Making Alyssa Laugh

One of Ivy's favorite things to do is to try to make Alyssa laugh...

Introducing Alyssa Marie

Our family received the most wonderful and amazing Christmas present this year. Her name is Alyssa Marie and she is 10 months old. We found out about Alyssa on the 16th, traveled to North Carolina on the 20th, and were able to return home with Alyssa on Christmas day.

She is so beautiful and sweet. We feel so blessed to have her in our family.

This was Christmas Eve. The kids are holding presents from uncle Russ and aunt Judi. They live about 4 hours away from Charlotte and drove all the way to be with us during the holidays and for this exciting week.

Aunt Judi brought a little Christmas tree with her when she came up, and the kids had a great time decorating it with bows and ribbons.

Alyssa loves to smile and laugh

Judi with Alyssa

Luke could not get enough of Russ' iPhone

We went to the mall in Charlotte 2 days before Christmas and got pictures taken with Santa. Ivy and Luke were both VERY excited, but Alyssa was a little unsure about the whole situation.

Ivy and Luke waiting in line to see Santa

Their reaction when they first saw Santa. When we pulled Ivy off Santa's lap, she was still talking as fast as she could, trying to get out all the things she wanted for Christmas.
This was the fist time we had ventured out with all three kids. Thanks goodness Judi was there to help :)!

Bell Family Christmas Party

Joshua and Emily hosted the Bell Family Christmas Party this year. It was tons of fun, and a lot of DELICIOUS food.



This is Mikal's (Emily's sister) little daughter, Emily.

Luke's 3rd Birthday!!!

Myself and the kids were all pretty sick on Luke's birthday, but we really wanted to do more than just give him presents, so in the evening we went over to the Pirate restaurant for dinner. The kids loved it, and Uncle Mike won 150 tickets with 1 token. Amazing!!

Luke had just learned how to hold up 3 fingers to tell how old he was.

Coloring and Puzzles with cousin Lola

We got to babysit Ivy and Luke's cousin Ryan Lola the beginning of December. She has been so fun and sweet. We can't wait to get back and play with her some more!