Joy of Christmas!!

On Christmas Eve we have a get together with friends and family.  This year was no different except that there were more kids in the mix!  At the end of the night the kiddos got in their jammies and we took a few pics.  Annabelle was busy running around having fun and didn't make the pic (sorry Annabelle!) Below are Maddie and Chloe with our friends Rylee and baby Corey.  

 Christmas morning!  Yay the stocking are already open and Santa brought Pocky!!  He knows just what they like!

 After stockings were presents :)  

 We tried to break it up this year by playing with each toy as they opened them, and reading new books.  We even had breakfast in the middle.  It was much nicer to take it slow and enjoy each gift.

 Chloe loved the doctor kit!  Both girls did actually!

 Make your own superhero mask kit was a huge hit!

 Christmas night we went over to close-by Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner and a video chat with Aunt Elena and Peter.  

 Yes the girls did get a power wheels.  As you can see it was a huge hit.  They drove back and forth in the living room over and over all night long.  They even switched driver and passenger.  

 They did take a break after gifts to have some desert, but then it was back to playing.  

This Christmas was a lot of fun, but we are all still recovering from all of the activities (Mom especially!)  Next up---New Years!!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

Christmas time is so much fun!  We went to visit Santa yesterday, and had a wonderful time!  I took some extra photos when we got home to capture the adorable outfits and happy smiles :)  Maddie is 2.5  and Chloe is 4.5.  I can't believe how different this year feels with two little girls, instead of a little girl and a toddler!  So much fun!

 Maddie was afraid of Santa, so Andrew got to be in the picture this year :)

 Chloe made a card for Santa :)

Freezin' for a Reason

Andrew and I have been supporters of special olympics for a long time now but Andrew really stepped up on Saturday and became a super supporter!  Andrew and his team did the Polar Plunge this year for the first time and raised just under $7,000!!  As a whole this event raised almost half a million dollars! I suppose there are a lot of people out there that want to pay to see these guys jump into a frozen lake (and support a good cause).  If you can not tell their theme is golfers, since they put on a BOMA golf tournament every year to benefit Special Olympics.  

 They were one of the top earning teams, so they got to make a speech and get handshakes from Lisa Murkowski (one of our Senators).  

 You can see there is a big hole cut into the frozen lake for the jumpers to plunge in.  Andrew is showing off his cannonball skills :) (thanks to Scott Minor for the professional photos!!)

 After.  Brrr!!  I tried to get a group shot but the guys raced inside to the hot tubs.  Andrew was the only one I convince to slow to a jog :)

 We played in the snow for a while after and watched a few more jumpers.

 Maddie is giving me the look.  It usually means that I am doing something she doesn't like at that exact moment.  In this case- taking a picture :)  

 See ya later!!

picking a tree

This years Christmas tree adventure yielded the most amazing tree yet!  You can see Maddie is helping "pick" a good one :)

You can see by the photo that we are not in Oregon anymore!  Our tree was 75.95!!  But I do have to admit it is an AMAZING tree!

We have a new tradition!  Every morning we sing the twelve days of Christmas up until the day we are on and the girls get to open the door and get out their treat!  My grandma, their great grandma, came up with this amazing idea and sent the box up for them, all ready to go.  We LOVE it!  THANK YOU!!

Had to add in a few shots of morning smoothies!  Maddie had quite the smoothie 'stash going on!

As always Chloe giving me a goofy face when the camera comes out!

More posts to come in the next few days!!  It has been a VERY eventful and busy week!!