Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We did! Santa was very good to all of us this year! I feel very blessed to be able to say that! We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Flammang and Uncle Eric. The girls got a big Doll house from them as well as some other goodies. This morning we opened up gifts with children who were so worn out from the day before we had to wake them up at 10:30! The girls were very surprised to find their new Princess Bikes parked in front of the tree! They got lots of other stuff from Santa as well...hopefully enough to beat the Iowa winter boredom for a while! This afternoon we spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Porter and all Daniel brother and sisters.

A Vist With Santa

This was our second visit with Santa this year! We just seem to keep finding the man. This picture was taken the other night at the Ring House in Mapleton. For those of you not in the "know" about Mapleton (lol) the ring house was the first wooden framed house built in the Maple River Valley...Im pretty sure in 1865. Today it is a very neat piece of history complete with some of the actual things that were back in the house in the early years. On the 18th they had a kids night with a meet and great with the Jolly Old Elf Himself. Paytin went right to him while Avary still has her doubts about Santa and well sit it out I'd guess until next year. Did I mention we braved an ice/snow storm to do this! lol...the girls just had to go see Santa! No wind, rain, ice or snow were going to stop them! One benefits of this...we had him all to OURSELVES!!!

Shooting With A New View!!!

So I got my Christmas Present from Daniel a bit early this year! He got me a Nikon
D90 Camera!!! I can not believe that after all these years I finally have the ONE thing I have been wanting!!! HE actually made me cry by telling me that I let him follow his dream of owning a semi and that now it is my turn to follow mine because I take great pictures...that little speach ranks right up there with our engagment!!! The kids probley are none to happy because this means there will be even more pictures of them as soon as I figure it all out anyway! I am lol!!! I am just over the moon!!! NO kiddding!!! Here are som of my first shots with it of the girls doing some Christmasey things!

Gingerbread House!

The baby Reindeers flew in this neat treat last night! It was the first time we have ever made one and it was so much fun! It did get a little stressful though because Avary thought she should be the master of the cake decorator thingy. lol. Everytime we would really get going on the house she would get a hold of it and not give it back! :) The girls both did really well at putting on all the candy. Paytin told me that she definitely wants to do another house next year so hopefully this will be the first of many many many gingerbread houses we have built together! I thought that we had a better picture of the finshed product but I guess not. :( I'll have to take one and post it in the morning.

Swimming with the Doty's

Last week we got to have some fun going swimming with the Doty Family. The kids (Paytin, Brayden, and Avary) had a ball! It was fun to get to sit and talk to you while the kids played Megan!

Christmas Cookies and A Snow Day!

Wow! We made a ton of cookies today! :) Nothing to get you in the Christmas spirt like all the snow we got last night and baking Christmas cookies! lol. The girls love rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies...and so do I.:) Paytin had a snow day from school today so we tryed to pack as much into an extra day as we could. It was a tad on the cold and windy side so we didnt get to stay out in the snow long. But they loved every minute of being in it. I think I am really going to enjoy this winter with two girls who are BOTH old enough to go out and have fun in the snow. We wanted to build a snowman but the snow just wouldnt stick together...:(

Witnessing the Magic...

Happy 30th Birthday Daniel!

Thats alot of Candles! lOl! Us girls treated Daddy to a Ice Cream Cake and then we went with Grandma and Grandpa Porter to the Texas Road House to eat. We wanted to have a big party but Daniel was alittle funny about turning 30! He says he turned 29 lol! Hope you had a geat birthday Daniel your girls love you! :) I have a very cute picture of Daniel and the girls from tonight at the Road house that I wish I could share! Maybe I will figure out how to send pics from my cell phone to my email and I will post when/if I do.

Letters To Santa

The Baby Reindeers have started to work their magic! If you didn’t catch them last year they are baby reindeer that need to be taken care of because their Mom and Dad are busy getting ready for Christmas at the North Pole. We were lucky enough to be "picked" to baby-sit them every Christmas season! The girls loved this last year and are loving it this year as well. For the next 24 nights they leave something special for the girls. They also report back to Santa on who has been naughty and who has been nice! Great FUN! :) This morning we found they had made their way to the Christmas Tree in the Dining Room and they each had a note for Paytin and Avary saying wright Santa a letter today! So we did! Tonight the reindeers will fly it back to the North Pole for Santa to read. Paytin did a Great job trying to trace the dots that I made for her to trace to make words. A few of the letters somehow got a little mixed up but I think it is priceless! lol :) Avary had me help her right hers of course but she new exactly what she wants "Ho Ho" to bring her! (Hes not Santa to Avary hes HO HO ) Hope everyone is finding their way into the Christmas Spirit

Silent Night

Had to capture this in a picture! The girls got Princess sleeping bags from Amy and they have been sleeping on the living room floor with them everynight! Everynight they have to be next to the christmas tree watching the bubble lights to fall asleep. :0)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa Flammang, Uncle Eric, My Uncle Gary and Cousin Jake. I was somehow able to pull off Thanksgiving at our house for the 3rd year and I hope that I can keep doing it! :) Feels like my Holiday! :) Anyway we had a great meal and then the "Men" took a nap and us girls went for a walk. We are so thankful for all that we have and hope that God will continue to bless us and all our friends and family throught the coming year! Happy Thanksgiving!!!