celebrating the birth of our savior.

what a perfect christmas! we love waking up in our own, cozy home on christmas morning. very special indeed. kyri came in our room to wake us at 7:30. she was so excited that is was christmas! i made the cinnamon roll dough the night before, so before we began the festivities, kyri helped me roll them up and get them ready for the oven. while i fed kaden, kevin read the nativity story to kyri...a new tradition we started this year. before we open presents, we will read the story of Jesus' birth as a family.

kaden and kyri had matching snowmen jammies. so cozy and adorable! we started with stockings, which is always my favorite. kyri loved her new water bottle and the tiny candy canes...of course. kyri was extra excited to open every present! the first one she opened was her sleeping beauty barbie doll. she said, "this is what i always wanted!" barbie's were the only thing she asked for christmas. so fun seeing her light up with every present she opened! kaden got a toy train...which kyri loves to play with too. kyri's "big" present was her barbie house. she opened it and said, "mom, this is what we always needed!" i guess that was the only thing missing in her life...a barbie house. she hasn't stopped playing with it since.

kevin got me a super cool coffee cup that i'm in love with. it keeps my tea/coffee hot for hours. way to go, thermos! he also gave me a really nice chef knife, which i'm also in love with. good knives really do make all the difference. i got a few more kitchen items too...he knows me so well. thanks, babe! kevin got a new razor, clothes, and a sweet hat. there was a lot of love in the room when we were opening presents. i love my family. we have grown so close in these past few months and i'm just enjoying every second together.

we spent the entire day at home, being lazy. being together. we enjoyed the heavenly cinnamon rolls, played mario kart (thanks, uncle andy, for letting us borrow your wii!), and watched the christmas parade. we had our friends from seattle, sarah and joel, over for dinner. they were in town and we haven't seen them in forever. so good to catch up! i made tri-tip for dinner, which was quite delectable. a good ending to a wonderful day. thank you, jesus, for coming into this world. we celebrate your birth and the amazing gift of love that you have given to us.

daddy did such a nice job wrapping the presents.

merry christmas, sweet girl!

yay! a new princess toothbrush!

kaden's favorite...froggy toy from his stocking.

good morning!

quite content.

cool train, buddy!

happy as can be.

christmas jammies.

the best christmas gifts!

irresistible.

all kaden wanted for christmas was his mama.

kyri and daddy playing mario kart...she is convinced it's the coolest game ever.

we got out the exersaucer for kaden and he loves it!

christmas was a joyous day.

christmas eve.

on christmas eve, we headed to paradise to spend the day with my family. so thankful kev had the day off so he could be with us. we all met at nana's (my mom's) house. she made lots of yummy treats...all my grandma's traditional christmas recipes. we enjoyed just being together. kyri was in heaven with her cousins and was pooped by the end of the day. we opened gifts, stuffed our bellies, and loved on all the babies. good day. love my family.

my beautiful sister, stephanie...and our little loves.

kaden and melody.

lovin' on melody.

she makes him smile.

thanks for my first barbie doll, papa!

uncle dana and his daughter, riley. papa gave all the grandbabies musical christmas cards...such a hit!

little snooze on his mama.

coloring cousins.

the grandbabies...riley, kindra, kyri, marcus, kaden, melody, kayla.

christmas tree, oh christmas tree.

it's a must to have a real christmas tree. a fake one just won't do. we went with a $10 tree from wise buys this year...and we were not disappointed! we had to trim the top and a few branches, but it was overall a beautiful tree. the next day, we spent the afternoon decorating our tree as a family. this was the first year we could really let kyri help decorate the tree and she was so excited! kevin put the lights on...i get so frustrated with the lights so this year, kev took the job. thanks, babe! kyri put the star on top when we were all finished. so proud of herself. christmas traditions warm my heart.

such a good helper.

getting in the holiday spirit!

putting the star on our beautiful tree.

good job, kryi and daddy!

he completes me.
(kyri took this picture)

christmas celebrations.

making salt-dough christmas ornaments to give as gifts.

she did such a good job...my little crafter!

decorating sugar cookies at our playgroup christmas gathering.

holiday baking with mama. the best.

kaden and his buddies, matthias and anna, at the women's christmas sock swap. so fun that these little ones get to grow up together!

pre-school at lauri's house...making monkey muffins for our baking lesson. they were so yummy!

singing "rudolf the red-nosed reindeer" with jacob and micah. thanks, lauri, for the adorable reindeer antlers!

we had the ernst family over for dinner and kyri and gabriel made gingerbread houses together.

i made the gingerbread and frosting from scratch...lots of work, but so worth it! lauri brought all of the festive christmas candy. so fun!

quite proud of her delicious masterpiece!

love this christmas tradition.

all dressed up for the candle-light service at church. christmas loves.

kaden's dedication to Jesus.

kaden micheal hornacek
dedicated on december 6, 2009

an important part of kevin's family visit, was to be here for kaden's baby dedication. meant so much to us. grandma, grandpa, uncle andy, and my mom were all a part of kaden's special day. kyri was also dedicated at emmaus, when she was a year old. what a blessing to have our pastor, nathan, dedicate both of our beautiful children. we love our church community. emmaus is like family to us and it so wonderful to raise our children in a church where we feel so supported and loved. not only did we dedicate our precious kaden to Jesus, but we also promised as his parents to raise him in the faith and direct him to Jesus. our gracious church community made the commitment to encourage God's work in his life...amazing. such a memorable day in our son's life. one that we will cherish forever. kaden michael...you are truly a gift from God. we love you, sweet baby boy.

our prayer for kaden...

for this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. and we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

colossians 1:9-12

a moment to remember.

blessed.

brings me peace.

celebrating kaden's special day at red robin!

just in case you missed it...you can see the video of kaden's baby dedication here.