But why can't Santa bring me a flying reindeer?

Christmas brought lots of family and laughter this year. It also brought with it a new and improved version of the Impossible Wish List. This year, "flying reindeer" had a prominent position on the list instead of bringing up the rear. So, Santa left Estelle a nice note explaining that none of the reindeer wanted to leave their family and friends at the North Pole. Apparently believing Santa to be a much better negotiator than he gives himself credit for, Estelle has declared that next year will be the year that he persuades one of the reindeer to come and live in her room.

She had fun with other lovely gifts, including a microphone that you can plug an iPod into. Mommy and Daddy got in on the action too. Even Veronica likes to hold the mike and hum into it. It also has a "beats" button, which Estelle immediately put to use delivering a rap of the ABCs. Uncle Patrick would have been proud.


Veronica had lots of fun tearing wrapping paper, pulling ornaments off the tree and eating her gifts. Oh, and watching her big sister...always that.


Most of all, we were grateful for time with family, old traditions, new traditions and all of our many blessings.

Happy Birthday to Veve!

We spent the week of Thanksgiving and Veronica's birthday in Houston with grandpa this year. Lots of fun to see him, Diann, Uncle Derek and Uncle Patrick too.



Both girls enjoyed some cake...



V checks out her new shoes



Brothers

Deja vu

Which baby is which? Click the comments to find out...

Desert October

We had a nice long weekend visiting Uncle Patrick in Arizona this fall. The weather was beautiful which allowed for swimming in the pool every day, a nice hike and horseback riding for Estelle. Veronica loved being in the pool and was a fantastic traveler. We miss P but we're glad he's in a great vacation spot!

First Day of K

Estelle was a mixed bag of emotions when it came to starting Kindergarten. She said she was excited to go to school but "afraid" of the other kids. I told her they were probably a little nervous about her too. That didn't last long -- within a week she was greeting all the kids in school by name, including the older ones.

School started on a gorgeous September day, which lent itself well to our short walk. Here's Estelle and Aliya (our neighbor) heading in:


With dad


Mr. Davidson's class lines up, and it was time for us to head home. No tears from me -- I was so proud of my big girl!

Montana Memories

Good Lord, I've been delinquent on blogging these days. I started working full time in September and it shows! I'll try to catch us up on the big events of the last several months, starting with our great trip to Montana to visit Erika, Disa and Gunnar in late August. The kids got along fabulously and the parents had some great evenings outdoors with good food and wine. Almost immediately, Disa and Gunnar honored Estelle by inducting her into their "Trampolining in the Buff" club. I have photos but it's probably best not to post those.

We took a beautiful day trip to Flathead Lake, rented a boat and played in the icy glacial lake water. Can you believe this view?



Estelle and Disa had no fear of tubing, but Gunnar mostly wanted to drive the boat.





The kids played, watched movies, went to the park. VeVe was a trooper and loved all the attention from the big kids.



We rounded out the trip with a great hike up to the "M" - here's Disa and Estelle climbing to the top. This made my stomach do flip-flops but these girls were as agile as mountain goats!



Mostly, I loved this trip because I got the best of both worlds -- great family time and time spent with my dear friend. We can't wait to go back (or for them to make the trip to us) next time!

Birthday Bonanza

Estelle had about 3 birthday celebrations this year -- lucky girl! Her first was on her birthday...she took popsicles to Ms. AJ's.


Then, she got to go to the salon and get her nails painted with mom. She picked blue and pink sparkles.

Then, we had a fabulous trip to Montana to visit Erika, Disa and Gunnar (more on that later). We had so much fun, and Erika made the cutest birthday cake ever -- It looked like a giant cupcake!



Finally, we had a little party out at the lake...and mom forgot the camera, so no photos there, but it was still fun to have Anni and Leah help celebrate!

Busy July

This summer has been full of days out at the lake and time with family. In early July, we hit the family day at Centennial Lakes and Estelle got her face painted -- she asked for hearts and stars.


VeVe hung out with grandma.


We had a great visit mid-month with Frank, JC and Griffin making a trip here. Estelle was in heaven with two babies to entertain.



Sisters at the lake...





We wrapped up the month with a trip to the Farmers Market with Aunt Chris and Kelly, while dad and Uncle Kenny golfed. Estelle spent most of her money tipping the musicians.



Life is good!

Togetherness

You'd think Veronica was still too little to "play" with Estelle...you'd be wrong. I'm posting more pictures of the sisters' shenanigans. Here's one of their first bath together...



I walked into their room the next day and found this. Estelle says, "Mom, we're dancing!"



If Veronica could talk, she'd say, "My sister provided the accessories." At one point, she also had Build-A-Bear's thong sandals on her feet but managed to kick them off.

Meet "Pterry"

Veronica is loving the solid foods and has the strangest...hmmm, what shall we call it...approach? She lifts her arms out to the side, leans forward and opens her mouth wide while saying "Aaaaah!" My dear friend, Laura, called her the "Pterodactyl" -- it fits.

Here's grandma feeding her...




Satisfied...finally!

Bathtime is still the best

These make me smile...



Daddy went a bit overboard on the bubbles in this one...

Roomies

Awhile back, I promised to post the before and after shots of the girls' room. They've been sharing since March, and so far so good. I hope you enjoy the photos. Veronica can't really appreciate the transformation yet, but Estelle LOVES her room. I'm posting them in their before-after order...

Before right

After right


Before center

After center


Before left

After left