Roller Skating

After a LOOOOONG week of Jackson being sick and parent teacher conferences, I got to stay home with the kids on Friday.  We decided to take off in the afternoon and go to the Cross Creek roller skating party.  Brady has been wanting to try roller skating for awhile now and I thought this would be a perfect time to do it!

Brady was so excited and I was happy to see my friend Shelly and her daughter Lexi there.  Shelly and Lexi were a huge help with both boys!!

Brady had so much fun skating around the rink with Shelly.  Jackson was done after a couple times around and he only wanted mom so Shelly spent a lot of time skating with Brady and she has some great stories to tell.  He jumped up at one point and said, "Look, no wheels!"

Jackson skated for a little bit and then he wanted to be held....this was NOT allowed.  I got reprimanded for holding him.  OOPS :)

Skating with my boys....thanks also to Shelly for being my photographer :)

I am so glad to have this wonderful woman as my friend!!  She is AMAZING :)

Panama Trip

Dear Family and Friends,


I am excited to share with you about an opportunity that I have to serve God in a way unlike anything else that I have ever done.

I have the opportunity to be a part of a short-term missions trip to Panama City, Panama, during the first week of April. We will be leaving on April 3 and flying to Panama City where we will be serving.

I am excited to go on this trip not just to help others, but also to grow personally in my walk with Jesus. I feel that He has called me on this trip and I am amazed by how He has already provided for me in ways that I could never imagine. Shortly after deciding to go on this trip, I had a very good friend of mine express an interest in going with me. How amazing that God provided a close friend to share in this experience with me and ease my mind in stepping out into the unknown! I am so eager to see what else He has in store for me during this week.

I would like to invite you to share in this experience with me through prayer. Please pray that His will is done on this trip and that, through our team, others will see the love that Christ has for them. Please pray that our team will be open to God’s Spirit working in us and through us. I am looking for two people who would be prayer partners for our team and pray specifically during the week for safe travels, safety and health of our team, and that we are productive in our work. If you are interested in this, please let me know so I can give you specific prayer requests and the dates we will be gone.

If you would like to participate financially you may, as each team member needs to raise $799 for the trip. While Brett and I are planning to fund the trip personally, we want to allow those who desire to give the opportunity to do so. You may give online through the KCC website at http://kentwoodcommunitychurch.com/missionsfund designating your donation to my account for the Panama City mission trip. If you would prefer, checks can be made out to Kentwood Community Church.

Thank you for thinking about partnering with me in this trip. It would mean a lot to me to know that you are praying for our team as we travel and work in Panama City. I know that it will make a difference in the work that we do while we are there.

In His Service,

Jenn Kidd

Bowling Fun

We have wanted to take Brady bowling for awhile now and we finally had a chance to do it about a week ago.  Brady LOVES bowling on the Wii and he also got a bowling set for Christmas that he's been practicing with so we were pretty sure he would love the real thing.  We decided to make it a family event and take Jackson along with us too!  Jackson enjoyed it for a little bit and then he just wanted to investigate everything - especially the ball return!!

Brady was so excited about the cool bowling shoes - he couldn't wait to put them on!! 

Jackson was ready for some bowling action, too!!

Since Jackson got tired of bowling, Brady bowled for himself and for Jackson...check out that follow through :) 

We had to get a picture by the giant bowling pin :) It was a fun night and we ended it by going home and having some ice cream!!

Final Scores: Brady 63, Jackson 70 (really Brady), Brett 112, and Jenn 112

Not as good as our high scores of 193 for Brett and 163 for Jenn at my work Christmas party!!!

A Visit with Great Great Grandma Nell

Our boys are so fortunate to have so many living grandparents, including TWO great great grandmothers.  On New Year's Eve we visited Great Great Grandma Nell who is 96 1/2 years old and still lives in her own home!!  She is so sweet and I ALWAYS enjoy visiting with her.  The boys love to visit because we usually have treats when we go to see her! 

At the Dutch Bakery picking up our donuts and goodies!!

Grandma Nell even set up a little table in the kitchen with cushions for the boys!!

Brady and Jackson enjoyed playing a little piano...hopefully someday they will really play!!

Five generations - Bubba, Brady, Bamma Shelley, Jackson, and Grandma Great Nell

(missing the fourth - Brett)

Jackson

Jackson has been SO much fun lately.  He makes us laugh ALL the time and he's learning so many new things.  It's so much fun to watch him discover things and do things just to entertain us. 

This video shows some of the best of Jackson.  It is from a few weeks ago when we were home on a snow day and we called my mom.  He LOVES to talk on the phone, SCREAMS when something happens that he doesn't like, and is learning lots of new words.



We are so blessed with our two boys and I'm so thankful for all the laughter and joy they bring to our lives.  We are so busy with them and I know it will only get busier, but I'm so thankful we have them to keep us busy!!  I can't imagine life without them!

All I want for Christmas....

is a snowboard.  This is all Brady has been asking for when he is asked about what he wants for Christmas and we weren't quite sure if it was a good idea.  We ended up giving in and my mom actually got it for him.  I don't know where he got the idea that he wanted a snowboard since we don't do a lot of winter sports.  My best guess is Diego :) 
We didn't have Christmas with my family until yesterday so Brady was a little disappointed on Christmas after he didn't get a snowboard.  Don't get me wrong, he was still very happy about all of his other gifts, but there was definitely some disappointed when there was no snowboard.  Finally....he got to open THE PRESENT.

Here is video of him opening the snowboard, we saved it for last.



And, today we went out twice for him to try it.  We only got this video as our memory card was full, but I'll try to get a better one in the next few days.



We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and got everything you wanted :)

Christmas and Winter Fun

Hurray for our first snow day!! Now I can catch all of you up on our winter/Christmas activities so far this year!! The boys have both been loving the snow and Christmas activities so far this year and it just makes me enjoy it so much more too. I've always enjoyed Christmas, but having the boys allows me to see Christmas through a child's eyes again and it's SO much fun!

We didn't waste any time in decorating! We got right to work the day after Thanksgiving. Brady helped to hang our stockings with care...I wonder if he'll fill them with goodies too??

Here are a few of our latest activities in photos!!

The day after Thanksgiving Jackson and I had tons of fun baking with my mother-in-law, her sisters, and lots of cousins and kids!!! It was a big group and we made LOTS of cookies!

Jackson getting ready for the first delicious Christmas cookie of the season!! These are the BEST cookies!!! YUM :)

I was excited to learn how to make banket this year. I love EATING it, but I've never made it before. I had my first experience with making it and Jackson wanted to help as well. He had lots of fun rolling the dough for the banket :) Baking can get a little messy!!!

This is the look we get from Jackson now when the camera comes out. He's become a poser for the camera and it is absolutely HILARIOUS!! The boys LOVE the snow. Brady is constantly asking me and Brett, "Don't you just love the snow?" It's really cute and funny!! They can't wait for this snowstorm and all of the snow it will bring!!

I am sure I will have more snow pictures for you after our big storm!!