Saturday, January 2, 2016

Misc. December Pics

Here are a few pictures from December that didn't fit in one of the earlier posts, but just too cute not to share. 
Close up Care!
Silas is super close to crawling! He spends a lot of time rocking on all fours. Any day now we're waiting for this guy to take off.

Say cheese!
Unfortunately we got hit pretty badly with bronchitis in our home. The kids and l had it for a couple weeks and Zach had a similar viral infection. So we didn't get out as much as we would have liked, but thanks to some internet searches, we we're able to do lots of crafts together and have lots of cuddle time.
Care feeling better.
As you can see we had a green Christmas this year!
I was able to connect with three dear friends from elementary school for breakfast. What a delightful morning it was!
Friends for 24 years and going strong!

Merry Christmas!

We had a lovely Christmas celebrating with family and friends. Lydia and Carrie were really into it this year. As you can see, she gives a great reaction to receiving gifts.
Si just took everything in.

Lydia was very excited to get a Madeline doll!

Carrie wearing her new ballerina outfit while playing with her new toolset. 
The girls love their new dress-up clothes!
Here we are at the Mallekoote party- 13 kids 8 and under.
I didn't get a good picture of the girls in their adorable matching Christmas dresses. This was the best I found.
The adults on the Mallekoote side all go out for a lovely dinner together. It was wonderful!
Our Christmas Eve was spent enjoying a candlelight dinner, reading the Christmas story, looking at Christmas lights and opening gifts together.


On Christmas morning we all got ready for church and then opened our stockings.

Lydia sang in the combined children/adult choir at our church Christmas morning.

What a gift to celebrate the greatest gift we could ever receive... a Savior! Praise God for His abundant grace and love in sending His Son, Jesus, to bring hope to our fallen world- Go tell it!

Cookies and Ornaments!

We had a fun time making Christmas cookies this year. Our neighbor friend, Anna, came over to help.
The next day my mom came over to bring supplies and help decorate!
Carrie showing off her cookies. I am holding the first cookie Carrie picked up. As you can see there is a perfect Carrie-sized bite out of it. :-)

Si had fun watching.

The next day we painted some wooden ornaments to give away as Christmas gifts.
Fun Stuff!

Playdates

We had a few play dates this month. Below the girls are playing "Choo Choo Train" with their friend, Levi.
Pausing for a picture.
A friend from Church, Miss Kim, came over to play with the girls and read them some Christmas stories. 

Gingerbread Houses

We decorated gingerbread houses earlier in December with family. As you can see, Lydia was more interested in tasted the house at times. 
Back to work after her treat break.


Grandpa O and Carrie hard at work.
Group shot!

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Misc. November Pics

Silas having a sink bath...it's a family affair.
The girls helping Daddy make Scones and baguettes.
Lydia only prefers the soft inside part of the baguette, as you can see from her leftovers.
 Daddy and Si.
 Grandma O came over to make cookies with the girls.
 Cutie Care.
 Our little sweeties at church, posing for a picture (which rarely happens).
 The weather turned cold by the end of the month so we got out all the snow gear.

 The girls discovered and shared a pen they found one night...while they were supposed to be sleeping. Here are our two "tigers!"
Onto December!



Late Fall Outings

With the warm weather this past month we squeezed in a few tips to Frederick Meijer Gardens. The girls always stop to discuss the sculpture of the sad girl. This time they wanted to impersonate her as well.
 Group shot...taken by my mom.
 The girls checking out the new exhibit: The Japanese Gardens!

Another perk of the nice weather has been going for walks. Below Grandpa M is taking several of the cousins on a walk together.
 Is that precious or what?
 Our Lyddi always stops to smell the flowers. We were way behind the pack of cousins at this point.  :-)
 Nothing like a double swing ride to top off a lovely fall walk!

We also got in a few last minute park trips while we still could!

 Mamma and Si guy.
 Care Bear and Sare Bear