing Keisha into the box

Here is Keisha falling over in the box

Keisha loved the box - we sent it home with her =)



Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!  We are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior with our families and are planning on sending out our annual update letter in the new year with lots of updates from the Cripe family (don't get too excited...no baby news or anything like that).  We love you all and pray for a blessed and prosperous New Year in 2011!!







Randy Update

We are praising and celebrating God's continued blessings in our lives!  Randy had follow up MRI's on his brain and spine and we are thrilled to report that he is tumor free and doing very well.  The doctor is giving him a one year reprieve on MRI's so that is also good news.

We're also happy to report that Randy is officially a FULLY licensed Professional Counselor!!  He's been waiting and waiting for his paperwork to come through from the State and he finally received his license in the mail.  He's worked so hard to get to this point....literally thousands of hours were poured into this endeavor and he is thrilled to be finished!!!

HOORAY GOD!!!!

Christmas is coming...

Joshua woke up from this nap and seen this present near the tree - he was so excited!

He looked all around and discovered HIS name was on the name tag and now he can't wait for Christmas!

Joshua's Christmas decor

I was sitting down a few minutes ago and noticed some new "ornaments" on our tree a baby picture book and a juice box - how silly!!

Under Construction

Well, the blog is still up and running, but I am trying to do some construction on it.  For some reason, my mom couldn't access the blog at work with the current background so I'm trying some different things out.  The pics are up, but VERY plain - hopefully, I can figure this out soon!

Aunt Joan's Christmas Open House 2010

My Aunt Joan hosts a holiday open house every year in her home.  She is someone that has the gift of hospitality for sure - there are TONS of people in and out of her home and it doesn't phase her in the least.  She spends several days decorating, prepping food, cooking, making chocolates and other desserts and then enjoys the smiling faces that walk through her door.  It's a festive crowd for sure and lots of fun!

Charles and Patricia



Drake, Daniel and Joshua



Debbie, Charlene, Diane and Baby Ronnie

John and Chris

Jim and Joyce

Debbie and Charlene



Kellie and Rachel




Hiraida, Chris, Cathy, Summer, Nita



Sweet little Ronnie : )