It's snowy out!

Let's stand at the window and watch daddy shovel!

Alexis' birthday!

Emma's cousin Alexis turned 5 yesterday. We celebrated by going bumper bowling. Alexis bowled like a champ!


And was VERY proud of her bowling abilities.


Emma also did some bowling, though she mostly bossed her mommy around. She was very picky about the bowling ball that was used.


And helped mommy bowl, with cousin Dave supervising the whole process.



Here's Emma, admiring "her" throw.


Dave got bored with bowling pretty quickly, and was happy to sit by the sidelines munching on some graham crackers.


Eventually, Emma got bored too, and she and Dave started wandering off. Here's mommy, fresh from retrieving our two little bowlers from offering advice to the people in the lane next to ours. They were very nice, but I don't think they needed a bowling coach!


And, finally, all of the kids (and grandkids) at Christie and Cort's house, after having a bit of Alexis' birthday cake.

Homecoming

Melissa went to California for a few days for a funeral. I picked her up from the airport last night, and we got back to my parents' house around 10:30 at night. Emma had just woken up and was being consoled by my Mom when we walked in, and Melissa took over. I think both of them were very happy to be back together!

Christmas, Part I

Emma and Daddy have been in Chicago since Thursday night, and Emma has been having a great time. She's been getting spoiled - here she is after a glorious dinner of mac and cheese:


Grandma and Grandpa managed to get all three of their grandkids to sit still long enough to take a picture of them (no small feat!)


Here's Alexis playing with Emma (Dave was off causing trouble elsewhere)


Daddy reading "5 little monkeys" to Emma, who was busy taking notes on how to jump on the bed


Last night we got together to decorate cookies (sadly, Emma fell asleep right before we started decorating, but the rest of the crew was awake). Uncle Cort (far right) was very happy to have his picture taken.


Grandpa had so much fun that he needed to take a quick siesta to re-energize.


And Uncle Scott... well, we love Uncle Scott.


Finally, here are the cookies. Emma missed the decorating, but she was happy to help with the eating!

Emma's new boyfriend

Emma has a new boyfriend - Jack, the boy next door! Every morning, Emma and Mommy go next door with an apple. Emma likes to share her apple with Jack (well, sometimes)


And when it's time to go, she gives Jack a little kiss goodbye!


Emma's a big fan of Jack, as you can tell. Daddy thinks it's time to invest in a shotgun!

Christmas, Part I

We're going to be in Chicago for actual Christmas, so we had a little family Christmas on Sunday. Here's the Christmas tree, with Sammy looking out the window for Santa right next to the tree:


Emma surveying some of her presents, and starting to peel up the corner of one...


Cassie giving Emma a little kiss under the mistletoe!


And, finally, Emma opening one of her presents (it's Play-Doh!)

Decorating the Christmas tree

Grammy and Papa came over today to help us put ornaments on the Christmas tree. Here's Grammy with Emma, with a pre-decorating cookie.


Emma really liked helping with the ornaments. She's very fond of handing them out to people to put on the tree, too (she prefers to be the boss, apparently).




Though she did help Daddy put up a candy cane!


The whole family, in front of the Christmas tree. More than half of us are looking at the camera, which should be considered a major victory.


Emma with her stocking. Last year she actually fit in her stocking. This year, she's both too big and too wiggly for that to be an option, but we can hold it in front of her for comparison purposes. (This is the picture of her in the stocking from last year - she fit with room to spare!)


Finally, we celebrated a successful operation with a post-decorating treat. We let Emma try a few bites of chocolate (not something she usually gets to eat), and she was a huge fan!