Duffy's Holiday Party

On the 18th, Duffy's class had a great holiday party. They made gingerbread houses, went skating with shoeboxes and had a snowball fight with balloons. I had a great time and loved spending some time with Duffy and his friends.

39 and holding...

For Stephen's "hold em" birthday this year, we started the day out right by making him breakfast. Duffy was my super helper and he loved surprising Daddy with homemade waffles. Happy Birthday Daddy. May this be your best year ever and may you stay this age for a very long time. We love you! Happy Birthday!

Santa comes to the neighborhood..

On the 15th, Stephen received the super Dad of the year award as he took Duffy and Lulu to the neighborhood lighting of the Christmas tree. Santa made a stop and it looks like the kids enjoyed meeting Santa and making sure he knew everything that they wanted for the BIG DAY! I love both Duffy and Lulu's expressions as they were sitting on Santa's lap.

Cute little elf!

Last Monday, we decided to get into the holiday spirit as Lulu was ready to wear one of her Christmas dresses to school. Here is a shot of our adorable little elf. Merry Christmas!

Secret Santa

As part of our annual tradition with our business school friends, we hosted Secret Santa at our house this year. I received a great gift and guessed it on the first try and even the kids got into the fun this year. Thanks for the shrinky dinks and decorating kit!

Portraits by Duffy...

As Stephen and I were busy getting the house ready for a recent party, Duffy grabbed my camera and took some shot of his favorite parts of the Christmas decorations.

Snowed in!

This morning, we woke up to about 10 inches of snow and it is still snowing. I'll post some pictures of our soon to be fun in the snow adventures, but I realize it's been awhile since I've posted. It's been crazy getting ready for Christmas, Secret Santa party, school parties, etc. Fun, but it's amazing how fast it goes by until the big day! So, here we go, some pictures of the past couple of weeks...

Ho, ho, ho...

Last night, we decorated our Christmas tree and had a great time doing so. It's so wonderful to pull out all of the ornaments and remember the memories associated with each of them. It's also our first Christmas in our new house, so we are excited to create many, many more memories in our home as a family. Here are some pictures commemorating the first tree decoration!

Let's bowl, let's bowl, let's rock and roll!

After our Christmas tree excursion, we were all invited to William's birthday party at a bowling alley! It was the first time for both Duffy and Lulu to bowl and they had a blast (and were pretty good).

Going on a tree hunt..

This past Saturday, we braved the cold, snowy weather to go get our Christmas tree. It is absolutely beautiful and about 8 feet tall. Here we are FREEZING as we went to go pick it out.


And while Daddy put it on top of the car to drive home, Duffy, Lulu and I warmed up in the car. Smart, aren't we!

Hello, Elwood!

After some great advice, this year we decided to bring Elwood into our home. Otherwise known as our "Elf on the Shelf". We have had so much fun following the adventures of Elwood from the North Pole to Lulu's room, the kitchen shelf, Duffy's airplane and back to the North Pole. Elwood, safe travels. We love you!