Sunday, December 23, 2012

Merry Christmas!


Greetings to all from the lovely state of Nebraska!  This past year has been filled with fun and exciting times.  It is always a joy to reflect on our many blessings over the past year and share them with those we love so much.  Enough of the mushy sentiments, let’s jump in!

Melanie continues to excel at being the best do-it-all wife and mother.  As a Christmas gift last year she was enrolled in a photography course at our local community college.  She continues to take the most amazing photos.  She even had the opportunity to do a wedding shoot, which turned out lovely in spite of all the accompanying stress.  She has spent so much time laying tile and painting walls in our lovely home that it is such a shame we will likely have to leave the old place.  Let’s hope her efforts don’t go unnoticed by potential buyers!

Jon has been slaving away in residency, not much has changed there.  He has a newfound interest in endoscopy.  But his real love lies in rural medicine as he has discovered over the past 6 weeks working in the grand metropolis of David City, Nebraska.  Nothing like doing some colonoscopies, an inguinal hernia repair, seeing patients in clinic, covering the Emergency Department, and performing a C-section all in the same day.  The only opportunity to do that in the Air Force is to be in a faculty position at a residency program or serve in Japan.  We should be finding out soon which opportunity awaits us.

Jaedon (7) is growing like a weed.  His two front teeth are finally starting to fill in.  He is making the most of second grade; however he really doesn’t like to talk much about what goes on at school.  When asked what his favorite part about the day was it is always recess.  We think the reason he likes recess so much is because that’s when he has the opportunity to mingle with the lady folk.  He’s such a heartbreaker!  He played coach pitch this year and did really well, although he wasn’t too excited about it.  Dad bought him a set of golf clubs and hopes that he finds that much more interesting so he can have a golfing buddy.

Olivia (5) just recently donated 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love.  It was a brave and bold decision made by our sweet little girl who wanted to have hair as long as Rapunzel.  She seems to be enjoying her new doo, probably because it is soooo much easier to brush the snarls out in the morning.  She entered preschool for the second year in a row as she wasn’t old enough to advance to kindergarten.  She is now working on reading and doing a great job at it.  She was involved in T-ball as well this summer, and we struck out again.  She does get enough exercise around the house dancing and singing to all her Barbie movies, and whipping up pretend goodies in her toy kitchen.     

Sofia (3) is our little ball of fire.  We keep thinking this spunky little girl will settle down, but that’s probably not going to happen.  She keeps us on our toes.  We are proud to report that we haven’t had any visits from law enforcement over the year.  Maybe we are headed in the right direction?  She wants to be so much like her older siblings that she decided to enroll in school as well, with Mrs. Bassett as her teacher.  She thought that was fun for a day or two, but doesn’t like the idea so much at this point in the year.  She is looking forward to graduating from nursery and moving on to Sunbeams at the beginning of the year.

Jack (1) has grown into quite an affectionate little man.  He is known for his big bear hugs and snuggles.  He has won over the hearts of all who have met him.  His new best friend is Brother Cox in our ward, also known as the Candy Man.  As soon as we sit down for Sacrament he is off to collect his treats for the day!  He loves to get into everything he knows he shouldn’t be getting into.  Lately he has a passion for climbing tall objects.  We thought for sure he would be our first child with stitches, but surprisingly Jaedon beat him to that.  Let’s hope he doesn’t try to follow big brother’s footsteps in that regard.

That about sums things up for the Bassett family for 2012.  As the year comes to a close and we move closer to Christmas, we are again reminded of the many blessings we have been given.  We are most grateful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; for all that he has done to give us the greatest gift of all.  We are also so grateful for all our wonderful family and friends.  We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Love,

Jon, Mel, Jaedon, Olivia, Sofia, and Jack

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

young at heart

Jon's birthday was on Saturday. The kids were so excited for him to come home and Jon was trying to talk them into letting him open his present early (Friday night). Sofia did tell him what it was though too. And I guess he all ready knew what it was, but still. We did wait until Saturday morning.
We talked about maybe getting Jaedon a remote control truck for Christmas, but then decided why not Jon get it for his birthday! That then started many stories of his childhood and the good times he had with his banshee growing up. The kids have loved it and of course Jon loves it as well.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

phone booth

There is a cool old red phone booth there in Old Market, and I wanted to get some pictures in front of it with the kids. Color pictures would have been nice, but there was too much of a red glare on their skin. So, I went with the next best thing, black and whites.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Jack boy

Our little monkey. He has such personality all ready, even though he doesn't talk, but we love him more than anything. He is always trying to do what the big kids are doing. He is a momma's boy and still loves to snuggle (which I obviously love). Love our cute little buddy.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Sofia

Next we have are little Sofi-bops. This girl is a one of a kind. She has attitude and spirit, and passion. She can be in her own world most of the time too. Love this girl and the many smiles she brings each day into our home.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Miss Livy

Here is our Livy-bops. She is the sweetest girl. She is so tender hearted, and is laid back and easy going, and is a very big helper with her siblings. She is so very special.
For some reason she wants to give us a grin instead of a smile lately...
  a grin with attitude...
 there we go. Our cute Livy.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Mr. Jaedon

Love this "big" buddy of ours. He is so sweet and kind, and always trying to do what is right and wants to please those around him. His 2 front teeth decided to finally grow in. Oh, and if you look closely you can see his stitches to your left of the top of his hair line. He was out at recess a couple of days before we took these and he was standing by the brick wall with some of his friends trying to get warm, and out of no where a basketball came and hit his head causing the other side to hit the wall. Surprisingly it didn't bleed very much, but was quite deep. He was a trooper through the whole experience.

Friday, November 23, 2012

kiddos

Love these kiddos. Nothing more really to explain about them.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

family pics

As I have done before, I will have different posts each day of our family pictures. And also like years past, we have left it up to the trusty old timer on the camera to capture our family.
 
These cute boots are what we planned our outfits around. Love them, and loved them even more when I got them on sale. :D
We went to a place called Old Market. It is in Omaha, and is just lovely. As you can see the cobble road, awesome old brick buildings and vines growing up them. I loved this location, but it would have been better if we would have been there in the afternoon and not morning. But I think it still turned out all right.
 We did manage to find a cute little spot that was in the shade though too.
 The crazy pictures are by far my favorites. The personality of everyone comes out.
 And I am throwing these in here with this post because I don't really want a post of just Jon and I. :)