The month of December was just as full and busy as it is every year. It was a challenge this year to get everything in with Thanksgiving being later. In the first week of December, we went over to Grr and Grr Mom's on a week night where they helped decorate the tree and also to take some Christmas card pictures with all of the kids. Then we all headed out to see the Holiday Train in Hartland- our first year- and we plan on going again. It was pretty cool.
A couple days later the girls left their boots out and St. Nick paid a visit with a bunch of goodies- candy canes, raisins, books, barretts, and socks. This St. Nick is one to remember...for whatever reason, neither of the girls slept well and everyone was up multiple times during the night...so we ended up doing St. Nick at 4:45am. And here I was worried that I would miss it because I'd have to leave for work before the girls got up. Ha!
The first weekend in December we had my office kids holiday party one night and the adult holiday party the following night. Reagan wasn't too sure about Santa, but she did like opening presents. We have our kids party at Stonefire pizza every year, which is great for the kids- pizza buffet and tons of games. We got our tree up and decorated that weekend as well.
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BFF's. We also celebrated Sophie's birthday
(and Grr Mom's too) one over the 2nd weekend in Dec. |
Rylie's pre-school had a little Christmas party as well on the Friday before Christmas. Parents were invited and the kids sang a bunch of songs and then had a snack. They also did a program at church that Sunday that was SO cute. They sang Away in a Manger and Jesus Loves Me. Rylie kept waving at all of us during the program.
We alternate years for where we spend Christmas- between here and La Crosse. This year we spent the holiday here and planned on going to La Crosse over New Year's to celebrate. We spent Christmas Eve at Grr and Grr Mom's. We all opened a few gifts, watched the kids (Dan included) play Twister and searched for the pickle on the tree. Rylie and Sophie got to open a couple of very special gifts hand made by Grr- Sophie got bunk beds for her babies and Rylie got a changing table. The only thing she wanted from Santa was a changing table for her babies; however, it appears Santa had other plans (in the form of a big girl bike), so Grr made it for her and she was so excited.
The years that we stay here in town, we get to spend Christmas morning at our house, which I love. I really enjoy the time just the four of us where the girls get to wake up at their own house to see what Santa left under the tree. This was the first year that Rylie really "got it" and was SO excited for Santa to come. Reagan loved ripping open gifts as well. She wasn't as interested in what was inside, but loved tearing the paper. After opening gifts at our house, we headed over to Chris and Leslie's to exchange with their family and Grr and Grr Mom. We hung out a while after at their house so the kids could spend some time playing with their new things, which I also love. Since the day is so busy, it's nice to spend a little time relaxing and playing. We finished up the night back and Grr and Grr Mom's where we had dinner and exchanged gifts with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and their kids. It was another great holiday. It was nice to spend the day with everyone and all were extremely generous as always.
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| Reagan jumped right in! |
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| Finally a big girl bike! |
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| Coffee and a mimosa! |
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| Her new "tablet" as she calls it |
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| A washer and dryer from Grr and Grr Mom to match their kitchen |
Dan and I went back to work for a couple of days and then we all headed to La Crosse to celebrate Christmas with my family over New Year's. The first day we were there was the nicest day out of the 5 days it was about 40 degrees and sunny so we took the girls sledding. I was able to get together with Elaine and some other girl friends that I hadn't seen for a while. We exchanged gifts with my parents and my brother, where Rylie received another very special gift- her American Girl Doll, Caroline. We also had a very low key New Year's Eve and decided to just stay in and celebrate with the girls....meaning we celebrated at 9pm and put the girls to bed. The adults watched the ball come down on NY time and headed to bed ourselves.
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| Reagan got a little too cold so we joined Papa at the bar to watch the action |
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| After sledding snack- popcorn and root beer |
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Papa's annual gift- this year with a cute little sweater-
a bottle of Maker's Mark from my brother |
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| These girls love their Uncle Patrick |
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She gathered up all of Rylie's things- bitty baby, purse, blanket, and some other stuff-
sat on all of it and laughed. She enjoys giving her sister a hard time. |
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| A relaxing New Year's Eve day |
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| Naps for everyone |
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| Someone's excited to celebrate New Year's Eve! |
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| Caroline was ready too |
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| Mmmmm, sparkling grape juice |
It was another great year and we feel so blessed with such wonderful, caring, and supportive family and friends. We constantly look at these two girls of ours and just feel so lucky that we get to be their parents. We have plenty of challenges too, but do what we can to balance everything- work, time with the girls, time with our friends and families- but we know we can do better. We've set some family goals and some personal goals for the new year...here's to hoping we can stick to them!
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