Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Love, Jason, Kristin and Conner

'Tis the Season....

Aunt Joni, Harrison, David, Madelyn, Tiffany, Toby, Brody, Beckett, Jason, Conner and I all went to the Christmas Party at the lake. The HLNAC and the fire department did an amazing job. Santa came in on the fire truck with sirens blasting. It was super cold, so we were sure to get everyone all bundled up.
Conner was super happy about that!

Santa even brought along an elf. The fireworks were amazing and it was neat to see all of the kids trying to decide whether to follow Santa or watch the fireworks. The North Putnam choir also sang Christmas carols. It was really the neatest Christmas celebration I think I have been to.
All three of the grandkids on the McClellan side posed for pictures. I promise we took about 30 pictures and this was the best one!Here is a picture of all five kids. Everyone was always moving so all of the pictures were blurry! Hopefully, Tiff got a few good ones!
Conner did a great job visiting with Santa. I was surprised because I thought he would be scared but he just sat there. I think he knows he may have been a little naughty this year so he had to make sure that Santa thought he was a good boy!
Isn't he a cute reindeer? Time for bed! Aunt Joni and Jason reading the goodnight story. This is Conner's new bear that reads to him. He loves it. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

This morning we got up and started decorating the house. As you can tell, we also tried to get our Christmas picture done. Too bad Conner did not want to participate! The tree looks great (even though the ornaments are hung about four foot from the bottom of the tree!)



We are now officially ready for Santa!

We are Thankful...

We are so thankful for all that we have been blessed with, especially our wonderful family and friends.

Here are a few more things we are thankful for this holiday season:

1)Soap and combs...

2)That Jason and Brent both got a deer (now we would REALLY be thankful if we could hear a different version of why they are the world's greatest hunters!!!!!!).

3) for doctors and duct tape
Conner broke his ankle last week when he pulled a table onto his leg. The break was minor but the doctor still wanted to cast it. Jason has since wrapped a part of the cast in duct tape so that he doesn't slip on the wood floors. When we were checking into the Emergency room, the woman said, "Is this Jason?" I smiled and said no, but explained to her that Conner is another McClellan that she will probably see just as often. The receptionist at Ortho Indy made the same remark....hmm..
As you can see, the cast hasn't slowed Conner down at all! We get the cast off it two weeks!
4) for east-side roots that gave Jason and Conner their rhythm

5) for each of you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Conner's 1st Work Party

Conner and I went to my work party in Westfield and my boss took some great pictures of Conner and all of the other kids! We had a great time and everyone was happy to meet "the little boy who tries to talk (sometimes scream) on late night conference calls." He was quite the little ham, as usual, and loved meeting all of the other kids. In our section, there are 3 babies under 16 months, 4 toddlers under 3 years old and then 11 older than three. We had a wonderful time! I am very lucky to work with such great people.

(I love this one because he obviously was not entertained by the conversation!)

Conner did not like sharing me with the other kids. I think he is rolling his eyes here!

He loved the party favors, but only wanted me to wear them.

Everyone was impressed by Conner's manners, we only received an East-side comment once!!!

Our "Deer" Little Boy

Happy Halloween! Here are pictures of our "deer" little boy!

Pumpkin-Masters (Wink, Wink)

Our pumpkins (and Conner) warming up before we started carving them!
Conner "carving" his pumpkin...very intense...
Thinking about what pattern he should draw....I think we have a future Picasso on our hands, don't you?Conner is into dipping all of his food. So when I put the finger paint on his tray he thought it was a dip. (No worries...it was non-toxic finger paint.)
Conner is really into puzzles these days. So when we started cleaning out the pumpkins and carving them, he kept trying to put all the insides back inside and all of the cut pieces back into their places. The wind was blowing too strong to light the candles, so we will have to wait until Halloween to show you our masterpieces. In the meantime, here are some cute pictures. He couldn't fit into any of our pumpkins this year, so this is what we captured... Below is a video of Conner telling you about his pumpkin carving experience. Enjoy...wink, wink!

Old MacClellan had a farm...sort of....

Jason and I both had this past Monday off. We had a great day! We got up really early and headed out to Parke County to the Covered Bridge Festival. As you can tell, Conner was super excited (more so to ride in the truck, but oh well!) We had a great time at the festival, but it was a little crowded. Conner stole my pumpkin ice-cream...and smashed it. Needless to say, I don't mind sharing with him! After the festival, Conner took his nap and we headed up to Danville to the Pumpkin Patch. This pumpkin patch was very different from the one we grew up with. They didn't have a hay ride during the week, the straw maze, the pumpkin eating dinosaur or the tee-pee...but they had amazing pumpkins.

We picked out two great big pumpkins. When I tried to get Conner to pose with them, this is what I got! He is no longer interested in smiling for the camera! More pumpkin pictures to come at Halloween. Then after the pumpkin patch, we got a call from Miranda that Brent was farming and to come on into Greencastle. So...we packed up and headed out to see Farmer Brent.

Conner gets to "farm" often during the day, but it was fun to go out and see it for ourselves. I had never been in a combine so it was neat to see how it all worked. I was very impressed by Brent and his ability to keep in a straight line even when I was asking him 100 questions a minute.

Doesn't Conner look like quite the professional farmer? He loves all of the tractors at Brent and Miranda's. His new thing is to say "vroom, vroom" every time he sees one.

Mission Accomplished!

Then Daddy took a turn sitting in the driver's seat. Don't worry, we ran and got Conner!

Snacking on some corn that we missed! Then Miranda talking Conner into putting the corn back into the combine....he listens to her.... sometimes!

Dumping the corn into this bowl thing. Then it is pumped up and stored in the silos. Farming is amazing. I think about all of the work it takes to get to the final product and it amazes me at what a process it is and what hard work it is. I think that Conner is so lucky to be able to experience this way of life at Brent and Miranda's. We all grow up and are taught to respect the land. But Miranda and Brent definitely grew up with a greater respect for it. I think when you grow up living on the land that you farm and care for; the land that provides for you and your family and eventually for everyone else once it is sold; you understand better and in a deeper way than you could ever understand living in the city. I love it that Conner will respect the land and farming and farmers just as much as she does. When I got him out of the car one morning last week, he pointed to the pasture and started mooing. I love it and I love it that he gets to spend time with Brent and Miranda and all of Miranda's family and those that work with her family.