Big Boy Bed!!

Well, it's official...he's a Big Boy! Over Christmas Nolan figured out how to launch himself out of his crib, head first. So we thought it would be a good time to make the transition.He was so excited to climb into his new bed at bedtime! (Of course he was equally excited to climb out of it 10 times last night...that's a work in progress.)
Of course Aidyn could not be left out of the process. We moved the antique bed out of our guest room and into Aidyn's room. It is officially a Princess bed now! This bed used to be my grandpa's bed when he was a kid. When I needed a bed for college, he dug it out of "storage" and refinished it for me. I love this bed and will never part with it!

A new member of the family!!!

We are so excited to have a new baby in the family! Lisa & Cody were blessed with a beautiful baby boy on Christmas Day. Brodie Evan was 7 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches and is as cute as they come! We stopped to meet him today on our way home from ND. Everyone got a turn holding him, but Aidyn was definitely the "baby hog" of the bunch. The rest of us had to wait our turn...
Nolan got to hold him a bit too and was very gentle. It was so cute to see the kids so enthralled with their new cousin. They are very excited about the new addition to the family! (As are we!!) Congrats Lisa & Cody!!

Christmas at the Farm

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents house with the whole family in attendance. There was lots of laughing, food and fun!
Here are 2 little boys looking at tractors. All of the grandkids...Sean, Kaitlyn, McKayla, Kimberly, Aidyn, Justin & Nolan
All of the "adults"...Ty, Deb, KJ, Grandma, Troy, Shirley, Mom, Jeff & Dad
Nolan was very excited because he had the biggest gift under the tree!
Me with my cute brothers.

Christmas at the Lake

We celebrated Christmas with Jeff's family last weekend. The kids had a blast playing games with everyone, eating Christmas goodies and playing with all of their fun new toys. Nolan really enjoyed rocking out on his new guitar!

Posh Spice? Who me?!?!

So I went out on a limb and got my hair cut. It's taking me a bit to figure out how to do it but I really like it!

Frosty

Today was a perfect day to make a snowman. The kids helped form him while I was in charge of getting him to stay together. Aidyn was very concerned about him having a pipe though. She informed me that the snowman shouldn't smoke because then he will get sick and die. Wow. I convinced her that we didn't have to light the pipe, then he wouldn't actually be able to smoke it.

One of the most exciting things we discovered outside were footprints which we believe belong to Santa and....reindeer poop!!! I love the innocence of children!

Basketball

Aidyn had her final night of basketball last night. She got her medal, which she is very proud of and then it was snack time. Which, if you ask her, is the best part of basketball! Her team, The Hawks.

Christmas at our house

Today we celebrated our family Christmas. Santa came early since he knew we were going to be gone over Christmas. The kids were SOOOOOO excited when they realized he had been here. Then they helped me make scones for breakfast (while using their new aprons-thanks Lisa & Cody!)

We went out for lunch and then went bowling. This is something they've been asking to do for awhile so they were really looking forward to it.

The bowling went surprisingly well. Aidyn got to be pretty good at getting her ball down the lane and Nolan enjoyed the hand dryer.

After a little rest for everyone we opened our gifts from each other.

Nolan gave Aidyn a new piggy bank since he shattered hers recently. She said she loved this one even more!

Both kids got tennis racquets and Nolan started swinging immediately. Nothing is broken...yet.

They also got a fun toy that allows them to sing along to music and be on TV at the same time. They can really belt out some songs!

I think it's fair to say that we all had a great time spending the day together!

Christmas at the Trapp's

Yesterday we spent the day at Lisa & Cody's house celebrating an early Christmas with Jeff's family. We had a fun day visiting, open gifts and playing Guitar Hero.

Little House on the Table

The kids decorated their gingerbread house today. By 'the kids' I mean Aidyn decorated it and told Nolan all the things he shouldn't be doing and Nolan ate all the decorations he could shove into his mouth before he got busted.
They seemed pleased with the end result!

Lucky Dog

Christmas came early for Bailey this year. She got a brand-new bed on which to rest her puppy head! She snuggled in right away and looked pretty comfy.
Of course she was probably more comfortable after she got a blanket draped over her and had 2 kids laying with her. Doesn't she look thrilled?

Family Pictures

Jeff's folks came down for the day to enjoy Aidyn's Christmas program. We were able to get a few pictures taken before the kids had had enough. (That didn't take long!)

She sings like an angel...

Aidyn had her Church School Christmas Program this morning. She was excited about singing, but mostly excited about wearing her new dress. (Which she looked very cute in!)

Her group sang Emmanuel and did a very nice job. She is 2nd from the right in this picture and below is a video of the performance.

Sweet Boy

Here is our sweet little boy sleeping the other night. Jeff & I walked in to tuck him in and we both said "Awwwww!" For as much mischief as he gets into during the day, he sure looks like an angel when he's sleeping.

Visitors who came bearing cookies

Troy, Shirley, Kaitlyn & Sean came to visit this weekend. Sean showed off his cheerleader skills and was nicknamed "Bella Seanderella".
Jeff worked on teaching Aidyn the finer points of Guitar Hero.

The big event of the weekend was making Christmas cookies. Troy & I each stirred up a huge batch of cookie dough so the kids had their work cut out for them. Saturday afternoon they cut out the cookies and baked them. Oh yeah, they ate cookie dough too, but just a little bit....

Saturday night was spent decorating...

And eating frosting...

And eating frosting and decorating at the same time... (This is a video.)

And hoping to sneak a bite...

We all had a great time and we have a whole lot of beautifully decorated cookies to show for it.

It was sure fun having them come for a visit. Apparently it was either too fun or just not long enough because there were a lot of tears shed this morning by a little girl as her cousins drove away. But she's already looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas!