soooo...
Starting with Christmas...
It's the most exciting time of year! I love that all the kids still anxiously await that special visit from Santa, get excited to make cookies, think about their lists and have the hardest time falling asleep Christmas Eve!
This year we visited Santa at Shireman's Farm. It was a magical visit while we waited in line to see Santa in his cabin where he took special time to learn just what everyone was wishing for this Christmas! We took home a special ornament to remember our visit and rode a horse drawn carriage decorated in twinkle lights playing Christmas music! It was a fun visit and although we had really hoped for snow, the weather was perfect!
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| The kids had a great visit with Santa...however, Abby didn't think so! Maybe next year! |
I love the Christmas lights at night! Makes everything magical! Unfortunately, half the tree did not stay lit by Christmas... but we added colored lights to keep the twinkle alive!
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| Grammy came to visit and stay all night! |
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| recruiting all the help I could to get Christmas cards delivered! |
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| Elizabeth was so excited that Santa was visiting her preschool! So much fun! |
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| Emily ready to perform in the holiday program with the school choir |
The kids look forward to having little trees all lit up in their rooms! Elizabeth loved moving her ornaments around every night before bed and adding new ones to it before Christmas Eve!
We also love having candy cane pie once a year! We look forward to it all year long!
...and decorating cookies, with lots of icing!
This year we enjoyed having the family for Christmas Eve! We were so thankful to be home for the holidays and to spend it with them!
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| trying to get a peek at the presents! |
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| so excited to tear open the gifts! |
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| Elizabeth was so excited to get all the Princess dolls from Grandma and her favorite - Rapunzel's dress! |
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| ready for Santa...I think! |
Christmas morning chaos...the best!
| Dan heard Elizabeth say, "Santa didn't even read my list." She had wished for a purple sparkly dress, that she didn't get... ha! |
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| A few of their favorite things... Alex - littleBits Emily - hamster Elizabeth - teepee Abby - musical {everything} |
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| Our newest member of the family...Ginger {short for gingerbread} |
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| Grandma & Grandpa came to visit and Abby loved showing Grandma her new doll |
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| Emily loves to bake...and what a perfect gift from cousin Hannah! Whipping up some Frozen cupcakes...so delicious! |
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| practicing her aim with her new pink bb gun |
We really missed traveling to Vail this year for Christmas, but we also loved the chance to stay home and relax and not follow schedules, wake to alarms or have anywhere to be...
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| we loved the new Annie movie! |
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| we played games and worked puzzles! Alex finished his new puzzle, with a little help...in one day! |
Not traveling also meant more time spent with family...we had a great visit with Grandma and Aunt Marcia taking Great-grandma Martha for a stroll!
...but we still thought about skiing...a lot, and all the snow we missed this year!
The kids enjoyed using their Christmas money to pick out just what they wanted! New stuffed animals for the girls, and earrings for Emily and a few more littleBits gadgets for Alex!
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| fun time playing and exploring at the WonderLab science museum in Bloomington |
Elizabeth had tried ice-skating this year, but decided, for now that it wasn't something she really liked, but she has given gymnastics another try and has really loved it!
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| finding her balance...
Moving home for the holidays has been so nice! We had no idea now long the house remodel would take, especially all the way into the new year! But it's been fun settling back in and making it feel like home again!
{hopefully...more posts to follow on the progress from before to after!} |
Elizabeth celebrated her 4th birthday! She sure is a spirited little girl with lots of energy! She is growing up so fast! She has a strong will and a lot of fun, and we love her!
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| fun at Chuck E Cheese! |
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| decorating for the birthday girl, she loves horses and unicorns! |
Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our family! Lots of chaos, noise and activity...and we love it! We were giving thanks for moving back home the day before Thanksgiving!
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| thankful for cousins! |
This year Alex had a great time being a part of the school Lego Robotics team. They competed in their first competition and did a great job! They won a first place award for Inspiration! We had a great time learning and watching Alex in his element and are so proud of him!
Emily also competed in the Indiana Figure Skating Championships again this year. She was a little upset that she did not have another competitor in her skill levels, but she earned two more gold medals for her hard work! She amazes us every time she skates and we are so proud of her accomplishments!
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| so special to have a great cheering section! Grandma, Grandpa and Julie came to watch Emily skate! |
Abby at her 18-month check up...she is a growing happy baby! She still isn't walking on her own, yet...but she sure is able to get around, and into everything she can reach!
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| once we moved back home...she mastered the art of climbing the stairs in no time! |
Alex turned 12 in July and we were able to celebrate in a fun cabin in the woods! One advantage to our house remodel this summer was getting to stay in fun places all summer long!
Grammy stayed with us too and we had a great week taking hikes, catching crawdads in the river, campfires and enjoying the outdoors!
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| I want to freeze this age right now...I cannot have a teenager in the new year! Impossible! |
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| target practice with his new bb gun |
Dan and I also celebrated our 15th wedding Anniversary in July, so we planned a special getaway in Chicago while Grandma watched the kiddos for us! It was so nice to have time alone, uninterrupted...and quiet! We really missed them, but the time was short!
We enjoyed walking to Millenium Park, shopping, eating nice meals and attending a murder mystery dinner! So much fun!
It's always so hard to believe that another year is under our belts! The kids are another year older and we are another year {wiser}! We can only hope that the new year can equally bless us with good health, lots of family time and many fun adventures!
{and a great note to end the year...as Alex and I were shopping today, I spotted this purple sparkly dress just hanging on a rack at the end of an aisle...just the exact size for Elizabeth! I couldn't leave without it! I brought it home and surprised her with it...and told her Santa must have left it behind just for her...that there wasn't enough time to wrap it up since she went to bed so late on Christmas Eve! Her face lit up...so happy she recieved her wish from her list!}
Happy New Year!
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