Ellie turns 5

Commentary to come later. I just wanted to show off my cutie.

Sledding

With all the snow we have gotten lately and the mild temperatures, it has been perfect sledding weather.
Ryan took McKay and Ellie and let me stay home with Clara in the nice warm house.

The kids had a great time.

I sent McKay with Ryan not knowing if he would even try sledding and only got him to go by telling him he didn't have to go down the hill but that he could just play in the snow. Ryan was patient with McKay and let him take it at his own speed. McKay loved it and by the end was going down bigger hills all by himself.

Ellie had no problem. You can see her climbing up for another run behind McKay in the pink pants.

Thanks Dad for taking the kids! Next time I think Clara and I will come too.

Christmas Day '08

Christmas morning, ready to open presents.
Clara got the hang of opening her presents very quickly. But brother and sister were standing by just in case she might need any help.

McKay with his Batman legos.

Ellie with one of her two Barbie and the Diamond castle girl dolls. After opening these she was much happier about the boy dolls she had received the night before.

Clara with her new Baby Alive that giggles and coos.

An old time classic, Lite Brite.

Some Littlest Pet Shop.

Clara's favorite present from all of Christmas, her Fur Real cat. It is very realistic and purrs and meows at you. It even hisses if you grab it wrong. The body is all hard but she still loves to carry it around everywhere.

A better shot of the front of the cat.

Late Christmas morning my family came over to see the presents and have cinnamon rolls. The wonderful Uncles and Ryan went outside with the kids and dug tunnels through the snow piles. The kids loved their "igloo".

Christmas afternoon we headed over to Ryan's grandparents for lunch with the whole family. It was fun having everyone together.

Great Grandma and Grandpa knew just what to get the kids. Littlest Pet Shop animals and board game for Ellie.

Race car legos and an Etch-a-sketch for McKay.

Clara received a cute stuffed animal dog and some Dr. Suess books. After opening presents she was getting a little silly, it had been a long day.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a wonderful afternoon.

We had a terrific Christmas!

Christmas Eve '08

For Christmas eve we started out by going by Grandpa and Grandma Hill's to say Merry Christmas and exchange some presents.

McKay who is very into legos was excited to receive some Indiana Jones sets.

Receiving Gorilla Mountain was definitely one of the highlights of Christmas for Ellie. She had been wanting it for almost a year.


Clara lately has been very into baby dolls, so a set with a baby, stroller, carrier and cradle was perfect. She couldn't wait to get it open so she crawled on top of the box to get a better look at her new "baba".


Grandpa Jeff reading to Clara one of her new books.

The kids really got spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma.

After being at the Hill's for awhile it was time to head to the Grow's for dinner and more presents.

After dinner getting ready to open presents Clara was exhausted and crying. It was her turn first since we went youngest to oldest. While she sat crying on Ryan's lap my mom when to go get Clara's present. When she came around the corner with this plush rocking horse Clara when from crying to screeching with excitement in a half second. It gave everyone a good laugh.

McKay loves the Wii and loves Spongebob, so a Spongebob Wii video game was perfect.

I couldn't get a good picture of Ellie with her two boy barbies from "Barbie and the Diamond Castle". She was quite disappointed. They didn't make sense without the two girl barbies that she didn't get until Christmas morning. Once she had the whole set, she was much happier.

After getting home the kids got to open their traditional Christmas eve pajamas. This year we also added a new Christmas book.

Once they were all in their pajamas we sat down with a cookie to read all 3 new books before putting out our cookies for Santa and oats for his reindeer.