Fun in the snow!

We finally had a nice snow that the kids could play in. The boys have been asking when it's going to snow for quite a while. Last week, it warmed up quite a bit so we were able to play out in the snow. The warm weather also made the snow great for packing so we made a snowman. Elise is still getting used to walking in the snow with her boots and snow gear on, but she is figuring it out!


Elise doing her "cheese"

Levi, Isaac, and Mommy with their snowman

Dan and Elise

Yes, it was warm enough to swing!

Enjoying the swings in January!

Elise enjoying the snow!

Happy New Year 2012!!

We celebrated the New Year in Eau Claire. We went to the Children's Museum in the afternoon with the Solbergs. We closed the place down and then went home and had a steak dinner with Dan's parents. Yum! We played some UNO, Isaac's favorite card game. Then we rang in the New Year with the boys at 9:00pm. We managed to stay up until 11:00pm and ring in the New Year with New York!
On New Year's Day, we went to church at the church where Dan's friend Chad is a youth pastor. In the afternoon, we watched some of the Packers game and then got together with my aunt and uncle. They had just gotten back from Hawaii on New Year's Eve. We ended up driving home in snow that evening but the roads were mostly clear and it was nice driving while the kids were quiet and sleeping.
We saw God's hand in our lives in many ways in 2011. We're looking forward to all that God has in store for us this coming year.

Isaac and Levi

Isaac and Grandma Donna

Jenny, Dan, and Levi

Grandpa Stan and Isaac

Jenny and Elise in her new PJs

Elise in her cowboy hat

Dan and his parents on New Year's Day

Our family on New Year's Day

Princess Elise

Grandma Donna, Levi, Elise, Isaac, and Grandpa Stan

Isaac with his new wig!!

Christmas in Eau Claire

We went up to Eau Claire the week after Christmas to visit Dan's family. We were hoping for a little snow to do some snow mobiling and other outdoor activities, but it didn't snow until the day we left. Oh, well. We found plenty of things to do!
Dan's sister Cindy and her family came down, minus Naomi. Dan's brother Tom was also there.
We had fun hanging out and playing lots of UNO with Isaac and cribbage with Grandpa.
The boys enjoyed hikes, going to the library, going to the Sports Complex for an open gym, and the Children's museum. We were able to catch up with my cousin Kris and my Uncle Dave and Aunt Donna. We also saw two of Dan's college friends, the Shiffers and Solbergs. It was a fun week!!

Grandma Donna and Levi

Levi and Isaac

Bethany, Levi, and Aunt Cindy

Grandpa Stan and Elise

Tom and Dan

Grandpa Stan, Tom, Bethany, Dan, Isaac, and Nathan

Elise and Nathan

Jenny, Elise, Cindy

Jenny, Dan, Nathan, Rachael

Grandpa Stan, Bethany, Isaac, Levi, Tom

Bethany and Isaac playing UNO

Isaac at the library

Puzzles at the library

Levi at the library

LOTS of books!!!

Aunt Cindy and Isaac

Isaac and Rachael

Bethany, Levi, Tom

Cindy, Isaac

Sports Complex - Elise and Isaac on the slide


Elise and Grandpa - open gym

Elise and Uncle Tom - open gym

Dan and Chad Shiffer

Christmas 2011

We had Christmas with just our family this year. We went to church on Christmas Eve at 3:00pm. We got there about 7 minutes before the service started...which was too late! The sanctuary was already full so we had seats out in the lobby. There ended up being over 200 people seated in the lobby. It worked out well though with Elise and the boys being a little antsy. It was a beautiful service, celebrating the birth of Jesus. We ended the service singing "Silent Night" to candlelight. I had a not-so-great Mom moment when I extinguished my candle on Isaac's forehead...accidentally of course! Thankfully his hair didn't start on fire and he didn't cry. I felt terrible but was trying to juggle too many things, apparently!
After the service, we came home and had dinner, then read the Advent Book. The kids have really enjoyed reading the Nativity story each night and opening another door. By the end of the book, Isaac had a lot of it memorized. I guess repetition pays off!
We opened a few presents on Christmas Eve and then the rest in the morning. We had stockings for the kids. We had decided not to do "Santa", although they do know about him. We think Santa's fun but don't want to take the focus off of the real reason for the season, Jesus.
We had a lazy Christmas Day, starting with Overnight French Toast and ending with a ham dinner. We finished the Advent Book and put together our Nativity puzzle. It was a nice and restful day.

Brothers :)

Elise, Isaac, Levi

Dan and Elise

Elise, Isaac, Jenny, Levi

Dan and Jenny (taken by Isaac!)

Christmas morning

Elise climbing on the piano!

Ultimate Gymnastics party

Isaac's classmate Payton turned 5 in December. He had a birthday party at Ultimate Gymnastics. They were able to jump on the trampoline, swing into foam blocks, jump in a bounce house/slide. He had an Angry Birds cake with cute Angry Bird sugar cookies for a party favor. It was a fun day. Hard to believe Isaac will be turning 5 soon :)



Jumping into the foam blocks


Swinging into the blocks

Isaac, Payton's friend, Payton

Anna and Isaac

Payton's Angry Birds cupcake "cake"