Christmas 2011

We had a very fun Christmas, as usual. We drove to MN and stayed for a week. We had lots of time to play with cousins and aunts and uncles. There wasn't any snow though which meant no sledding. That was a bit of a disappointment. The dads did take the kids tubing which they all said was tons of fun. We had our traditional Christmas Eve with talents, song singing, and egg nog.

I managed to get a family picture on Christmas Eve.

Alexis has a teddy bear collection and was thrilled to add to it.

Audrey has become a huge Packers fan. Partly from our love of them but she actually really enjoys watching the games with us. She can tell you lots of the players names. Audrey has a collection of fuzzy, warm blankets. I thought Alexis would enjoy making her a blanket for Christmas and I had a soccer pattern all picket out. But in MN Lori and I went into a JoAnn's store and I saw this Packers pattern and had to have it. It turned out fabulous and the look on Audrey's face is fabulous.

Our good friends, Joe and Naomi, got Audrey a cheesehead. They are from WI and heard her repeatedly ask for a cheesehead. She LOVES it.

Drew and Carolyn Thomas (Ben's parents) with 9 or their 13 grandchildren.

Cousins!

Sing-a-long.

Cousin Valerie was loved by all. I thoroughly enjoyed holding her for long periods of time and all the girls wanted turns holding her.

We decorated sugar cookies again this year.

I bought some feathers online and we took the girls to get them put in. It was a fun experience but the feathers all came out within the week. Bummer.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a blast this year! Okay, it always is. :) Joe and Naomi came to our house again this year. We made lots of yummy food and enjoyed a fabulous Packer win. What could be better? We also did some shopping the night before Black Friday on the Internet. Then Naomi and I went out shopping later on Friday. That was fun too. I love shopping Black Friday. As long as I have a friend! Thanks Joe and Naomi for coming to visit and spend time with us!

Our desserts: all made from scratch, thank you very much. Apple pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate cake.

Our feast.

Alexis did not want her picture taken. Notice the girls choice of shirt wear! :)

Audrey was excited for the Packer game. She has really become a fan of football. It's so funny to watch.

Audrey's Baptism

Audrey chose to get baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on November 13, 2011. It was a beautiful service. She told me that she felt all warm inside. We got to have our good friends from Stanford, The Mumfords, come and my parents were there too. It can't get better than that.

This is Audrey's teacher, Molly Bates, whom Audrey just adores. Audrey asked her to give the talk on Baptism. Molly is the sweetest person. Thanks Molly!

Here is Audrey right after getting baptized.

This is right before we went into the church for the service. Audrey was lucky enough to borrow this beautiful dress from the Larson's in our ward. Thanks!

Audrey, you are so beautiful and a special, loved child of God. I'm so proud of you for choosing to get baptized. I love you!

Audrey's 8th Birthday

We had an Angry Birds party this year. Audrey really wanted a pig party but I couldn't find a pig party that wasn't for really little kids. So I knew Audrey's love of Angry Birds and of course there are evil pigs involved. Perfect!

I found these really cute Angry Birds Balloons on the Internet and I put them up all over the living room. My Dad blew up every balloon that I decorated with. I think we used 6 or 7 bags. Thanks Dad!

This was purely my idea and I'm really proud of it. For two months before the party I collected all sorts of different boxes. Then I wrapped them in brown paper and created a pig palace. The kids loved it and it was so much fun to make.

My Mom and I made this cake together. I had the basic idea but together we made a masterpiece!

My parents got Audrey a gigantic Angry Birds Pig. She loves it.

Ben got Audrey an electric guitar. They had decided together that that is what she wanted. She has been practicing ever since.

One of the activities we played was hiding golden eggs and finding them. There were treasures inside of them.

We also made bottle cap necklaces and magnets. Some were Angry Birds and some were of other stickers. Such a fun and easy project.

We spent lots of time on this activity. Everyone got a slingshot and a small plush angry bird. Then they had to knock down bottles and other objects. We did this as teams and as individuals and the girls got to keep their sling shots and birds.

The guests and birthday girl.

This was such a fun party to plan. I think everyone had a great time. Audrey is so much fun. She has a very magnetic and fun personality. I love that she is interested in lots of different activities. She loves soccer, playing the guitar, playing the piano, reading, writing, swimming. She is finally liking school. Because of her long recovery and sickness at the beginning of school it took her awhile to get accustomed to her class. Audrey is so much fun to have in our family. I'm so grateful that we were blessed to have her in our family.

Grandparents Come For A Visit

My parents got to come visit for a week. It was super fun to have them around. While the girls were in school we had fun shopping and exploring. We went to Kendallville to find some information on some family ancestors. The cemetery was very pretty.

The girls loved having Grandma and Grandpa here. They made a fun fort with all the boxes from the pig castle.

Grandpa and Audrey spent some time in the fort making rules and reading.

Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad! It was fun!

Indy TLCB gig

My favorite band came to Indy this last weekend. They played at a bar called The Monkey's Tale. It was so much fun. They sounded great, as always. They even played a brand new song. And since there was an act before them I got to sit and talk with them for an hour before they sang. Great show guys!

Family Visit!

We had a fun, family visit with Janet, Nicholas, Adelyn, and Maren last weekend. We had beautiful weather. We went to the main library and showed them some fun sights here. The girls played so well together in our toy room and outside. It was such an easy, fun visit. Thanks for coming guys!

Trick or Treating

Alexis the vampire.




Audrey the zombie.




The zombie, Nationwide Insurance guy, and vampire.