Talk about a Family Activity

We are all sick....man talk about it hitting all at once...I guess we are just hoping that since we are all throwing up together that it won't last long and we'll all be better for Christmas...I'm afraid we are in for a long night...Pray for us! ***Just a little update...Oh Thanks so much you guys for your prayers...we survived last night...it was rough, but we made it.... I swear the Lord helps mom's especially when you are sick so you can take care of everyone else. Even if it means you are up about every 10 minutes through out the night...it was a miserable night...but hopefully the worst is over now!

Santa's Lap and the Train Ride

Every year we have to go and sit on Santa's lap. The kids love doing this, even though Brayden is really the only one who isn't shy and quiet when we get up to him...Adelyn actually talked to Santa this year and told him what she wanted and it only took a little bit of encouragement from me...improvement from last year. Sophie was so excited to see him but when we got up on his lap she would hardly look at him. Kolby on the other hand wasn't sure of this old guy that was trying to hold him. The only problem with this whole activity was that when the kiddos got up to Santa and he asked them what they want all 3 of them said different things than what they had written down. So much for getting Christmas shopping done early....(hint...don't ever take kids shopping with you after you've already got their presents....they'll always change their mind or see something else they want...we've had to talk to them several times about not getting everything you ask for....) Here they are...Sitting on Santa's lap. What cute kiddos!!

I love the anticipation in Adelyn's eyes! Christmas time is filled with so much MAGIC!!!

Every year after Santa's lap we go an the little train ride!! I love these pictures.... I'm so blessed to have such an incredible husband and kids...aren't they adorable?!?!

What a big boy!! It's hard to believe he's almost 1 year old.... So handsome! Here's Kolby wanting to walk EVERYWHERE!
Oh I love Christmas time, especially spending it with these 5 people!!

Christmas Greetings!!!

Here is our Christmas Card and letter this year!! Enjoy!!! We love you all!!

Merry Christmas

It’s hard to believe that 2008 has already come and gone!! Time sure does fly. Well, we have had another amazing year filled with lots of fun!!!

For those of you who didn’t know, last Christmas was a very memorable one for our family. Kolby David Laing decided he couldn’t wait till his due date (Jan 15th) to join our family, he actually couldn’t wait for Christmas to be done with…he was born at 5:10am on Christmas morning!! He was the best Christmas Present ever!! Kolby will soon be celebrating his 1st birthday…it’s hard to believe… he’s been such a joy to our family. He’s busy almost walking…(I bet he’ll be an official walker before his birthday, he’s really close now!) He loves waving, playing peek-a-boo, being cuddled, clapping his hands, feeding himself and he loves bath time, he loves it when daddy gets home from work, and playing with his brother and sisters!!!

Sophie has had a big year too. She turned 3 this year and loves getting bigger and bigger. After several stubborn months she is now totally potty trained!! Yeahhhhh!!! She has the sweetest voice and loves to sing and dance. She loves playing with Brayden, Adelyn and Kolby and of course Mom and Dad!! She prays faithfully for Aunt Liz and Uncle Paul on their missions and if any of us ever forget she always reminds us. Thanks for keeping us in line Sophie! Sophie loves drawing, coloring and playing princesses and house… What a perfect little 3 year old!!

Adelyn turned 5 this year and is LOVING kindergarten. She is an incredible helper. She is so willing and capable to help with Kolby, She has natural mothering skills, she’ll make a great mom someday!! Adelyn is enjoying learning how to read and is excelling in school! Adelyn took dance and soccer this year too. I knew she would love dance, but you should have seen her on the soccer field. She was awesome! Adelyn is so thoughtful; we find little love notes she’s written us, on our bed almost every day. Then I go around the house and she’s put one on everyone’s bed. So cute! She’s amazing!!

Brayden turned 7 this year and is now in 2nd grade! He loves school too. He’s becoming quite the author. He loves writing stories. He just wrote a “Chronicles of Narnia” book that was 55 pages long. He did it all on his own, There were 10 chapters and he illustrated every page. Every night before he went to bed he would work on his book. Now that he’s done with that he decided that now he wants to write a book that’s so long that you won’t be able to read it all in 1 day… we’ll see how that goes. Brayden wants to read the Book of Mormon before he’s baptized in July and he’s already in the middle of Alma. It’s fun to see how much his reading has improved since he started. Brayden has lost 3 teeth, and he pulled this last one out all by himself. What a brave kiddo! Brayden’s learning how to play the piano; he played baseball and soccer this year. He reminds me of his daddy…he’s just good at everything he does!

LeGrand is still in the bishopric and now he’s the Principal at the Springville High School Seminary. This new assignment has been really fun for him. LeGrand has also coached baseball, 2 soccer teams, spoken at several EFY’s and Youth Conferences. We were able to be Session Directors in Granville Ohio this past summer… so fun!! We were able to go on our “Big Church History Trip” this summer. We saw so many incredible places and had a blast all together as a family. LeGrand loves what he does, but he loves being home even more!! I’m so lucky to have him as my best friend. He’s an amazing father! I love watching him be a Dad, he loves to play with the kids! I’m seriously a lucky girl!

As for me, I love to be a “stay at home” mom…I keep busy trying to keep up with everyone and all their activities. Since life seems to get busier and busier and I haven’t scrapbooked in over a year, I’ve tried keeping up with our family history a different way this year…We have a family blog! It’s been so fun, Feel free to check it out, I update it regularly! The web address is legrandbecslittlelaings.blogspot.com I’m still the Enrichment Leader in our ward and am loving it!! So besides having 4 kids to run around after, being room mom for 2 classes, homework, dinners, housework…(the list goes on and on) I do find time for fun, I love date nights (being out with LeGrand without our lovely kiddos is so rejuvenating to me), I love doing crafty things, I love getting together and playing volleyball, girls night or curling up and reading a good book!!! Life is pretty darn amazing!!

We hope you are all doing well and that this Holiday Season is the best one yet! May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas and live with Gratitude in our hearts for all of our blessing!!
Love,
The Laings
LeGrand, Becca, Brayden, Adelyn, Sophie and Kolby Laing

He's walking!!!

Kolby's walking! His record right now is 19 steps (but who's counting:) )....watch out world...here he comes.

Kolby's not a baby anymore-11 months old

It's hard to believe that Kolby is already 11 months old...Where does time go??!? Kolby doesn't feel like a baby anymore...he's a big kid... I shouldn't be sad about this...it is fun and exciting...but he just grew up to fast....Yesterday, Adelyn came up to me and said, "Mom, it's so sad, Kolby isn't a baby anymore..." I felt like saying, "I know what you mean!" Instead I tried to talk about all the fun and exciting things there are about him growing up. Here's a list of all the things he does now...

*He's Taken 5 Steps...it won't be long before he's running all over the house!

*He gets around everywhere, either by crawling, walking along furniture....he's fast.

*He's an expert with the stairs...he gets up them in about 2 seconds it seems, and he turns around and scoots backwards on his tummy down them. It's adorable!

*He's weened...

*He love to play Patty Cake

*He loves to give High Fives

*He loves to Wave at everyone. Every time I say Goodbye or Good Night...he starts waving!! It's adorable.

*He gets into everything...cupboards, books..you name it he tries to get into it...Yes he even splashed in the toilet, pulled all the toilet paper off and played with the plunger....yuck...luckily it was just the handle and it was only for 1 second....still yuck!!!

*He loves to play with the kids now. It's so cute to see them make Kolby laugh...it makes all of us laugh.

*Kolby loves to feed himself...he's loving more and more table food, holding his own bottle.

*He loves helping me with laundry...OK he just likes pulling all the folded laundry off the couch, but he loves handing everything back to me...it's pretty cute.

*He LOVES it when Daddy gets home from work, I love to see him light up and reach for daddy!!

*He gives kisses...wet, slobbery but so stinkin adorable!! I love it!!

*and he loves, loves, loves to play Peek-a-Boo!!!! Check these out....too cute!!

We love our little 11 month old guy!!!

LeGrand's Favorite Day of the Year...Thanksgiving

Why would Thanksgiving be LeGrand's Favorite Day of the year you might ask....We'll it's filled with Family, Football and Food. We love Thanksgiving! Every Thanksgiving morning it's almost like Christmas for LeGrand...he can hardly sleep. He's up and on the Football field as early as he can be. We love to go watch daddy "Tear it up". He's seriously an amazing football player and it's fun to watch him do something that he Loves to do!

Bryan and Helga came and stayed with us the night before Thanksgiving...we had so much fun being with them, playing Catch Phrase, Helga and I won of course...just like we always do:) But it was a close and intense game! The kids loved reading books with Aunt Helga and it was just fun being all together! LeGrand LOVES playing Football with Bryan! They are such cute Brothers and Friends!! (Bryan and Helga just found out they are going to have a baby girl!!! We are so excited!! Yeahh!!!) Here are some fun pictures of the day!!!

The boys played for hours...LeGrand probably wishes they could keep playing for more hours...it started out good, hard core football, but as the time went on and people started to leave and get tired they let the kiddos join them. Adelyn was the first to ask to play! She's a doll. Brayden, Adelyn and Sophie all ended up playing and everyone was so cute with them, including them, cheering for them, watching out for them....They each scored a Touch Down too!!! It was fun!!! I bet Kolby will be out there with them next year!!

LeGrand and Bryan are such cute Brothers and Friends!! I love watching them together!

This is the best picture I got of LeGrand's skills....All I'm saying is I'm glad he's on my team!!!

This is when LeGrand sprained and ankle...I always get nervous since we have already had so many football injuries...2 sprained ankles, a pulled hamstring, a pulled groin and some sore muscles is what we came away with this time...not too bad. As LeGrand was hobbling around the following day, I asked him if it was worth it and he smiled, chuckled and said ,"Oh YEAH!!" That's my Man!!

Here are the Fans!!!! Go Daddy & Uncle Bryan!!!!!

After a while of sitting there cheering...Adelyn decided she wanted to play...

Then Brayden and Sophie decided they wanted to play too...Here is a hand off to Brayden...The run.....and the Touch Down!!!! Go Brayden!!! Aren't they all so cute playing out there with the big guys!!

I'm sorry but do you get any cuter than this!?!?

Kolby sure loves his Daddy!!!

These boys had the best fans around... actually we were the only fans there..but that's OK! I guess all the other wives were busy cooking a Thanksgiving Feast...but we just ran home after the Amazing football game and whipped some last minute things together and headed over to the Williams house!
OK, Talk about a Thanksgiving Feast!!! The Williams Crew really knows how to throw a party!! Meridee, Thank you soooo much for inviting us to spend Thanksgiving with you guys!! We love you and love spending time with your family!! You guys are the Coolest. Oh and we LOVE the addition to your home!! It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!
What more could you ask for, to be with people you love, relax, eat, play games....It was a perfect day...

Here we are getting ready....This was seriously Yummy, Yummy Food!!! Good Job Everyone!!!

Oh we have sooooo many things to be Thankful for!!! All the kiddos did great, they are all buds and love to play together!! Grandma & Grandpa Ras were there, Meridee & Lind, Courtney & Matt, Joel & Beth, Megan & Dan and of course Cam, he had a few friends over too...plus all the kiddos!
Seth, Brandi and Nicci came over and visited for a while too!! What a Treat! It's so fun when we can get together!! We love you guys!!! ...I'm bummed I didn't get any pictures though. Brandi send me some of the ones you took...please!!! Thanks, I love you tons! Oh, Grandma and Grandpa Ras are some of my favorite people!! It's hard to see them get older. The past few years have been really hard on them....Grandma has Alzheimer's...it's still in the early stages but it's challenging none the less. Grandpa had a stroke this past year and you can tell taking care of Grandma has been hard on him. Bless them....they are such good people, it's hard to see them get older and suffer!! But they are still amazing!

Wow, when the kids just play happily and peacefully all day you know they are good kids, good friends and had a good time!! Thanks Williams Crew!! We love you!!!

I pulled it out all by myself and I tricked the Tooth Fairy!!!

Our Bray-man is sooo brave. He just lost his 4th tooth and he pulled it out all by himself. He worked on it for what seemed like a long time, he told us he wanted to do it all by himself...Here he is...Look at how loose he got it...this was right before he pulled it out. He was just pulling it down... CRAZY.

TaDa!!!! He did it... He didn't even cry!! I didn't even do that when I was a kid. I'm impressed! Here's his cheesy-toothless smile!! How cute!! Brayden has 3 more teeth that are just a little bit loose now...we'll see how long till they all come out. I guess he should enjoy his teeth while he still has them.

Ok, Something funny happened. Brayden was so excited to pull his tooth out, put it under his pillow so that the TOOTH FAIRY would come, leave him a dollar all covered in glitter...I went into Brayden's room about 1 1/2 hours after he went to bed to put something away and Brayden sat up and told me that he had felt something move his pillow. I asked him if the tooth was still there and he reached under his pillow and pulled out and envelope all covered in glitter. He opened it and he had $1.00 bill covered in glitter. He was so excited, but then he told me he was just pretending to be asleep and he heard the "Tooth Fairy" come in, then he peeked. All he saw was an arm, he said it was like a regular persons arm...then he closed his eyes really tight again, still pretending to be asleep. He was so excited that he tricked to "Tooth Fairy" and now is certian that the Tooth Fairy is just like the Fairies on Sleeping Beauty that can either be small or big. He went to school today telling everyone that he pulled his own tooth out and that he saw and tricked the Tooth Fairy. Wow, we got lucky! I felt pretty deflated when I got into bed, I guess I'm not as good as I thought I was...no, it's not easy being the Tooth Fairy.