Morning tradition

We enjoyed presents on the bed!  Bella was not lacking helpers.  There were two able hands in every package making sure all the paper was removed.  Each one of them inspected the goods and determined what we were all going to play with first.  Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Pink Nails

Marin was really cute helping mommy get ready for Bella's presents on the bed.  She and Bella went with Nonnie to get their nails done for the big day.  Of course Marin's are shining pink!

M&M

The M&M was a big hit!  We borrowed him for Daddy's party and the kids just had a blast.  Bella liked to move him around.  Marin pretended he was her prince and they danced together.  Connor tried to fill him with as many cars as possible.

A charmer

Our little charmer is getting to be such a big boy.

Bye Bye 5 - Hello 6!

Bella turns 6 years old!  She had a tea party with 7 of her friends.

 Our table is all set for a proper tea.

 We made aprons first - because why not - we all need a great apron.

 We then decorated the ice cream scoops on our cone!  Don't they look yummy.  

 Yummy tea!  Bella has tea every morning so she was used to drinking from her cup.  Most of her friends were sharing tea for the first time.  It was fun to make conversation and try to eat like ladies.

 We had fun guessing what each present was.  Of course the most craziest idea was the best.

Thanks to the girls for coming to share in Bella's 6th birthday party.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

 Lots of help opening presents.

Everyone together for his big birthday.  Can you see the make up on Bella?  She and Grammy had fun prepping for the night.

Skiing practice

It was a cold afternoon so we decided to take a trip to the local sporting goods store.  The girls love the ski area.  Bryan had them set up with skis and poles.  Marin even topped her head with some fabulous pink goggles.  They did well moving down the aisle.  Soon we shall see if the skills translate to the mountain.

Trampoline

The kids received a trampoline from Nonnie and Papa.  They had a lot of fun just playing with the boxes.  Who really needs the actual tramp when we can get inside cardboard?

Papa assembling the pieces one by one.

 A hug before the first jump.

Its like a little cage and so perfect in so many other ways :).  The kiddos can jump and jump and wear themselves out completely.  Why didn't we think of this beforehand.  Oh and yes the trampoline is kid size and located in our loft!  It is now the only thing in the loft and we often go around it :).

Snow Sledding

On Christmas day we headed up to Evergreen for some well deserved snow sledding.  Bella calls it her bum sledding because she like to leave the sled behind and just inch along down the hill on her bum.  We all had a great time - except for Connor he wasn't sure the sport was for him quite yet.  That could be because we had him all bundled up.

Pajama Breakfast

We had a spontaneous pajama breakfast Sunday morning.  Bella especially loved wearing her jammies and robe to IHOP.  We enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes and then were on our way.

Decorating

The kids helped decorate the big tree this weekend.  Of course the best part was climbing the ladder.

 We put a smaller tree upstairs that was their very own.  Thanks to Nana and Grandpa for allowing us to borrow a tree.  The kids loved putting the bulbs on.  And as fast as the girls had them on Connor was quick to call out ball pull them off and throw them across the room!  Decorating was good fun and the bulbs keep moving all over the tree.  Really a great way to entertain on a cold afternoon.

Ice Skating

The weather was fantastic on Sunday.  We went to the local synthetic ice rink for some fun!  The girls love ice skating ever since we tried it last year on ice.  The rink was a bit strange but perfect for the kids to practice.  Their hands weren't cold when they fell and they lasted a little longer with all the bum falls as it wasn't as hard or cold.  We will practice here a little longer and then head for the ice again.

Marin has been practicing this the entire season.  It drives Uncle Chris crazy!

Cute pictures

Some fun pictures of the kiddos!