Ice Outing

There is an ice sculpture exhibit about half an hour away from our house. I thought it would be neat to get all of Ken's family together one afternoon and go check it out. So we decided that this past Saturday would be a great time to go....so did the rest of the metroplex. We had a fantastic time looking at all of the ice.

Kenley with Uncle Roger while we waited


and waited

and waited.
We finally got in! Here are all 14 of us at the beginning of the exhibit.


We all got to sit on Santa's lap. All of this is out of ice!
All five of us in the icy gingerbread house. This was one of my favorites. Even all of the candy pieces are solid colored ice. It was truly unbelievable.
Julia and Ashlyn on the ice bridge.
Kenley was freezing cold. It was 9 degrees in the exhibit and she just couldn't take it.
Ashlyn coming down the ice slide. Weeeeeeee!

Mom's can still have fun too...Weeeeeeeee! (Check out the ice reindeer)
By the end of the walk through we were all freezing cold and ready to get warm.
One last picture. Poor Kenley was stuffed in my down jacket.


We had to get a picture of Ashlyn with her new best friend. Stephen couldn't get a break. It was so sweet. She cried when they left to go back home.

Christmas Morning

Ken's family came in for Christmas this year. It was the first time that all three cousins have been together. Needless to say Christmas morning was a blast! It was a new experience for Julia because in Germany the children open their gifts on Christmas Eve. It was difficult for her to wait another night and then have to wait for everyone to get situated and ready to open gifts the following morning. We had a great time watching the girls open their gifts this year and I had a great time learning to use my Christmas gift (a new camera!)

Uncle Roger and Aunt Bonita got all three girls a princess nightgown and a crown. Kenley wouldn't take the crown off....here we go again :)

Ashlyn on her new scooter. She kept crashing on purpose...really..she was throwing herself on the sidewalk so she could show me how well her new pads work.

Ashlyn had to lay everything out that she got in her stocking
What a ham!


All the girls opening their stockings

What is better than getting a princess dress for Christmas? Getting three princess dresses and a wand! Thank you Aunt Kim and Uncle Luke!
Kenley opening her gift from Aunt Kim and Uncle Luke. Just happy to have the box!

Julia showing off her new makeup
"Finally, Santa brought Snow White and the horse that I have been calling him about."
We had a great Christmas morning with our girls. We are so blessed to have this family and so blessed to have a Savior whose birthday we remember each Christmas.

Christmas Fun

We have been enjoying our holiday now for about two weeks. It has been a zoo around our house but has been so much fun. My brother and his wife came in a couple of weeks ago with their new baby. It was our first opportunity to meet her. I think she is probably the prettiest newborn baby I have ever seen. She is adorable. My mom and step dad also came up for the day to exchange gifts for the kids. We had our Christmas with Mom, Buddy, Joe and his family and Ashlyn got to play with her cousins. We had a great time just being together.