Other December Fun!!

Our tree all decorated and the kids were sitting their together one afternoon playing with the snowmen and reindeer and singing Christmas songs.  These two just melt my heart.  I love when they play together like this.  

The lightsaber and robe that Calin and Robby made together.  Calin LOVES playing with them and ask every day when Robby gets home to go and play lightsabers on the trampoline with him. 

Calin also loves to be like Clara sometimes.  He wanted to carry her little doggy
 bag carrier and play with her dog just like her. 

We spent lots of evenings sitting/reading by the fire and drinking hot chocolate.
 It was a great wintery/christmasy activity with the kids! 

Clara had her first dentist visit.  She was a little nervous and cried a little when the dentist was examining her teeth, but for the most part she was very cooperative and left happy! 

Calin was a big helper and showed Clara all about brushing the dinos teeth! 

We took the Christmas tree over to Great Grandmas one day to help set it up in preparation for Becca and Grandma and Grandpa coming to visit for Christmas.  Great Grandma showed the kids her nativity and also let them help put some ornaments on the tree!  

Clara doing some hokey pokey at story time at the library! 

Clara is becoming quite the little reader and will get books to look at on her own.  I love when she lays on her stomach to read like this.  

Here she is reading one of the train books again! She loves these books and reads them over and over! 

The kids at story time again doing the teddy bear song.  

Calin got this advent calendar last year from Grandma Mielke and
I often find Clara reading the little stories about the birth of Jesus.  

She loves to pull each one out, look through it, and then puts them all back in.  I love that she is loving to read and that she likes being read to but also will just sit and read on her own! 

Our little family caught a stomach bug the weekend before Christmas.  Clara got it first on Thursday and threw up several times that day and a little through the night.  She seemed to be doing better on Friday though but did continue to have diarrhea and wasn't eating normal.  I sure do hate having sick kids but loved those tired sick baby snuggles! 

Poor sick girl.  I found her sleeping like this with her head face down.  She has kept sleeping like this a lot even though she's not sick anymore.  Silly girl.  

I started feeling sick Friday and then Calin got it too.  He didn't seem to get it as bad and only threw up a few times.  Thankfully he knows how to get it in the toilet, garbage or bucket.  Actually the first time her threw up he didn't even tell us.  We were in the living room and I heard him coughing in the kitchen and then he came into the living room with that awkward smile on his face saying "I did something".  I was talking to him trying to figure out what was going on and I could smell the throw up on his breath.  He had gone and thrown up in the garbage and then didn't even tell us.  Silly kid.  We were all pretty miserable and tired. They were enjoying some snuggles with Dad while watching Frozen for the first time since we all felt so miserable.  I felt much better Saturday but then Sunday was terrible.  Clara had thrown up again Saturday night.  Calin seemed better but still wasn't really eating normal.  The three of us stayed home from church while Robby went.  We also missed the Sorensen family Christmas party and sent Robby in our place.  It was a terrible weekend but I was glad we were getting it out of the way before Christmas! 

What a great dad we had to help us all when we weren't feeling well.  I though Robby was in the clear, but then he got it the night and day before Christmas Eve and was miserably in bed all day! 

Becca and my parents got here on Monday and we all seemed to be feeling much better.  Although Clara still wasn't eating back to normal and still had diarrhea.  She enjoyed some snuggles with Becca after her nap. 

On Tuesday Becca played some games with the kids while I was making cookies to take to neighbors now that we were all finally feeling a little better! 

Pretending to sleep with Becca.  Calin is obviously actually sleeping! ;)

Grandpa entertain Clara at Great Grandma's with a Sunset magazine! Ha! 

Calin enjoyed putting this puzzle together over several days at great grandmas.  We had to get a picture so that we could show he did it and then we could put it away.  

Clara needed a picture just like Calin! 

Watching some of the Grinch with Aunt Becca! 

Some more Grinch viewing with Grandma! 

We took a trip out to Warner Valley and out by Ft. Pierce to see the dinosaur tracks out there.  There weren't many tracks but it was still very cool to see what was there! Calin especially enjoyed exploring where the dinosaurs were! We went with Grandma Lundberg, David and Deborah, and Becca and Grandma and Grandpa. 

Look at that big track! 

And some little ones!  

Calin and some of the tracks! 

Being dinosaurs! 

More walking like dinosaurs! 

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa! 

It was VERY cold and windy that day so Clara stayed bundled up in Dad's coat and
peeked out every once in a while to see what was going on. 

Picture with Becca before church the Sunday after Christmas! 

Sunday night watching something fun with Becca.  

Clara had her baby and kept tucking it into the blanket with her.  

Checking out the nativity with Grandma! 

Enjoying some time with Grandpa on their last night in St. George! 

We sure do miss Grandma and Grandpa and Becca after they go! We love when they visit!  

Clara and Calin loved listening, singing, watching and reading the Grinch all season long.  Clara especially loved it though and I would often find her reading it on her own.  She would say parts of the story that she knew really well like "noise noise noise noise" and "stuffed all the bags up the chimney" "if Santa could do it then so could the Grinch" "Santa Claus, Why? why are you taking our christmas tree? why?" It was a lot of fun to listen to her read it on her own or say these parts as we read the book to her.  Calin also had parts memorized but he would not ever really do them unless prompted. 

Clara got this little doll from her cousin Preston for Christmas and I often find her snuggling this doll and sometimes others now too.  It's pretty cute when she likes to sleep and play with them! 

Another place I found Clara reading her books.  Would you like to in a box? 

New Year's Eve we had snacks and games at our house with Tracee, Austin, Becca and Ami.   The kids enjoyed staying up a little bit later than usual (Clara went to bed around 9-9:30 and we did a count down a little before 10 for Calin before putting him to bed). They especially had fun doing some Wii dancing with everyone and showing off their moves! 2015 was a great year and we look forward to all the fun, joys, blessings, and new adventures that 2016 will bring! 

Christmas Fun!

The night before Christmas Eve we went to see some Christmas lights with my parents, Becca, and grandma Lundberg.  Robby had caught the stomach bug that me and the kids had already had so he was at home.  We had fun taking my family to see the castle house and the house in Bloomington Hills that had both won a TV show Christmas Light Fight.  They were both very light!  We like the Bloomington Hills one the most though! 

Becca and the kids at Santa's Workshop at the Bloomington Hills house. 

Christmas Eve we went to breakfast with the Comeford Clan that morning at IHOP.  It was fun to be out to breakfast with everyone.  After that we went to Grandma Lundberg's to spend some time with my family for lunch/snacks and to hang out for a bit.  After that we took the kids home for naps.  After naps got ready to go over to Ami's for their Christmas Eve dinner and festivities.  We ate, acted out the nativity, opened Christmas PJ's, and watched the video that Robby made with Calin and Clara reading The Grinch.

Calin being one of the shepherds.  Clara was not cooperating and just wanted to come sit by me (Robby and I were Mary and Joseph) but she did start out as a wiseman.  

Calin opening up his Yoda pajamas.  He was SO excited.  It was pretty fun to watch him get so excited about opening them! He wanted to put them on right away! 

Christmas Jammies! 

Cousins and PJ's! 

Our family still wasn't totally recovered and back to eating normally after the stomach bug we had so we headed home to do a few last Christmas Eve things together and then get the kids to bed.   They left cookies out for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer! Calin was pretty excited about all of this.  Clara didn't really know what to think but had fun with Calin!

Cookies and Carrots! 

Christmas morning the kids woke up around their normal time around 6:30 or 7.   Calin was super excited to go and see what Santa had brought and was thrilled when he found Santa had brought him the Star Wars action figures he had been hoping for!

He was so excited to open them and play and play.  He still will spend hours every day playing with his Star Wars guys.  He got Yoda, Luke, C3PO, R2D2, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Storm Trooper, Chewbacca.

We had a really nice morning with our little family opening presents, snacking on cereal, reading some of the books the kids got.  It was nice to just take our time and go at the pace of the kids and let them play with new toys as they opened them.  

Calin got and R2D2 chair from Tracee and Austin and so Clara had to get her chair out and they read books in their chairs. Calin got some Star Wars books from Santa that he was super excited to read.  

The kids got a dress up box from Robby and I full of capes, dresses, and all sorts of fun dress-ups.  Clara wanted a cape like Calin but otherwise wasn't super interested in the dress-ups.  Calin was pretty excited! 

To the rescue! 

This was after Calin had put on ALL of the boy dress-ups one over the top of the other.   He wanted to wear them all! 

Some fun little duplos Clara got from Summer and Josef.  She was so excited there was a little baby! 

Calin in all his dress up gear with the new star wars cars he got from Allie and Erich. 

Clara was also excited about this little Minnie puzzle she got from Allie and Erich.  

Robby with his cool engine print from Allie and Erich.  

There were tons and tons of awesome presents but I didn't pictures of everything.  After we finished at our house we went over to Comefords briefly to open a few presents with Grandma and Grandpa Comeford before heading over to Grandma Lundberg's for breakfast/brunch and to open presents with Becca and grandma and grandpa Mielke.  The kids were spoiled rotten and got all kinds of wonderful presents from everyone!  I only got a few pictures but they got some awesome books, clothes, an easel for coloring and painting, some cool underwater light sabers, goggles, and a ladybug helmet.  They sure are lucky to be so loved!

Clara looking awesome in her ladybug helmet.  

Clara and Calin helping grandpa play with his new mini soccer game.  

After playing with everyone at Grandma Lundberg's for a little bit we headed back to Comeford's for Christmas "dinner" around 3.  We ate with all of Robby's family and then opened presents with all of them.  I somehow did manage to get any pictures of dinner or presents over there but it was a very nice afternoon and evening and the kids got even more presents to add to all the wonderful things they'd already gotten.

After dinner and presents and pie we headed home to spend a little more time with Becca and Grandma and Grandpa and to show them all the presents the kids had gotten that morning.  They stayed for a little bit before heading home and we relaxed a little more, let the kids play and then got kids to bed for a nice end to our wonderful Christmas!

Clara got some new bows and wanted to share one with everyone so she gave everyone a bow to put in their hair. 

Although these pictures weren't from Christmas this was our family Sunday Christmas the Sunday after Christmas.  I sure am grateful for this little family of ours and for those two cuties! We sure do love them and are glad we got to spend Chrismas teaching them of their Savior and watching their joy as we celebrated.