Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve festivities are ready to begin. Perhaps we will start with a game of bowling!

Or...french fry eating.  Perhaps both!

Maddie with her strike.

Troy with his much more serious strike.

Half time break.  Kati and Danny stopped in to join us!

This is what you get to do if you have a spare.  Not quite the same feeling as when you get to use both arms for a strike!

Aeva even got a strike!  We may start a professional team...do they have leagues that allow bumpers?  If so, we are in!

Our final strike of the day.

Finished off with a few games at the arcade.  Aeva can't get enough of this thing.  Round and round she goes.

Later that night we had dinner at our house with my family.  The chocolate fountain found its way out of the cupboard.

They got pretty original as the night went on.  Chocolate covered veggies and shrimp.  Ugh.  I stuck with the marshmellows, pretzels and cinnamon bears!  Scrumptious!

Aeva even tried a cucumber with chocolate on it. 

I see the thumbs up but her face is not overly convincing.

Kids love "Wack the balls."  A random game we made up several years ago.  Makes for hours of fun.

Just Dance 3 made it out of its wrapping too.  Could definitely qualify as exercise.

After all had gone to bed, Darby and Maddie ended the year with some sparklers.  May this year be as great as the last!

Snow Gear Check

I love the week between Christmas and New Year's. It is a great time to "get things together." We did a snow gear check to see what still fit and what needed to be handed down.

It appears that Aeva is ready to go!  Now we just need some snow!

Our beloved Ice Cube

I have decided that my moms thermostat is broken. This is how I found her the other day.

I decided it was a little hard to watch TV with her head under the blanket so I rearranged her a bit.

Much better, don't you think?

Grandma's Slide

Every once in a while our Grandma Carole gets out "the slide." This thing is an all time favorite of the kids. They LOVE it.

It seems that they have almost outgrown the poor thing.  I don't think they have figured that part out yet and, well.... we aren't going to tell them.

Snuggled

My girls love their daddy.

They're not so big on having their picture taken, however.  They had better get used to it!

Christmas 2011

Another Christmas has come and gone!  One of my favorite times of the year.  We started it off with some chocolate calendars.  Whoever invented these things is a genius!  Tapping into peoples weaknesses is a true talent.

Lots of family parties and visit from Santa.

Ms. Rudolph playing with the Orbies that Maddie got for her birthday.

Doesn't get any cuter than this!

Aeva's preschool class.

Our annual bake day at Grandma Carole's.  

These is supposed to be a cheese borag.  Normally they are triangular in shape.  This is the "kid version."  Just as tasty as the adults!

Christmas morning!  Puffy eyes to prove that we stayed up too late the night before... another Christmas Eve tradition.  

Let the chaos begin!

Troy HATES the song about the boy whose mother is dying and he has to buy her some shoes.  Hilarious that I got a present from that same caring boy.  I hope that doesn't mean that I am on my death bed as well!

Cousin gifts.

Friend gifts.

Santa gifts.

This Cat book was a "prank" gift for my mom.  Hilarious!  If anyone wants some entertainment, this book is a good place to start.  All you ever wanted to know about cats and...a lot of things you never wanted to know as well.

Maddie made this snowman at school.  Another adorable decoration for our house.  Thanks, Maddie!

Gracie's gifts from school.  Troy and I are some lucky parents!