New Year's Eve!

Today was a beautiful (although chilly for us!) day and we decided to hike the hill behind our house.  It is roughly a two mile round trip with no major inclines so we had the kids hike it as well.  On the way up Olivier wasn't too interested in hiking and on the way down the boys didn't like sliding and falling down a bit.  Other than that (which really wasn't that bad) they did really well and enjoyed the hike. 

Roughly half way up.

 What a view! 

Here is a 360 degree view from the top. 

 And our house is down there, on the right side. 

 At the top of the hill there is a ten foot telephone pole that Matt climbed.  He got this photo of us watching him.

 And this one of his funny shadow!

And this is the view we had!

 The kids enjoyed making it to the pole. 

 

 After a nice nap the kids enjoyed playing and getting ready for a "special treat". 

 After dinner we toasted apple juice and celebrated with those five hours ahead of us!  :-)

 Matt and Olivier with a popper!

 Olivier and Mason loved the poppers!  Another one with Mommy.

 Last one of the night (after eleven others!) with all three kids.  And I think this is the first time Olivier covered his ears.  I was surprised he lasted that long because he doesn't like loud noise. 

 We wish everyone the best for 2013! 

Umbrellas!

Santa brought the kids umbrellas in their stocking.  They were very anxious to use them and finally they got the chance!  Yeah! 

Christmas!

Christmas morning was a lot of fun!  Anna was good and didn't wake up early!  Yeah! 

She was excited to come down the stairs and see the gifts waiting under the tree.  She was also very excited to take a peek at her stocking while waiting for Olivier and Mason to wake up!

 

 Olivier was very excited to get some Lightning McQueen slippers! 

 Anna got a computer with some games to play. 

 Such a big girl!  Fun to see how grown up she is getting!

 Mason also got Lightning McQueen slippers from Santa!

 Santa also brought the boys baseball mitts!

 

 Anna got princess slippers and the one gift she was very consistent in her requests to Santa, Cinderella movie! 

 Olivier showing off his "big" Lightning McQueen!

 And Mason got a counting Mickey Mouse car!

 Later in the morning, Olivier enjoyed watching Cars 2 (that he got Christmas Eve) while wearing his new slippers and holding his new car.  Can you tell who he likes? 

 His view!

 Mason wasn't sure who to join and opted to join Anna in her movie of choice, Cinderella of course!  Anna's doll and Mason's new doll enjoyed the movie with them!

 And I am embarrassed to say that I didn't take a single photo of our afternoon/dinner with the Arnold's.  I don't know how I managed that, argh!  We had a great time and the kids enjoyed everything!  We did miss Audrey, Gus and Heather!  Feel better soon Audrey! 

Now, we are well past ready for bed! 

Christmas Eve

We had one family gathering on Christmas Eve and it was a lot of fun.  The kids had a blast and Anna loved being able to wear her Christmas dress.  She wanted to be the last one to enter the house when we arrived so everyone would say how pretty she was.  Not sure why she had to be last! 

 

Getting a group shot of the kiddos was next to impossible!  Getting a nearly five year old, three - three year olds, and a one and a half year old to co-operate is difficult, at best! And Mr. Santa Head is subbing for Rhys. 

 We did get all five in one shot where no one was crying!  Or being silly!  Or shy! 

 After lunch and naps, it was on to gift opening.  They were all happy to help Natalie and Rhys open their gift! 

 The boys got a great workbench with tools (which they love) and the measuring tape included has been used to measure just about everything (not necessarily accurately thought!). 

 The also got these great hooded towels made by their aunt Michelle.  They love these towels and were upset when I had to wash them so they didn't get to use them every day! 

 And a view of the spikes on Mason's and the face on Olivier's. 

 They also got Bilibo "chairs".  They love spinning around, and pretending they are turtles, and making castles, and pretending they are on a roller coaster, and, well, the list goes on!  Rhys really enjoyed it too! 

We came home after a full day and put the cookies we made for Santa out (the ones with chocolate sprinkles because he likes those best according to the kids) and snuggled into bed.  Now the wait for Santa! 

Countdown to Christmas!

The kids have been counting down the days until Christmas!  Anna has been reminding the boys every day how many days until Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  

Michelle gave the kids really nice Santa hats to watch the Christmas parade which of course they wanted nothing to do with at the time.  Since then, they have warmed up to them, especially Mason.  He puts a bell inside at the top and knows to have it fold over so it stays in.  Silly boy!

 

 Olivier is still in love with Lightening McQueen and tonight he asked me to take his picture under the tree.  He was thrilled that I actually did it! 

 And today, since the weather is crummy and we didn't have anywhere to go, we let the kids have a pajama day.  They enjoyed it but weren't so into getting their photo taken in their pj's.  I have a feeling it will be a different story on Tuesday morning! 

Tea party!

Today we had all our cousins over (except Gus) and three "nearly" Arnolds.  :-)  The kids had lunch with "tea" and then it was on to decorating "trees" and eating cupcakes.  They had a great time!  Once again thank you to my awesome sister in laws and Rachel for making this happen!