Kendall turns 6!

This girl is 6! She's still a smiley, snuggly, musical extrovert who needs her sleep. She's such a joy to have in our family. I love how God made each of our children so incredibly different yet so needed to complete this little family. I am so thankful for this precious little one. 

For her birthday, she got glasses;) Ha, just kidding…on the birthday part. She did have to get glasses, but she totally rocks them:) Isn't she a cutie!!

 She asked for a cookie cake this year and pizza for dinner…I love an easy birthday dinner!

 A little about Kendall now that she is 6; she is a fast learner, a perfectionist to a certain degree (if she can't do it right, she won't do it at all…uh-oh), loves anything musical, loves to put on shows for people, loves gymnastics or what she calls "ji-nast-ics"(even though she's never been in it), loves animals and the zoo, she taught herself how to read, loves math, thinks everyone she meets is her best friend and has never met a stranger. This child is so full of life and love. I am so thankful for her. We love you Kendall!

Snow…again...

So it snowed again…a lot more than last time. Did they cancel school? No. Did they plow the roads? No. Did they expect you to just drive normally? Yes. Welcome to Illinois! Seriously, they are saying this is a mild winter. Mild winter?!! Ummm, I am not looking forward to what they determine is a regular winter…

So I might not be on board with this winter weather, but the girls sure do love it!

we found a perfect sled at Goodwill. Jackpot!

So apparently every park is required to make a man-made hill. Why you may ask? Because Illinois is extremely flat and it snows a lot here and the kids have to have some place to sled. Its pretty awesome. We have a large park just a few houses down from us and it has a big hill that the girls loved sledding down.

Beautiful weather for pictures…but it was freezing!

Some friends came out to join us. All the kids had a blast together 

As much as I could do without snow, it is fun for the kids. Plus, its an excuse to overload your system with Hot chocolate and marshmallows. Sign me up!!

Ice Skating

When in Rome…I mean Illinois…you do things Illinois-ians do. Like Ice Skating...

I feel the same way Mary Cate! Just keep holding on...

After a few laps and freak-outs, everyone got the hang of walking on a thin blade. They even had lots of fun. Kendall and MC thought that if they moved really really fast, they wouldn't fall. It seemed to work for them, but it made this momma real nervous because there were so many people there.

a "fast" selfie…she slowed down slightly for this picture...

The only incident we had was Kendall body slamming me because she couldn't stop…too bad I didn't see her coming.  My tailbone hurt for weeks after that…ugh. I think I'll wait another year before I do that again;)

Christmas 2016

After spending 4 weeks in Illinois, we were able to get Andy away for Christmas. Off to Richmond we drove…it was a looooooong drive, but worth it. Before we left, we made our gingerbread house from Granny. The girls love getting to decorate and get very creative. We are thankful for the tradition Granny started several years ago!

All three hard at work

The finished masterpiece…they wanted to know when they could eat it…ummm, never?!

After a full and long day of traveling, the girls re-united with their friend, Lindley. She's a girl in Mom and Dads neighborhood that the girls always play with when we visit. Its so fun to have a friend the girls love playing with.

cookie decorating

This Christmas was the Christmas of "game playing". I can't tell you how many games of Jenga, Connect Four, and Memory we played. the girls loved it! We also spent a lot of time coloring. 

a little uncertain of her choice in block

We had lots of visits with Caroline…which the girls looooved!

MC liked to play with the trains all by herself…she is our independent player

Annual Christmas Eve family picture…I think we are finally all getting to the age where we can look at the camera and smile at the same time…hooray!

after all the serious pictures, we let the girls go wild...

Mimi and her girls

Christmas morning was a nice and calm event. We opened up some gifts with Mimi and Papa, went to church and ate lots of yummy food. Thats my kind of Christmas!

Mimi and squirrels...

Santa knew the move to Illinois was hard on us "warm weather lovers", so he gave the girls bathrobes and slippers…they were a hit!

Santa sure has some cute little elves;)

Granny came down to visit for a little bit on christmas day. We miss living down the street from her!! It was so wonderful to see her!

Little Miss Caroline and Granny

Me and my girls

MC + coloring books = HAPPY

games, games and more games

"Hello? It's for you Caroline…"

this girl looooves books and especially when people read to her.

the navy triplets

We even got to see Will and family! We are so thankful they were able to make it up to Richmond before we had to leave to go home. The kids played so well with each other and we definitely enjoyed our visit!

the older cousins

the kids kinda paired off after we opened presents. Kendall and CS went off to play a card game...

The cousin twins played legos...

…aaaaand, these two went wild;) Watch out for everything when these two get together...

We had a wonderful Christmas with family! Now if only we could move Illinois a little closer:/