A beautiful, crisp saturday morning. The humid air froze to the trees like crystals. It was just amazing in the morning sun! I wish I had more time to capture the beauty.

Silly orange-smile kids!

Peekaboo! This is Isaac's carseat cover. First child I have had one with. I love it! It is elastic and just pops on over him after I buckle him in. He stays nice and cozy. I'm glad he stays in the infant seat until the winter is over!

My poor neglected child feeding himself on the floor.

Getting brave, still getting used to pulling up - and staying up.

Lydia finding ways to entertain herself (and us).

Isaac is just beginning to explore all the things around him. He doesn't dump everything or put things in his mouth YET.

Look at the size of this babydoll! Isaac likes to pick at his eyes and other features. Better him than me.

A couple weeks ago, out of desparation in the night I gave Isaac the bottle to start drinking to keep him quiet while I did an emergency middle of the night night diaper change. I found that he wanted it enough to hold it himself! So... why not do it again? The poor neglected child often eats lying on his back on this mat holding his own bottle. Then he gets up and wanders around, the nipple held between his toothless gums! (he actually has just two little teeth coming in on the bottom in the middle.

Traditional Baldauf get together for New Year's Day. Joseph sits nearby while Josh works on a card for Kenneth and his family. One of Scott's cousins brought all kinds of supplies for people to create cards that she would send on to Kenneth during his chemotherapy treatments over the next few months. What a great idea!

Daddy relaxing with Phil standing in the background.

Grandma enjoying Isaac with Herb in the background.

Hilda arranged the missionary couple from her unit to do a little program for us. Here they called the children up to sing a few fun Holiday songs with them. Phil & Lori's kids join ours. (or the other way around)

For our anniversary we took the family to Palmyra for an overnight at the Temple President's house. In the fall President Sherwood put Scott on the spot during Stake Conference. Isaac was asleep in Scott's arms during the meeting (in the 3rd row), and Pres. Sherwood said he needed a Dad with a small child in his arms, preferably asleep. Scott didn't see the Dad on the other end of the row in front of us with a child in the same situation, so he obediently stood up. President Sherwood brought Scott to the stand and proceeded to ask questions you might find in an interview with the Savior. Questions about family relationships, scripture reading, family prayer... Scott did a great job, and Isaac stayed asleep the whole time. After the meeting Pres. and Sis. Sherwood invited us to come to the temple, sleep at their house and they'd watch the kids. How could we pass it up?

So, to keep with tradition of celebrating our anniversary in the temple (12 this year), we headed to Palmyra with the troops. The Sherwoods had visitors while we were there so there were even other kids to play with. We ordered pizza and subs for lunch, Daddy played in the snow with the boys, and we ended our day with Dinner at Diane and Joseph's and left the kids with them overnight to celebrate New Year's Eve and meet us at the Baldauf New Year's Day celebration. What a week!

After cleaning the church we went sledding at the big hill on the Colgate campus. This was all part of the plan, but the day ended up very cold and WINDY! I ended up leaving Isaac in the car and walking back and forth. The kids stuck together and complained after an hour when I said I'd had enough.

I love seeing the kids walking back up the hill. Smiles from the ride, helping each other carry sleds and brave the climb.

The week of Christmas Break I signed us up to clean the church. The kids complain when they hear that I have gone while they are at school. We have tried going after school before, but that makes for a grumpy family. Anyway, I came prepared to let them find what needed to be done and get down to business. They vacuumed, cleaned chalk boards, trimmed loose yarn from the carpeting and fought over who got to take the garbage to the dumpster.

I allowed Isaac to help me take down the tree, and ended up with a major tangle of lights, ribbon and bead strands. After Isaac worked on it, I worked on it, then Josh, then Lydia, then I finished it off. It literally took the whole time we were there to have complete success! What fun!

Caleb's concert 12/10

The kids took Isaac behind the blue chair and put diapers on him over his clothes. They thought they were hilarious!

The children spend the week after Christmas enjoying the few family gifts we received. I did a new program this year with gifts. We did The Twelve Days of Christmas. Each day we read scripture, had a Christmas Story or read from Church Magazines, then sang Christmas songs, then each child was able to choose from the prize box. The box is filled with small toys or treats I have collected from the dollar store or second-hand store. It gave the children something to look forward to each day, and they were able to enjoy what they got for at least a whole day. I wanted to eliminate the Christmas Day phenomenon of opening and casting aside, looking for something better. Then at our traditional Christmas Eve Celebration at the farm (at which I realized that my memory card was full) I presented the kids with some family games and the LEGO sets from Grandma Camilla. We avoided disappointment and enjoyed what we received! Merry Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas! The children enjoyed each having their own chocolate advent calendar to count down to Christmas. I let them be in charge of it. Lydia opened any number and was often one or two ahead or behind. Josh opened lots of windows, but tried to eat the candy in order. Caleb, of course, was very careful to care for his board, ate everything in order and has saved the box and tray so he can pour new chocolate into the molds for next year.

Lydia ready to go to Grandma's on Christmas Eve - 4 hours ahead of schedule!

Christmas with Benjamin and Isaac and Lydia on the farm.