WILLIAM TURNED 5!
He brings so much joy to our family (and always has!). That laugh....
First drum set.....
His reaction:
Dad's reaction:
John turned the big 3-0! We've made so many memories over these last 30 years. We shared a room for years when we were little, so I've got lot of stories! Love you John!
One memory that always makes me laugh.
Two words: Steel Eel.
And my baby turned TWO!
Her first word was "shoes"...and she still loves them. She's always in my closet trying on new looks:
Perfecting her walk in the 4 inch heels:
She also has a great guacamole recipe, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing ;)
She has the funniest taste-buds for a baby! She loves avocado, green olives, pickles, and she likes to drink sips of lemon and lime juice straight from the bottle...
For her party, we did a "two sweet" theme...lots of pink and gold and sugar :) All of my, I mean Tessa's, favorites!
She loves her babies! She rocks them, feeds them, puts them to bed, and gives them lots of love!
And last but not least....Jesus' birthday!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We had so much fun this year- Dan had a lot of time off and I had a few weeks before I started my new job, so we had lots of family time.
Someone got excited about Santa this year...
Tessa was skeptical.
In fact, she had Santa get up, and then she headed right for his chair and sat down...
She seems to be happiest when she's in charge....yikes
We got to continue lots of our little family traditions...
We walked through "Journey to Judea" again this year. It's an outdoor depiction of the Christmas story with live actors, animals, and bonfires.
Here they are meeting "baby Jesus"
Our annual gingerbread house. This kids discovered Christmas Story this year, so we got a few props:
Elfred came back, too...ornery as ever :)
Christmas Eve candlelight service:
And we started a new tradition this year. We let the kids shop for each member of our family. We gave them each some cash and took them to the store. They each went around and picked out a little present for each member of the family. They secretly wrapped and placed the presents under the tree. They were super excited and it was so fun to see what they picked for everyone! They did pretty well! Except for when William asked me, "Can I just keep the money and give everyone a hug for Christmas??"
A few of the treasures:
Along with her note regarding her "need" for a hamster, Ellie left this hand printed sign by the fireplace for Santa:
(list includes: iphone7, orange pocket knife, and a "mountain room", among other items)
Christmas morning was relaxed and fun!
His all-time favorite. He recently started working out at the gym with Dan and me...gotta get that protein :)
William saw this "robot dinosaur" months ago when we were grocery shopping and loved it. When he opened it, he said, "Wow! I guess Santa does go to Aldi...."
And after Christmas, mama got some new wheels! V-A-N! Hallelujah! I didn't know what I was missing.
P.S. Ellie DID receive a hamster for Christmas. She was set on a boy hamster, so she could name him "Henry Pime". But when they went to the pet store, the boy hamsters were small and fast. So instead we chose a fat, slow one (obviously). Her name is Winter Autumn. And she's already escaped twice....and been recovered both times. So, she doesn't get her picture on the blog yet: punishment.
We also had lots of FAMILY FUN!!
Cousin time:
w/ Great Grandpa Coburn
Siblings:
Group hug...lol
Some other holiday fun...
Dan and Ellie went on a date...it was their first time ice skating :)
We went to Crema's Christmas party- what an awesome team they've built!
After the first annual crEMMY awards ceremony:
Also, mom and I went to the Carrie Underwood concert in Wichita:
Kids did some leaf raking at Uncle John and Aunt Jackie's!
Lunch at daddy's work is always exciting:
And of course, lots of snugs:
We ended the year by opening up our "Year in a Box" (idea cred to the Kapples). We kept little momentos throughout the year and had fun reliving the memories:
A toast to the New Year! Bring on 2017!
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