December was a very fun, very busy month. We celebrated Gma and Landon's birthday, which is also shared by sweet Linda in Sweden. Just a reminder how we like to share birthdays in our family. :)
The chocolates are mine!
Since Mike was going to have to work on Christmas (again) this year, Alli wrote Santa a letter.
Off to the mall to deliver the letter!
Well, the visit went well for Alli.
I think the candy cane helped. :)
Christmas fun with the Nysoes!
"Don't hog the nog." Or the wands.
Once again, we had a fun night of cards.
We always know how to have a good time.
Since Santa agreed to come early, we set out cookies and chocolate milk full of marshmallows on the night of the 21st. Lucky us! What made it even better was that Grandma Annie, Grandpa, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Emily stayed with us so they wouldn't miss Santa's visit!
Is that an air hockey table?
Wasting no time breaking it in!
Alli's gift to us was an adorable nutcracker she painted on a block of wood in kindergarten. It was our favorite gift.
Daddy loved his toy from the girls.
Merry Christmas!
Yes, Santa enjoyed his snacks.
We love Uncle Chris and Aunt Emily!
A "real treasure box!"
After our wonderful Christmas dinner, we all went to check out our favorite Christmas lights.
And now, Christmas Eve! I know, things were a bit mixed up this year. :) Off to Mamo and Papa's!
Looking good, Papa and Mamo!
Princess Alli and Princess Avery.
Julia was so excited for her first Christmas!
Oh, pickle, pickle on the tree, where are you?
Cousins!
Merry Christmas Eve! We missed you, Mike, Jennifer, Jake, and Gabby. (We ended up celebrating with all of them again in early January, but I forgot to bring my camera.)
Yay, presents!
Aunt Linda and her masterpiece cupcakes.
Whoa, presents.
Time for the little elves to pass out the gifts.
Christmas was so much fun! Our New Year with the Nysoes was canceled due to sick kids, so it was very low-key this year.
Recovering from the holidays.
Pin the star on the shield.
Shoot the villains!
Auntie Laura made an almost indestructible piñata!
Dance party!
Pizza after the party. So much fun!
We took the girls up to Mt. Baker to play in the snow. We didn't get a lot of pictures, but we got a lot of giggles. :) Both girls giggled until it was time to leave. Watching them try to walk in deep snow without falling over (which they did A LOT) was a riot! Avery went sledding without holding on, and Alli started multiple snowball fights. We all can't wait to go back for more!
We didn't get one flake of snow this year.
We went down to play with Olivia and Jack for a day.
Photo bomb!
Olivia knows where the camera is.
Alli started swimming lessons!
She loves it and is doing great!
Hi, Mike Troy! It was nice of you to come over and play princesses with Avery. :) We enjoyed seeing you.
Alli wanted to make a castle to hold her Valentines at school.
She thought we gave her princess chocolates. Ha!
We went to Bay View State Park on Valentine's Day. We loved the sunshine!
Julia is just kickin' it.
So sweet.
One of Alli's favorite games right now is Connect 4. She loves trying to beat us.
In March, Avery joined Alli in swimming lessons! After watching Alli for four weeks, she was dying to dive in!
Surprise! Auntie Laura and Julian surprised us all by showing up one fun day! This is my favorite kind of surprise!
...and they surprised Alli at Kindergarten!
Ready for swim lessons!
It's so fun to wake up to this extra smile in our house! ;)
The sailboat races have begun!
We have had such amazing weather!
Baby kisses.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! The leprechaun paid us a visit, once again. Alli was a bit perturbed by the chairs he messed up...
...but Avery had no qualms about drinking the milk he turned green!
