Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas! Both kids loved everything we got them. Alivia said that Santa dumped his sleigh at her house. Both kids are at a fun age where they are excited about every gift they got. Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday!

Family Pictures

Gingerbread House

After much nagging, from Alivia, we decided it was time to put together our annual Gingerbread House. Mom did the icing and the kids put the candy on. We first started out putting candy on the gingerbread men that came with the kit. Ethan got his decorated just in time to eat it. He didn't wait one more minute to take a bite. Mom put each of the candies in a little bowl. While we started decorating, Ethan decided that was the time to try each one of the candies. Oddly enough, he ate two of the peppermint discs! He did try a piece of bubble gum and about choked on it. It was hard to keep the house decorated. As soon as Liv would put a candy on, Ethan would take it off and try to eat it. Toward the end, sitting in their chairs didn't seem good enough. They both got on top of the table to get a better view. This activity was actually a good idea for Ethan to practice his fine motor skills. He did have quite the dilemma about whether it would be funner to decorate the house, or eat the candy. Both kids had fun with this and hopefully we can continue the tradition. Liv was patient with Ethan and didn't get too frustrated. And the house, up to this point, is still in one piece. We'll see how long that lasts!

Snow, Snow, and more Snow!

This wasn't the "official" first day of snow, but it was the first snow in a while. The kids thought it was great. Although, Ethan hated the fact that snow was falling in his face. So I gave him an umbrella. Liv and Abby had fun cleaning the snow off the car while Trent and Ethan shoveled the driveway. Liv and Abby thought it would be funny to try and catch snowflakes on their tongues. I don't think they were too successful, but who knows! Liv got sick of the snow in her face too so she pulled her hat down to cover her face. I, of course, stayed in the garage and took pictures of everyone freezing their cans off! Days like these make me want to come inside, put on pajama pants, and wrap up in a blanket. Liv has always loved the snow and has been anticipating it snowing for months. She couldn't wait to get out there. She wanted to go out in her pajamas, but we did make her get dressed. Welcome to winter!

We Elfed Ourselves!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1286114978

Washington DC

Well here are some pics from our Washington DC Surprise trip! We had such a great time and literally walked our butts off! It was great to see Trent's face each step of the surprise. I woke him up Thursday morning and said "get up we are going to breakfast". He said "I can't I have a demo at 9am". I said "Nope you don't, Grant is doing it for you so get up and get dressed." We then proceeded to drive north. When we turned left out of Harvest Hills, he said "Where ya goin, the airport?" And I thought, oh crap does he know? So I said "Ya right, I wish". So we drove north. Then when we turned west on 215, he said "Where ya driving to, the airport?" So I thought again "oh crap". I just said, just sit back and relax. When we finally did turn into the airport, he got so excited and laughed and said "What are you doing!?!" I didn't tell him where we were going yet. When we checked in at the ticket counter, the guy said "Here are your tickets to Phoenix and then on to Washington D.C." Trent's face was absolutely great!! He just had this look of shock! What a great surprise it was! So our first night there we literally ran to Washington Monument, The White House, and Lincoln Memorial. If you have never been there, you won't appreciate how far of a walk/jog it actually is. The second day we spent at the Smithsonian Museums and the Holocaust Memorial. We went to the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. We also went to the National Archives and saw the Constitution, Declaration, and Bill of Rights. They also had an exhibit that was called the Public Vaults where they had a lot of random documents. They were very interesting. That night we ate at ESPN Zone and shopped at Union Station. We then went to see the National Christmas Tree at the White House. They had mini Christmas trees decorated by each state surrounding the National Christmas Tree. It was great to see how each state decorated their tree. The next morning we went to Arlington National Cemetary. We watched the changing of the guard and saw the Kennedy gravesite with the Eternal Flame. We rode the Metro to get around town, which was really easy. Trent loved the Air and Space Museum where he saw the Apollo 11 Space module. They also had an exhibit that had American Historical stuff. We saw Lincoln's tophat and the first lightbulb by Edison. All in all, we had a wonderful trip! It couldn't have been more successful. We owe a big thanks to everyone who helped us out!! THANK YOU!!!