Christmas 2009

We hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas!!! We sure had a great time with our little family, but we also went to see our parents throughout the week and enjoyed spending some time with them. We really enjoyed every moment that we had together and are grateful for our friends and family that sent us really nice cards, gifts, or texts letting us know how they are enjoying their wonderful holidays! Ethan really enjoyed Christmas and when anyone would say "presents" he would drop everything and run over to open the gift!! It was really great to watch the little twinkle in his eyes! We hope that you all enjoyed the 2009 year and hope that you all have a great New Year full of excitement and adventures!!! Here are some pictures of our different family Christmases!

As a little girl, Sharifa's family always made a sugar cookie cake for Jesus' birthday and would always sing "Happy Birthday"!!! So we decided to start doing this for our little family Christmas traditions! As a little boy, Steve's family would always make sugar cookies and would use the rest of the dough and make logs for all the boys in the family. We decided to do this also as part of our own little family Christmas traditions!Ethan blowing out the candle for Jesus!! We let Ethan eat his log while reading the Christmas story from the bible.

Christmas morning, Santa came and stuffed Ethan's stocking with treats and lots of different cars!!!!

Santa didn't just give Ethan cars he also got him a way cool car track!!!!
While daddy was putting the track together mommy helped Ethan open another present from us!
He got a really cool guitar!!! He loves this present so much we have all the songs memorized!!
Now that the track is put together Ethan and daddy try it out!! Thank you Santa!!
Ethan got daddy a new calender for the new year!
Aunt Ash got Daisy new PJs! Thanks Aunt Ash!Aunt Ash made this really cool quilt for Daisy, if you look close you can see Daisy written in the blanket!! That's so cool!!! Thanks!!
Aunt Ash and Uncle Dave got Ethan this really cool book that he loves to play with!!! Thank you guys!!!Steve got this shirt from his brother Brad, he also got NFL cards too! Thanks Brad!!!
Ethan got mini Handy Manny and tools from his Phillips cousins, Uncle Brad, and Aunt Claire. Thanks guys. He loves them!! Just a little note-- Uncle Matt and Aunt Sierra gave Ethan a bigger toy of Handy Manny and his tools, Ethan loves to use the tools to fix everything!! Thanks for the cool toys guys!!!

Mommy and Daddy got Ethan his very favorite show; Phineas and Ferb!!!
Sharifa got Steve this really cool new Cowboys hat!
Steve got the new Madden football game from Sharifa!!!
Sharifa got the earrings from Ethan, the book from Steve, and the movie also is from Steve. Even though Steve got the movie for Sharifa Ethan loves to watch this movie over and over again!!!Thanks to everyone!!!!!

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Phillips
Grandma and Grandpa got Ethan a really cool car track to go along with the others that Santa got him!
Ethan loves to read so Grandma and Grandpa got him some Pixar books that he just really adores!!!

Ethan got some really cool new clothes too! What great Grandparents!!!
Ethan and daddy trying out the new car track that Grandma and Grandpa got him!

Ethan hanging out with Lenard while watching a basketball game! They really enjoyed each others company!!

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa McClaskey

We went to Sharifa's parents' Christmas party and saw Santa!! Ethan thinks he's great as long as he doesn't have to sit on Santa's lap!!!

Mommy helping Ethan open a gift from his stocking that Grandma and Grandpa M stuffed for him!

Ethan playing his flute that he got from Grandma and Grandpa M in his stocking!!

Ethan calling his Uncle Matt on his new fancy new cell phone!!

Ethan opening a present from Grandma and Grandpa M!!!Ethan trying out his pad that Grandma and Grandpa gave him!!Daddy helping Ethan open a gift from grandma and grandpa!Steve showing off his new PJ pants that mom and dad got him! Sharifa got a pair too and we love them!!! Thanks mom and dad!!!Ethan trying out his new flute while enjoying a little ride in the doll stroller!!Daddy reading Ethan a Christmas story!

Holidays are here!!!

So this past Saturday we (Steve and Sharifa) were able to have our first date in a long time!!! We went on a day trip to do some Christmas shopping and decided that we could go see a movie, so we went and saw a Christmas Carol in 3D! It was so nice not to have to chase the little man around the mall and scream "Ethan! Ethan! Come here!!" We were able to watch a movie and not have to worry about the two year old turning off the TV 'cause he was done watching. It turned out to be a really good movie, but we both decided that it was a good idea we didn't let Ethan come see it. There were some jumpy scenes, but all in all it was a good movie to go see in the theaters. Later that evening we picked up Ethan from the Grandparents' house and went to see Santa and his little villages. Ethan really loved to see the villages, but seeing Santa was a different story. It was a nice day and we really enjoyed spending time together without the little man. We know that he had lots of fun with his Grandparents because he gets spoiled whenever he's around them. We are grateful to have parents around that would be willing to help us out by taking care of him so that we could have one peaceful shopping day!!

Thanks !!!! Ethan checking out Santa's different building that are placed in BC!!
Checking out what the Elves are doing!!!
Ethan loves walking in the snow, so he had to grab daddy and take him across the new fallen snow!!
Ethan taking daddy to see ALL of the different lights on the city square!!!! Ethan having fun in the snow while daddy is starting to freeze!

*We did go see Santa, but Sharifa has to find away to post the picture of Ethan and Santa! We are planning on seeing Santa again this weekend, so we'll have both pictures up asap!!

Christmas Extcitement!!!!

So we are totally excited for Christmas and didn't get the chance to set up all our decor the day after Thanksgiving. So we did it on the last day of November and we think we still look pretty festive!!! Ethan is loving all the decorations this year; even though every year he loves to see all the light, this year is more special! We have a sing and dancing Santa that he loves to push the button and watch Santa move. This year we are letting him put the stars up to count down the days 'till Christmas is here. The past few days we have been able to get all of our little Christmas movies out for him to watch and he just loves to watch them over and over again!!! Some that he really loves to watch are our Charlie Brown collection ( Charlie Brown's Christmas and I want a dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown). Steve and Sharifa had never before sat down to watch the second movie and just recently did. We think it's so funny!!!! If you haven't seen it you should 'cause it has Rerun (a more newer character) on it. This year we have decided to have our own little family Christmas and stay at home to start up our own little traditions. We will be going to Grandparents' houses during the season to spend some time with them, of course!!! We are so excited to be able to make this year a memorable moment for our Ethan!!! It's going to be the last one with just him as our only child!! We hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season and please remember what it's all about!!!!! Here are some pictures of us getting ready for the season! We love you all and just want to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas!!!

Ethan watching Santa shake his thing!!!
Our family advent calendar (start counting!!!)!

Ethan getting some help from daddy to put up an ornament!

Ethan hanging up an ornament by himself!!

Our finished Christmas tree!!!

Sharifa's Grandma Jordan made this tree when she was alive!!!! She's grateful to be able to have something of her grandmother's. Also these are a few Nativities Sharifa has gotten from others throughout the years!!

This is the very first Nativity Sharifa got when she was only 3 years old!!! If you can't tell the angels did not come with the set (ha! ha! ha!)!!! It is one of her favorite items that she owns and it brings back fond memories of Christmases pastes!!!

These bear Nativities are part of Sharifa's mother's collection which she was willing to give to Sharifa!!!! (Thanks Mom!!!)

Ethan is putting up his/the family Nativity. We are grateful that Grandma M was willing to get our family a fun and playful set!!!

The finished product!!!

Grateful!!!

So for the past few weeks we have been going through a lot of ups and downs with our life. We have also been able to see all the many blessing that we have been given. At this time of year there are so many things to be thankful for! Our family is really grateful that Steve has a job that is able to provide a roof over our heads and be able to give us food on our table; especially when a lot of families are having a hard time finding or keeping a job! Also we are very grateful for both sets of families that we come from. We are grateful that we have such great parents and siblings that seem so willing to help us out when we need it or when we don't even ask! We have learned this year that our families are very important to us and want to let you all know that we are grateful for you, our parents and siblings!!! There are some people that are not related to us by name, but we do consider you family because of the close bond that we share with you. And for that we are truly grateful!!!! We are also grateful to be married to one another and have each other as life-time (and eternal) companions with such a great little boy to help us through every day!!!! The health of everyone including the little Daisy is also another blessing that we feel very grateful for!!!! For all that read this post thank you for your friendship and kindness we are very blessed to have you in our lives, even if we don't see you every day we are truly grateful for you!!! Your support also means a lot to our little family!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Our little family! We're grateful for each member!!!

The McClaskeys

(Maverick is missing-sorry this was taken before he was born)

The Phillips