Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 is now in the books. It has taken me all day to get the pictures up on the blog but for those of you who don't have facebook (if there are any of you out there) here is the run down on our festivities.

Friday afternoon we met up with the Ficklin family at Shagbark golf course in Onarga. We always have a great time with this group. Everyone brings a ~$10 gift and we spend a couple of hours fighting over things like hams, wine, and a telescope. We brought home a blanket and a twelve piece cutting kit (knives, scissors, box cutters, etc). Claire got some kind of text messaging game that keeps her entertained for hours!

Claire bellied up to the bar (because there were cartoons on the tv). Will thought it would be fun to let her try out a fake ID for the first time!

Saturday morning this is how I found Claire sleeping. She slept until about 9 a..m. that day! Her cousins must have tuckered her out the night before!

On Christmas Eve we headed to LeRoy to see the Builta clan. We usually have steak for lunch and mom was trying a new asparagus recipe. Kirk claims he cooks all the time, but I snapped this picture because it's the first time I've ever seen him do anything remotely close to cooking.

After lunch it was time to tear in to the presents, but not before a picture of our baby girl next to the tree!

Claire got a new Minnie Mouse blanket that Grandma made. She loves it and is actually taking a nap under it right now!

Uncle Kirk is ready to throw a party. He got LOTS of booze to stock is liquor cabinet. And a recipe book so he can make some fancy cocktails.

Uncle Kirk also spoiled Claire. He got her some new Minnie Mouse slippers.

And she got a new car seat for her bitty baby from grandma and grandpa.

And then she unwrapped her musical instruments from Uncle Kirk. She's really enjoyed playing them and even snuck her harmonica to Mary's house one day this week.

After naps we headed to grandma great's house for soup and more presents. We did another gift exchange but this group isn't nearly as big or as risque as the Ficklins so there wasn't much stealing. We came home with a 3 pan roaster and some Fannie Mae and Root Deer. Claire decided that Kara was pretty fun to hang out with too!

Christmas morning started pretty early. Not because Claire was anxious to see what Santa brought, but because we had a lot to get done before 9 a.m. church service and a day with the Kuipers.

Santa brought Claire and new ball and bat...

A broom and a dustpan so she can fly like a witch.

And a vet kit so she can take care of her puppies and kitties and mommy and baby shout.

After church we headed to Gammy & papa's house for breakfast and more presents. Kempton is SO CLOSE to walking. He really likes to dance with Santa too!

Claire and Kempton starting to unwrap mommy's presents!

Claire loves her big cousin Caisey!

and her Simba stuffed animal from Gammy & Papa Kuip.

Kempton was happy with a box and some hangers.

Just when we thought we were all done with presents, out come some pink pedal tractors for the little girls!

Then it was time to attempt naps in the new sleeping bags. The eventually did both fall asleep but neither one of them was in their sleeping bag.

Before we left, the kids had to all pose in the super girl and spider man jammies! This went over much better than the attempted homemade jammies last year!

December

I know...I know...it's been a while. But guess what. Life has slowed down. The camera barely comes out of the closet these days but I'm sure we'll make up for that come Christmas.

A few weeks ago we put the Christmas tree up. Congo enjoys playin around the base of the tree and picking off the ornaments. While Congo was curled up under the tree, I tried to get a picture of Claire with him.


And this, like most of Claire's good intentions with the cat, is how it ended. Congo loves her "favorite kitty" but Congo doesn't always love to be carried around by his legs or tail.

cousins

Maddi, Kempton & Kyla came to visit last weekend. We didn't get to see much of them since we headed to St. Louis on Saturday, but the kids did get to play a little bit Friday night.

Boo at the Zoo

Last Saturday we roadtripped to St. Louis to hang out with some of Trever's childhood friends. Our group has definately changed since I entered the picture. It wasn't so long ago we were looking for alcohol that came in plastic bottles for our float trips down the river. Now there are kids in the picture and we go to the zoo and the guys drink the cheapest beer they can find so they can afford to take their kids to the zoo!

You all know Claire....

Meet Anna Wiltz....

And Caleb May.

Anna's mommy and daddy were the subject of my photography as we waited for Boo at the zoo to start.

And Claire....I mean Minnie Mouse...ran off a lot of energy while we waited.

We took off to see the animals in the wagon.

Claire got to pet a lizard with "just ONE finger" along his tail.

And she made daddy wear her ears for a while.

But on the way home she was tuckered out. Could have had something to do with the 30 minute nap that she had that day.

Anna must have enjoyed herself too!

A trip to the punkin patch

Last weekend we went to Rader Family Farms with Grandma Marge. Claire will tell you that her favorite part of her day was the animals. She has even warmed up to the pigs!

She also enjoyed playing in the corn. They have transformed 2 government bins in to giant playbox filled with corn. They cut windows in the side so the big kids could watch from the outside.

Then she went on a catepillar ride. These were made out of plastic barrels with wheels pulled by a lawnmower.

They also have a huge slide that is made out of a huge field tile. Mommy walked up the hill with Claire but she didn't need my help to go down!

She also enjoyed the straw bale castle.

And the miniature soybean maze for the little tikes.

She also played for quite a while in the straw bale obstacle course. And LOVED jumping off the loading shoot in to the straw.

We jumped on the giant pillow. We lucked out that there were a lot of little kids and moms on with us instead of big crazy kids. But we still had a hard time staying on our feet!

Before we left we got our 2nd annual picture to see how much Claire had grown. She was exhausted by this point so it was a bit of a challenge.

And a family picture with the old blue truck.

Then, before we left, we ran in to a giant spider! Claire and daddy thought it was pretty cool!

As expected, we had a great time! We'll be back next year!