Catch up in Pictures

Hello. Long time no chat. So much to catch up on, and so little time. How about we do it in pictures?

First…a visit from Annie and Angie in early November.

Family pictures mid November.

Matching in stripes!

Thanksgiving at Lisa and Scott's. 

Thanksgiving lunch at Norah's school.

Norah and her good friend Caroline. 

We had breakfast with Santa at a neighborhood event, and a week later another breakfast with Santa at Macy's school (picture below). When Norah got a glimpse of Santa the second time she said, "Mommy, is there only one Santa?" I answered yes and quickly moved on to something else. Luckily it never came up again. Norah asked for a remote controlled car and a pencil sharpener (no lie.) Macy asked for a "woofie" (dog) and a ball. Norah also asked him to come early since we would be traveling to Goshen on Christmas Eve. 

Norah participated in her school program with both her after-school dance class (first two pictures) and her school class (reindeer picture). 

Norah and I joined friends Lisa, Sarah and Jessica to see the Nutcracker. It was so fun, and something I hope becomes a tradition. After the performance kids can go up on stage to meet the dancers and get signatures. Norah loved the whole thing!

We celebrated our family Christmas on the morning of the 23rd. 

We got this face from Macy whether she was opening bandaids or a gigantic stuffed dog. 

Macy is enjoying  few Christmas presents (stuffed dog, flashlight, and hat) while they watch a movie. 

We traveled to Goshen on Christmas Eve and discovered that another good reason to limit iPad use on a regular basis is so it is more novel for situations like airplanes. The girls were great travelers. 

Goshen for a week!

The girls got to play in the snow a few times with grandpa and Greta. 

And enjoyed some hot chocolate after coming in from the cold!

The girls also  did a lot of the usual, like reading and cooking with grandma.

We got to see great grandma and grandpa several times, and even Von and Dave for a few hours on the one day we overlapped in Goshen. It was fun to see great grandma and grandpa in their new place (how cozy)!

We drove back to Chicago on New Years Eve and stayed overnight at Mimi and Papa's (though unfortunately they were in Texas at the time) to make it easier to catch an 8:30am flight in the morning. Once home we unpacked and repacked the girls so that they could spend the next two days with Mimi and Papa while we worked. Then Saturday and Sunday we had the Gunden family Christmas. We started it off with some "Rudolph" drinks - a very special treat for the kids. 

Mikayla wanted to put on a "fancy" dress, and Aunt Li happened to have another very similar dress for Macy in a hand-me-down stash. 

After hanging out for the afternoon and opening gifts, Mimi and Papa helped the kids put on the 4th annual Gunden Cousin Christmas program. It included a reading by TJ, piano music from Luka, a song and dance from Norah and Jingle Bells from the two wee ones. 

Then they all changed costumes to sing "We Three Kings" and at the end of the song delivered gifts to their parents. It was super cute and the kids really got into it!

So that takes us through the first of the year, which only puts me about three weeks "behind." Hopefully more to come soon!