Our Christmas Letter

For those of you who are visiting our blog for the first time. Welcome! I wanted to send out a paper version of our Christmas letter along with a card. But time got away from me. This blogspot is my favorite way to keep up with happenings of my own family and with all my friends and family far away. In a way it is a journal of our life.
I feel so very blessed as I ponder the last year of our lives. The world seems to be in such turmoil. But our little family is healthy and happy this Christmas season. The kids seem to be growing so fast! Even though Aiden has understood who Santa is for a few years now, I feel this is a new Christmas with a deeper understanding of why we celebrate Christmas. We love singing “baby Jesus” songs, as Jenna-grace calls them. And we are learning more and more about the beautiful symbols of Christmas. We are spending this week with Eric’s family. The kids are loving the snow and the mountains. Last night we went to Temple Square and enjoyed the lights and also the beautiful nativity scene. This is the perfect place to be at Christmas time.
Eric has been at International Paper for almost a year now. The hours are much better than public accounting. I think he really enjoys his new responsibilities. IP, like most companies, is doing its best to weather this difficult economy. But we are hopeful that all will be well with Eric’s position and we can stay with this company for several years to come.
I am still the happy homemaker. I am continually chasing after children and trying to stay on top of our busy schedule. I love working with the Young Women at Church. And recently I have toyed with the idea of starting a little cake business.
Aiden turned 6 this summer. He is our little bean sprout! He is just bursting with energy and growing like a weed! He loves Kindergarten and especially riding the school bus. He has really grown into quite a neat kid. I can’t believe some days how grown-up he really is. He is the best big brother to his little brother and sister. (Even though they are learning how to get on his nerves on occasion) On Friday we went skiing and Aiden is almost better than his Mother! (that really isn’t hard to do) I am really impressed with our little man.
Jenna-grace turned three in November. Most people think she is older than she is. She is tall, but mostly because she is so talkative. She loves to sing and tell stories. All of her baby dolls are very well taken care of. They each have to be tucked into bed along with her. She is our little princess (a fact that she is well aware of and tries to take advantage of whenever she can).
Maxwell is Eric’s little clone. He turned two in October. Not only does Max look like Eric, he also has his dad’s easy going personality. He is only frustrated when I can’t understand what he is trying to tell me (which happens less and less) or when he can’t keep up with his favorite big brother, Aiden.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas, stay safe and warm and that you keep in touch!
With Love,
Jamie and the rest of the Jonkman Family

Way behind

Over the last few weeks I have been uploading pictures and then saving them as drafts with the hope that I would have time later to go back and add the text before I posted them. Then life happened. In the last few months my family has had strep throat, pink eye, the stomach flu, the real flu, and a fever virus. We had a few days that we were all healthy. During that time Max decided to put about 6 or 7 macaroni noodles up his nose. For lunch one day the kids were eating Macaroni and cheese while I was cleaning the kitchen. I looked up to see Max shoving a noodle up his nose. I fussed at him and pulled it out. Later that day I realized that there was another one still up there. We got it out with some tweezers only to find that there were still more up there. Long story short we had to go to the after-hours clinic that night and to the ENT the next Monday. Never a Dull Moment!
So what I am trying to say is that I am about to post several of those pictures from the last few weeks with just a little bit of explanation about what is going on. You will need to follow the link to older posts to see them all. If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I will try to clarify. I hope you all enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

pouty princess

We went to my Mom's for an early Christmas. Jenna-grace had so much candy, and cookies. When I finally said no more, she began to throw a tantrum. After a few minutes in time-out, I went and asked her if she wanted to get up, or stay and keep crying. She said that she wanted to stay and keep crying! The crown and jewelry were gifts from my sister and her family. I thought this was the funniest picture of a pouty princess sitting on a thrown of pillows and not getting her way!

Max's Boo Boo

Max can't go anywhere with out his "boo-boo!"

Snowmen

Aiden on the prowl

Daisy

My mom got a new pet for her farm. Daisy is half pony and half donkey. The kids love her!

Check out the goat! Nibble nibble! Hee! Hee!

Tubes again

My poor kids got their dad's ears. Max had to get tubes again. He is such a tuff kid! He woke up a little groggy but not fussy at all. He got a football as a prize and he carries it around with his blanky now.

Kush Ball fun

For Jenna-grace's birthday, Grandma Elaine sent these kush balls. The kids love them.

I thought this was a great picture

The Ole Miss Game

Tailgating in the grove!

Hotty toddy!! Go Rebels!!

Pretty Pretty Princess

Happy Birthday Jenna-Grace!

Monkey Talk

Last Saturday Eric had to go to a football game with his boss. Poor boy! I took the kids to the Memphis zoo. It was an amazingly beautiful day and we had a ton of fun!

What do you suppose they are talking about?

Gold Fish

The theory is that buying in bulk is cheaper.

One morning while I was brushing my teeth, Max went all the way downstairs and got the giant Costco sized bag of GoldFish out of the pantry. He then carried it all the way back upstairs to the toy room and decided that the only way to really enjoy them was to spread them all out on the floor.

Giant jar of Yogurt. I dished it out into little bowls and put the bowls on the table. When I turned around Max had pulled the container of yogurt off the counter, gotten a spoon out of the drawer and helped himself.

Later that day.... More goldfish!

Halloween!

Aiden the human Whoopie Cushion

Super Max to the rescue!

Jenna-grace the Purple Poodle!

She was so hard to get a good picture of, because she would get so wiggly and goofy whenever she had her costume on. Her favorite part of the costume was the tail. Anytime someone said she looked cute, she would put her bum in the air and say "I have a tail!"

Mimi and Papaw

Bee and Bee Keeper

Eric pulled out the Chewbacca costume that he didn't get to wear the year Max was born. Our neighborhood has a great party and parade Halloween night. This sweet kid below was a little chewbacca! I thought the two of them together were sooo cute!

All of us together.

Tree Hugger

Jenna-grace is learning the art of stalling. If there is something she doesn't want to do (like take a nap or get in the van) she will stall. Her latest tactic includes giving every tree we pass a hug.

Me: "Jenna-grace, please get in the van."

Jenna-grace: "Mom, the tree needs a hug!"