A Visit with Santa

Yesterday we braved the icy roads for our annual visit with Santa. It was nice to get out of the house since we've been cooped up for a few days. I asked Sadie what she was going to say to Santa when she saw him...she told me she would tell him she didn't like him. She didn't end up saying anything, just crying. We've never had a Santa picture without at least one cryer so it's kind of a tradition now. Marshall, Ella, and Ava had a nice visit though...

After Sadie got over her trauma, we continued on with our other tradition of splitting up and letting the kids pick out gifts for each other. I lucked out this year and got Marshall and Ella...Matt didn't have as much fun with Sadie and Ava. Sadie has an aversion to her stroller, hand-holding, listening, malls in general. We got it done though and the kids can't wait for their partner to open the gift they picked out. We're finally feeling ready for Christmas!!

More Snow Pictures!

The snow hasn't stopped...and the kids are still having a blast playing in it! Here are some pictures of today's playtime outside....

Snow!!

Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying some of the snow we've gotten....and I'm sure there will be more to come!

They've been having so much fun!

Seattle Center Gymnastics Show

Today I had a fun day with Ella in Seattle! Her gymnastics team was performing at the Seattle Center, and thanks to Nana and Papa, I was able to take just her for some much needed girl time! We got there early enough to enjoy some hot cocoa and good conversation. It's not too often I get to spend time with one kid at a time! What a treat!

Time for the show to start! Our camera doesn't take the greatest pictures from far away, but it'll have to do. Here she is doing some stretching....

Getting ready to start her routine...

Some tumbling....

Ella's team, the Rising Stars!

The whole gang!

After the performance, I gave in and got Ella some cotton candy. She did a great job and we're super proud of her!!

Decorating Day

We've had our tree for over a week and finally got around to decorating it last night! As always, the kids were excited to get out the crazy Christmas hats!

Marshall helped Matt put the lights on this year....

It's always fun for the kids to find their favorite ornaments!

Sadie was way into hanging ornaments this year...although she tended to pick one branch and overload it! Here's some of her handiwork, to be redistributed later!




The finished product!!

Hoping to decorate the rest of the house later this week...but it's a good start!

Christmas Tree Hunt 2008

We made a last minute decision to go get our tree yesterday! We figured if we didn't get it done soon, it wouldn't happen because of our hectic December schedule! We visited a new tree farm that some friends of ours have. As always, it was an adventure!!

Sadie just wanted me to take pictures of her the whole time...she didn't really care about the tree!

You can't really see it in this picture, but Ella finally lost that top tooth that's been hanging by a thread! She's proud of her new gap!

Marshall was being as goofy as always, trying to find the worst trees, then saying they would be perfect!

Matt's favorite job...

Since we got a late start...it got dark really fast! We couldn't be too picky about our tree, we just needed to find one while we could still see! I think we found a great one though!

Time for cocoa and a hot fire!

I'm glad we have our tree....I guess now we have to decorate! More pictures to come of that experience....