Christmas Waffles with Team F

I had to get these up right away for Nan and Ron. :) :) We missed you snowbirds this morning!

We had Christmas waffles at Alex and Libby's new house!

 Everyone liked playing with all the new toys. Except no matter how hard he tried, poor Jack could not get Lily to play G.I.Joes with him. Luckily he can turn brightly colored blocks into a helicopter landing station, army base, etc etc.....

 Kaden is ready for presents!!

 "It's a Star Wars Angry Birds scooter!!!"

 Hats from Aunt Kae. :) :)

 Taking the new scooter for a spin...

Someone else likes Jack's scooter too!!!

Thanks for hosting us, Libby and Alex! We love your cozy new house!!

Christmas 2013 Part II

We had a packed and fun day of Christmas Eve! Since Coop's daycare is closed, Jason and I got all three kids for the day. We started immediately with a bath (KK and LJ's request) and monkey cake. Then we packed everyone up for a stroller ride and "foffee" at Starbucks. We spent the afternoon turning Lily's new dollhouse into a Christmas village and "Who-ville," and made some last minute spritz cookies. Jason, Lily, and I sprinted to New Life to attend the candlelight service and hear the results of Justin's hard work before heading to the Young's annual Christmas Eve Open House. We did NOT make it to the 11pm mass with those guys, however!

We headed home to sneak in our Christmas Eve traditions before all the kids fell asleep. We got in our Christmas Jammies (dad was excused from jammies...he took the picture!).

 Kenley was so excited to FINALLY get to open her one Christmas Eve present (breakfast set from Daddy!)...

 ...and Lily liked the "tookies."

We set out some cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa, and then KK announced it was time for everyone to go to bed (Rachel wishes Christmas was every day).

Fast forward to Christmas morning!

 Lily had a special Bitty Baby under the tree. It was my Grandma Cay's that we have had stashed away until just the right time. Lily went straight for it and would have been perfectly happy to not open another gift! P.S. She also likes flashlights. She is a Friesen, after all.

 KK's new bike!!

 We had a very musical Christmas. We got a purple ukelele, Dad and Kenley got recorders to learn together, and KK got a little harp! Must have been a theme....

 Dad built Lily her own kitchen helper stand! He even braved the super cold temperatures to work in the garage to finish it in time! She loves it!

 KK is working hard to learn to ride her bike. Though she kept getting better each time, she was convinced that there was something wrong with the bike and that it needed more gas so she could ride better. We're sure she'll get the hang of it!

 Coopster was adorable, even if he did take out 3 pairs of Christmas jammies with massive blowout poops.

 Nothing is the same without Mom, but we tried to keep up her traditions and enjoy the day. We put up her stocking and Santa even dropped something in...the 2013 star from her collection! It was a great addition to her tree.

We talked to Nan and Ron in Phoenix. Through the magic of facetime they got to chat with Lily, we got to see the sun, and open Nan's gift that Santa had delivered to our house.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas 2013 Part I

We have been having a great time this entire holiday season!

We kicked off December with our neighborhood Santa parade. The Town Center has a teeny parade just long enough for a toddler attention span...and Santa at the end!

We took Kenley to see her first Nutcracker!


We went to see the Bellevue Botanical Garden lights (and braved the construction) and Snowflake Lane.

 And before we knew it, it was Winter Break! We kicked it off with a snow day, and our 2nd annual cabin getaway with the T family. Unfortunately we didn't get the snow we were hoping for, but we still had lots of fun.

 Lily thinks bunk beds are awesome, and wore all of us out climbing up and down and up and down the ladder.

 She loves her new Little People house! Thanks, Ts!

 She also discovered that egg nog is delicious. I think I need to send this pic to our pediatrician. He'd be happy to see her pack on some pounds!

  Love these girls!

Since there was no snow, we used the time to nap...

 ...play games...

 ...and relax!

 We got home just in time for a visit with some out of town friends from both Texas and Vancouver!

Coming up - Part II: Christmas Eve and the big day!

Christmas Card Outtakes

Rachel and I had a vision for capturing all 3 kids, perfectly smiling, wearing Christmas matching jammies. It doesn't seem like it could be THAT hard, right??

First we tried an afternoon session in bed. We had a lot of fun, but not "the one."

 So then we headed to Molbak's for some fantastic backgrounds and consistent lighting. We got in trouble for rearranging the setup. And hopefully there was some 'snow' left for others by the time we were done. KK has had a habit lately of bouncing rather than posing. :)

 "Is this a good one for the Christmas card??" - KK

 We had all worked up a sweat, but we finally had the makings of a Christmas card.

Happy holidays, from our crazy family to your!!

Jason and I also sent a separate card to a few family and friends. We got to feature one of "the trees" pictures. :)