Christmas cookie baking

Last Saturday morning we had a Christmas cookie baking day at our house. Aunt Sarah and Grandma B. joined us and we made loads of cookies and holiday treats.
This was Lily's first year actually getting involved in the cookie baking, and boy, did she love it. And by love it, I mean she loved tasting it. I bet that child ate more cookie dough that day than she ever has!


Aunt Sarah had a great time baking up a storm! She made holiday popcorn, these yummy treats with Special K cereal and peanut butter, and frosted and decorated all the sugar cookies! She was busy!



Grandma B. made sugar cookies, candy cane cookies (a Bolinger favorite!), chocolate-covered pretzel rods and pirouettes, and nutty delights. She is such a natural at cookie baking. Everything she makes is delicious!
And I made...thimble cookies! I love this recipe from Mrs. Swete, my best friend's mom.

We put together some plates for Lily's daycare teachers to enjoy. What a fun morning!

Meeting Santa

This year meeting Santa was quite an experience! Ever since Bass Pro Shop put up their "Winter Wonderland" in the back of the store, Lily has been waiting to visit Santa. Justin and Aunt Sarah took Lily on Thanksgiving Day (yes...they were open!) and Lily had some good one-on-one time with the infamous Santa (which, if I do say so myself was a pretty true-to-storybook-looking Santa).
Last year, we couldn't even get her to sit on his lap! This year, she was all for it.

Aunt Sarah captured these fantastic photos from her iPhone. This next one looks like a Christmas card!


Sarah titled this one perfectly "look at the wonder and amazement"!

Although we really stress the true meaning of Christmas in our house...Jesus' birth, it is really neat to see the excitement of the season through Lily's eyes.

And, on a funny note, we visited Bass Pro Shop on her birthday Dec. 4th. (Do we go there a lot, you think?! :) Well...when we arrived to the store, she made a bee-line to the rear of the store to see Santa. Lily's birthday was on a Friday night and the store was packed! There was at least a 45 minute wait to see Santa. Well, that did not stop her. She ran to the front of the line where Santa was and stood at the rope yelling "Santa...hey Santa!" I crouched down beside her and told her he was busy with another little girl and she had already had her turn. No sooner could I get those words out that Santa locked eyes with Lily and gave her a wave. She gave him a wave back, said "Hi" and that was enough for her...they connected. She was set to go for the evening.

I have a feeling Santa is going to be hearing a long list from Lily for years to come!

Lily's 3rd Birthday!

This year, we decided to have Lily's party at an indoor sports lodge. It was a Dora-themed soccer party! Oh what fun the kids had running around and Coach Kristen did a fantastic job keeping them entertained with different games. Lily loved it and loved hanging out with her friends and cousins. Here are some pictures of the special day:

Her Dora cake and cupcakes. Can I just say that this was the highlight of the birthday, according to Lily. When I tucked her into bed last night she said to me "Mommy, you guess know what?" (her famous phrase for "You know what?") ....she then said "My favorite part of my birthday party was the Dora cake and cupcakes!" I was so pleased she was so happy with the cake and I thought it turned out great!

Blowing out the candles!


This was also a special birthday because we had a special visitor...Aunt Sarah from California! We had a great weekend hanging out together and Lily loved having time with her Auntie Sarah.

At Cabela's on her birthday- her favorite place

Getting ready for the party!

Birthday dinner at Red Robin with Grandma & Grandpa

Trip to California to see Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma

Last weekend, Lily and I took a trip to CA to visit with the family....especially Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. They were in the U.S. visiting from England and we were thankful to have an opportunity to see them!

Some highlights of the weekend were:
Jake's last soccer game, Aunt Lauren's birthday, and we visited the Long Beach Aquarium with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Bill, Jake, Sam, Grandma, and Grandpa. Lily loved seeing all the sea animals.

We had a wonderful time with our California family and look forward to our next trip at Christmas!

Halloween!

We had a blast this year! Justin made a trailer just for the kids and filled it with hay to tote them around our trick-or-treating path. Boy did the kids love it! Next year, we are planning to add lights and "flair" to make it more festive. Towards the end of the night, the kids just wanted to ride rather than trick-or-treat. Looking forward to next year! Here are some pictures of our night with the Cross family, Zehr family, and Sarah!

Check out that trailer! He did such a great job!

Taylor (Cat in the Hat), Carter (Dinosaur), Lily (Princess), Madison (Tinkerbell Elmo), Hannah (Tinkerbell)

Madison and Lily- best friends

Sarah joined us!

Waving to the floats at the Independence parade

All full of excitement at the parade

Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkin Carving

Well...we did not choose the most ideal day to go to the pumpkin patch. It was freezing! About 45 degrees and a bit windy. Not fun. So....we made the best of it, but we did not stay as long as I would have liked to. Here are some shots of our time at Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch!











Now, onto carving our pumpkin. Lily designed what type of eyes, nose, and mouth she wanted and Daddy created it. She thought the gooey mess inside the pumpkin was hilarious and was laughing the whole time. We had a good time....(p.s. sorry that I am in my robe! a little embarrassing)