A Whirlwind

We started Christmas week with Olivia's holiday concert.  She did such a good job!! We were really impressed with the number of songs and movements that the little 4Kers remembered.  We happened to end up sitting directly in front of Olivia so had a clear view of her smiles and could hear her beautiful voice ringing out.

Norah kept busy with a squeeze fruit pouch from Nana.  Nana and Papa made the trip down. :)

Olivia was so proud of herself.  It was heartwarming to watch.

This is one of her best buddies Ceili.

We were even able to grab Braden from his classroom for the performance.  Olivia was lucky to have such a big cheering section!  

Later that night, after Nana and Papa left and took Norah with them, Braden, Olivia, Steve and I got all "fancy" and headed out for a surprise night.  We went for sushi and then to the Nutcracker.  

Dinner was fantastic.  It was a treat to have a whole conversation with Braden and Olivia without little interruptions!  We ate way too much sushi but it was delicious.

Then we went to the performance.  The kids did GREAT!  Olivia stayed up until the middle of the second half.  She then climbed onto my lap and fell asleep.  It was so sweet as she doesn't do that anymore.  I was in heaven watching the ballet with my family and a warm little girl snuggled into my chest.  

The next morning we woke up and headed up to Appleton to celebrate my dad's birthday.  Poor guy has to fight for attention each year as his birthday competes with Christmas.  

A babysitter came and took care of the kids while we went out for a really nice dinner.  It was wonderful to spend that extra time together during this busy time of year.  I feel so lucky to have such a loving family and family that I truly enjoy being with.

Day after that we traveled up to Steve's parents to celebrate yet another birthday - Marc's!  This is Marc and his new fiancé Kathy.  They weren't engaged at the time but are now and we couldn't be happier about welcoming Kathy into our family.  She and Marc seem just perfect together.  Best of all, she has two young boys - Brett and Will who Braden and Olivia already adore.  The first thing they said when they found out about the engagement is, "We have new cousins!!!"

Mixed in with Marc's birthday was our Christmas celebration. Nikki, Steve, Lola, Jillian, and Chris joined us as well.  It was mass craziness as the presents were opened one after another.  As you can see Norah was pleased as punch with these goldfish from grandma.

Lola got a baby doll from her great-grandma.  Doesn't she have the most beautiful eyes?  Olivia and Norah just adore her.  They talk about her often at home and were very excited to play together.  I think she and Norah are going to be double trouble in a few years.  

On the actual day of Christmas we traveled into town to see a movie.  Afterwards we went to the zoo to see the lights.  I LOVE Christmas lights and we definitely saw our share this year.  Our special tradition as we drive through things like this is that the kiddos get out of their seats and we eat candy canes. I didn't have candy canes along much to their dismay but they did snuggle up on laps for the ride.

On the way home we turned around to see both Braden and Olivia passed out in the back seat.  I think we plumb tuckered them out.  We had an amazing few days together and this proved it!!