2010 to a Close

Santa at my Mom and Dad's house.

Taylor patiently waiting in her PJ's.

This is the kind of smile you get from Mati when Santa comes.

And Elle, a little tired, but ready to tear into some presents.

Santa at our house. We went to look at Christmas lights the evening before Christmas Eve. I saw Santa fly above our house in his sleigh and we quickly headed back home to see that Santa had come! Benjamin was amazed that the milk and cookies were alllll gone! But he didn't understand why Santa didn't stay around to chit chat.

Ben may like building more with Jonna's blocks she got from Santa than he did.

We had a white Christmas this year, we woke up to 5 inches of snow on Christmas Eve Morning, and we had to have a little play time before we headed to my family's house.

My little snow bunnies.



Who says you can't swing on the swingset in the middle of winter.

Jonna was never quite sure about all the white stuff. But she did learn to throw herself down in it and laugh in delight until she realized she couldn't quite stand back up by herself. It went up to her knee!

The family before Christmas mass.

On Christmas Day! At my Mom and Dad's house. Jake got off work that morning and met us there. We clean up all right.

Eight out of the ten kids. Not too shabby. L to R, Tom, Terressa, me, Anna, Natasha, Katie, Johnny, and in front Charlie. Jess and Jason. Sorry you didn't get to be in this beautiful portrait. ;). Notice the flowers in each of the girls hair. My idea!

Anna and Elle and Mati, I think Elle is upset that she can't play and has to go to church.

Terressa and her two, Taylor and Jackson. Lookin good Mama.

Family photo op with Anna's friend Darryl. Another clan that cleans up real well.

Hmmmm. Not much to say here. Except Christmas is always fun with all of us there. A little stressful on Ma Kusick. The younger generation of the Kusicks.



Congrats to this good lookin couple. Tash and Cliff or "Red Dog" which we have found to be his nickname. Welcoming number 9 grandchild to the Kusick side. Yay! Due July 27th. Loving those July Birthdays!



My Two youngest sisters. Do you know Katie will be Mom and Dad's 9th child to graduate highschool this May? Pretty impressive. Katie will start college in Missouri State of Springfield next Fall.


Anna and Mr. D.

Always trying to get that perfect family photo. We can only try.



Now, as you have noticed above and below. The STACHE! Yes, Jake is sporting a nice crowbar mustache. It takes a certain type of guy to be able to pull this off. Especially, when that guy is only turning 31 this month. As pointed out by a friend--AHEM, Miranda. It can almost appear creepy. It's a fine line between Adolf Hitler and well, dare I say it.....an 80's porn star. But then there are those guys, that sport this Style and may even be the "pioneer" of his demographic--In Jake's own words.
But as we all know, a wife's opinion has a lot do do with this drastic facial change on their still young husband. Now, I cannot lie, he has tried to pull one off before, and I wasn't having it. My Dad had a mustache for YEARS. He looked good with it, then he shaved it at 40 and grew it back recently. He got some gruff for it because he looked a lot older, but well, I really liked it on him. And that is how I warmed up to the idea of Jake's. And now that he has had it for over a month, I do believe I have grown to find this Stache quite sexy. Either that, or it must be the whole crowbar effect and reminding me of Hulk Hogan.... I haven't quite figured it out yet. ;) For now, he gets to keep it.



2010 was a good year. My baby turned 1, my allstar rode a bike without training wheels at age 3, put us in the ER with him twice in well, two days. Jake and I still have jobs we love. We have a healthy family. We got to have a great vacation in Wyoming with the Holee side. We made a trek of 48 miles on a bike in just over 4 hours in the same year we turned 30.

2011 to come: I pray for strength and guidance. I pray for my family, my brothers and sisters and theirs. I see babies in our future, well not directly ours yet, but maybe another neice or nephew. My oldest sister is getting married in March to a pretty great guy. God has blessed us all over and over. Jake starts Medic school in February. He is training for a Triatholon in September that he hopes to do with his sister Becca. I am trying to get in the best shape of my life, and feeling pretty good about it, and we are only on the 6th of the new year. I have done one Pilates class, and been doing my first ZUMBA class on monday nights. Lots of fun. We really hope to do a trip to Jamaica in June and make it to a Holee family Christmas in December 2011. Lots of exciting memories to come this year, and thanking God every day for them.