Picture Perfect

All dressed up for Christmas Eve worship at church. And kids who were actually willing to smile and pose for pictures! Woo-hoo! Turns out, even with everything going for you, getting the perfect shot proves elusive.

 "Stand in front of the tree and smile! Oops, get your hands out of your mouth!"

"You look so pretty in your dress! Oh no, don't pull it up!"

"Okay, how about a picture on your 'stage'? Now look up, and get your hands down, please!"

"Yes, your shoes are verrrrrry sparkly! Where's your smile?"

"Yes, that IS a smile, but it does look just a little forced...how about showing me some excitement?!"

"Now, how about a big smile! Show me your teeth!"

"Okay, Punka. You're off the hook."

Yep, as usual, Trav is a little easier. :)

 

Smiley, easy-going, happy guy.

So then off we went to church. It was a beautiful service with lots of special music, and Kurt even got to sit with us, which almost never happens. On top of that, the kids were behaving really well and enjoying the music and we didn't have to leave to go to the toy room five minutes into the service. Great! This is just great! Until Travis, sitting on Kurt's lap, excitedly moved too quick and bucked his Daddy right in the nose, which caused...yep, you guessed it...a bloody nose. Right before Kurt had to go up and read in front of everyone. That was our cue to excuse ourselves! It was nothing if not memorable!

And finally, late Christmas Eve night, the stockings were stuffed - even one for Jovi. Off to bed to get some rest before the best fun begins!

Almost Christmas

The last weekend before Christmas we wanted to spend doing some fun things in Des Moines but after the snowstorm we had, we weren't able to get down there like we planned. So instead we explored a couple small towns north of us. Here we are having lunch at a restaurant in Iowa Falls.

And before we knew it, Christmas Eve morning was upon us. Our new family tradition includes opening some of our presents that morning. 

 Cassidy, all ready to open her first present. She "needed" to wear a purple bow headband to open presents.

Many wonderful, thoughtful gifts were received this Christmas, but none could compare to the Rapunzel dress, braid, and shoes from Kayla (and Sheri, Aaron, and Khloe of course). 

And Travis, well, once he opened his Letter Factory toy from Dawn, Josh, Jake and Ruby, there was no looking back. Or looking at the camera. Oh well.

My little (snow) angels

Yay! Snow has arrived! And just in time for Christmas. Our entire family couldn't be happier. We made it to Ames and back today for groceries, but the roads were still pretty treacherous so we decided to stay put and just play! We got about a foot of powder but with the high winds, it has blown and drifted to the point that we can almost see the grass under the snow in some spots. Iowa snow isn't Michigan snow, but we'll take it! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 Kurt thinks Cassidy's getting pretty good with the snow shovel!

 My baby boy, making his first-ever snow angel. Awwwww!!!

 One little snow angel and one just-slightly-bigger little snow angel.

Cassidy and Kurt made caves, or as Cassidy says, "cave-s" (like "caviss"). She made them so a mouse would have a place to live. How sweet. Didn't have the heart to tell her mice aren't allowed that close to my house. :)

Daddy's Guy

Isn't Trav's tiger shirt cute? It's Kurt's from when he was little! Yep, this was Kurt's most favorite tiger shirt and he has vivid memories of wearing it a lot when he was young (he says he actually called it his "lion shirt". Ha!). It's so very fun that it fits Travis now! Thanks to FarFar and FarMor for saving it for all these years and sharing it with us now.

Christmas Fun!

We've been having lots of Christmas fun! Last weekend we enjoyed an IMAX showing of The Polar Express, which both kids really enjoyed. I tried to get a picture of both of them before we left for the day, but Travis kept running away! So here's the Pretty Pumpkin, all ready for a Saturday of Christmas fun!