David Jackson

Heath, Jennifer, and Daniel welcomed baby David Jackson into the world this morning. He is 8 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great!

Daniel is going to be a great big brother!!

Mama and her two baby boys

A proud Oma feeding baby David his bottle

He is absolutely perfect!

Sinterklaas

On December 5 each year people all over Holland celebrate Saint Nicholas Eve. For the Dutch, Sinterklaas is not just the man dressed in red who gives presents, he is a generous person who helps everyone in need.

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

The entry of Sinterklaas into Holland is a big event. I can remember going to see him arrive on the bow of his ship. He arrives with his white horse and his servent Zwarte Piet. One of the songs that the children sing is...

"Sinterklaas kapoentje, gooi wat in me schoentje, gooi wat in mijn laarsje, dank je Sinterklaasje”. Roughly translated it means: “Santa Claus little rascal, put something in my little shoe, put something in my little boot, thank you little Santa Claus”. Maybe I'll sing it for you sometime.

Finally the big day arrives and on the night of December 5 he magically appears at every home in Holland by knocking on the front door. Kids will find a big bag outside full of presents often wrapped in a special way or completely hidden around the house. They are then sent on mission to find their Saint Nicholas surprise in a treasure hunt with little notes with hints hidden along the way.

With the help of some clues Daniel and Megan found Sint's bag in the dryer.

That evening exhausted but happy children put out a shoe in front of the fireplace and put a carrot or a turnip in it for the horse of Saint Nicholas.
The next morning, they may find a gift in their shoe, boot or wooden shoe. Often, this is candy, a chocolate letter with the initial of their first name, marsepein or almond pastries.

We celebrated on December 6th this year. It was William's first official "Sinterklass."

William got his own pair of wooden shoes!!

Sint brought Daniel some cool Dinosaur pajamas and  a dinosaur book. Matthew got a big container of chanage to help him pay for a big boyscout trip next summer. Megan got some cute washcloths and of course some cute kitty pajamas.

William's First Snow!

This is what we woke up to this morning...I actually saw it at 2am when I got up with William. I was so excited I woke Ryan up to tell him. We were headed to the lake this morning but stuck around long enough to take some pictures and let William experience his first snow.

Dora was dancing around in the snow...

Oh Christmas Tree...

We went to Sweet Pea and picked out a Christmas Tree today. (Did you know they deliver and set up your tree for no additional cost?) We didn't use this service but I thought it was nice and I would throw in a little advertisement for them) William had fun even though he doesn't look like he is having much fun in the picture-it was a bit chilly. Doesn't he look so cute in his Christmas sweater that his Oma knit for him?
So we have our tree-small and somewhat skinny. My goal is to have it up and decorated on Sunday night (life's a little busy these days with a crawler who needs my full attention so I'm giving myself a few days). Having a tree with lots of lights and sparkly things hanging down should be interesting considering I have a very curious 8 MONTH old who is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, and LOVES cords.

Great Papa

We love going to visit with Great Papa. We helped him get some Christmas decorations out today. William loved the dancing Santa.

Christmas PJ's

I don't know what it is about Christmas pajamas but I get so excited about them. I even got myself some cute ones this year and I'm on the hunt for some for Ryan...pictures will be posted A.S.A.P.

I think this might be one of my favorite pictures!

Splish Splash he was taking a bath...