Christmas - part 3

On Christmas Eve day we headed to Grammy & Grandpa's to be with more family. The kids had a great time playing. Will has greatly improved at the Wii which makes that much more enjoyable. We all went to Christmas Eve services that night and they both did a really good job. On Christmas day, there was more playing, yummy food and gifts. The kids open gifts during the day - the grown ups at night. Once again, we were all spoiled.

Try to ignore the glare -- but this is the best I could get of the kids before church.

Will loves his big cousins!

Ready for presents!

Cinderella!

New sleeping bag

They both slept on the air mattress in their sleeping bags that night. Well, actually, Elle pushed Will off, so he slept on the floor in his sleeping bag. But, they both started on the air mattress!

Oh my

More fun with cousins

And we were lucky enough to get to see Ryan & Cooper for a little bit. The boys (all 4) working to put one of Will's new games together.

Christmas - part 1

As usual, our Christmas consisted of many fun, family activities. I was thinking about how great the kids did this year on our way home. This was definitely the most fun and least stressful they've been. They loved every moment - mostly playing with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. They had good manners and didn't throw any major fits. They were purely joyful with each new event, gift, and place we visited. I'm sure next year will be a different story with a 10-month-old in the mix, but it is great to know we eventually get to this stage.

Our first Christmas adventure was at my sister's house where we celebrated O family Christmas. The older cousins are so great with the little ones, and the little ones just adore them! The adults enjoyed nice time together too :)

The boys

Waiting patiently to open presents

Oooh la la!

Doesn't she look so fancy?!

Andy & Will both got new light sabres

Will and GoGo

Fancy Aunt Sarah

Dad and the girls. We cracked up at this picture with Kit's camera in it!

Love Aunt Casie!

Hello again

It's been so long since I posted. But really, there aren't a lot of updates. I feel like we've been sick since Halloween. From a stomach virus to coughs, head cold, bronchitis -- it's be a fun few weeks around here. I guess this is winter with toddlers, but man do I hate it. Of course, no one is sleeping much either, which is probably why we can't seem to get well. Hopefully we'll all be feeling better by Christmas.

I have tons of pictures since I last posted, but I think I'll just post a few. We had wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations with family. The kids love playing with their cousins! Here are some pics of the kids decorating for Christmas.

You'll notice the collection of homemade ornaments at abouts Will's height. We had to redistribue later, but I appreciated his help! :)
And this is Charlie our elf. The kids LOVE him. It's a favorite activity every morning to find Charlie's new perch. Eleanor doesn't quite understand what Charlie does, but she loves finding him and points and squeals when she spots him.
 
The weekend after Thanksgiving, Will was invited to a birthday party at Zonkers. We had never been before - he loved it!

 The little girl with her arm around Will is the birthday girl. She used to be at his school, but is in kindergarten now. The 2 of them got to be good friends, and I think it was so sweet that she wanted to invite him to her birthday party! Will was there with a bunch of kindergarteners, but he did great and fit in just fine!

 That night we went to Jeff & Meg's for dinner since Jenny was in town. Ellie Kate LOVED the bounce house! I had a hard time getting her to slow down enough for a picture.

 This is about the best we could do of all the cousins!