decorating cookies

A few days before Christmas, Kate and Liz decorated sugar cookies.

Liz was quite generous with her designs and toppings.

 

Kate was methodical, deliberate, and precise.  She arranged each piece of candy individually. 

This picture sums up the girls most days. 

Kate is on the verge of panic.  Liz is taking delight in the simple things.

Eventually, the girls worked together on a few cookies.

After a few minutes of working together, Liz may have gotten a bit overwhelmed by Kate's direction and insistence.

Eventually, they overcame their artistic differences and collaborated quite well together.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Love, Michael, Crystal, Kate and Liz.

merry christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

trimming the tree

We finally got a Christmas tree this weekend.

 To say both girls were excited to decorate the tree would be an understatement.

 Kate hung most of the ornaments.  Getting the hooks on the branches was a bit of a challenge for Liz.

When Liz found this rocking horse ornament she fell in love.  

She couldn't stop petting him and giving him kisses.

The tree isn't perfect and the ornaments aren't placed precisely, but I really do love this tree. 

cousins

Grandma Terri and Aunt Kerry bought matching Christmas outfits for the cousins.

Capturing a picture of these four was a workout!

Good grief!  Could these four be any cuter?

I couldn't help myself.  I had to add some mustache action.

Our christmas tree

At the last minute I decided that we needed a Christmas tree. It just didn't feel like Christmas without a tree.

Kate really enjoyed putting ornaments on the tree. Each ornament needed to be put in the "perfect" spot.

Liz also "helped".
I had fun and I hope the girls did too. It was more than just decorating a tree; it was making a memory of our Christmas traditions, at least I hope that is how the girls remember the evening.

one last celebration

Over the weekend, we attended our final Christmas gathering of the season. We all met at Grandma Carolyn's for the Rodaway Christmas.

All the kids except for Liz; she was sleeping.

More presents! Kate was very excited to see Dora wrapping paper.

Playing with Aunt Nora.

Working on a puzzle with Grandma Betty and Aunt Nora. Uncle Randy watches in the background.

Christmas pictures

A few Christmas pictures. Enjoy!

a video

How many times does Kate say "thank you" in this video?

merry christmas

a new tradition

Last night we drove around and looked at Christmas light displays.

Kate was having troubles seeing out of her window in the backseat, so Daddy let her sit in his lap. [Note: we did not drive all over Lincoln like this! It was only for a block.]

We told Kate we were going to Candy Cane Lane, a street in Lincoln where all the houses have candy cane cutouts decorated with lights in the yard. Kate was very confused. I think she envisioned a street similar to the game Candy Land. Confusion aside, I think we all had a good time. Hopefully, this is the start of a new tradition!

The cousins got together for a Christmas photo shoot over the weekend.

Not everyone wanted to cooperate.

There was lots of squirming.

There were some disagreements

But, we managed to get one good picture!

friday photos

Kate decorated her Christmas tree. I had to bribe her with Skittles to get her to sit for a few pictures and even then, she still didn't keep her eyes open!

Liz is starting to enjoy tummy time!

dear santa

{Kate is going through a phase where she closes her eyes whenever I take her picture!}

If you can't read the chalkboard in the picture, Kate's letter to santa says:

Dear Santa,

i have been very good.

please bring me a red camaro for Christmas.

Love, Kate