christmas in cg...

christmas in cg: on sunday we ventured to cottage grove to spend the afternoon with our good friends (and godparents to the girls), paul and laurie. We visited their lovely, new home in Cottage Grove, opened Christmas gifts, ate a delicious meal, "caught up", and even caused some damage to their home ;) paul, laurie, livia, bobby, and sophia
trying to get a picture with sophia (she liked my necklace)

livia's favorite spot for the day- at the top the stairs looking down

sophia with "fable" and her new monogrammed rocking chair. note: look at the angel in the background- that angel is now no more, thanks to our girls...we quickly sent a replacement so we are guaranteed to be invited back next year ;)

livia with "mystic"- the only gift she REALLY wanted for Christmas! thanks laurie and paul for a great afternoon!

dance of the lark...

dance of the lark: this weekend was livia's first dance recital. She performed in the "Song of the Lark" as a ballerina birdie. She did a great job and it was beautiful because each performance was danced to live music (a pianist was actually on the stage playing the music for the dancers!). Livia was a beautiful little ballerina. We are so proud! livia at dress rehearsal
on stage with the other "birdies"

ready for her recital

ballerina beauty

flowers from grandma nancy and a congratulatory cake for such a great performance!

december delights...

december delights: we have been busy the last few days. The first day of the month brought a new activity into the Withers' week- gymnastics. Livi decided she would much rather do gymnastics instead of dance. So...as of right now, she is finishing her trimester of dance (her recital is on Sunday) and participating in gymnastics on Tuesdays. Whew! I'm tired of running already ;) we missed the 1st day of advent boxes due to her first gymnastics class...

so we caught up on the 2nd
visiting macy's 8th floor..this is exactly how Sophia's face was the entire time...so in awe, yet so hesitant..

livi in front of one of the scenes, "santa's workshop"

mom and sophia's coordinating outfits

sophia kept saying to me, "mama, cheese"...can you read her lips?

o christmas tree, o christmas tree...

o christmas tree, o christmas tree: we made our way to litchfield once again for our annual trip to turck's trees. This was Sophia's first year to join the Withers crew to cut down our Christmas tree. The girls were great, the weather was perfect (even though I would not have minded a little snow), and the trees were beautiful. All in all, it was a great day!

getting ready to look for "the" tree

all bundled up

so excited

livia by the tree she and daddy picked out...

bobby's "in action" shot behind livia :)

one last picture in the sleigh

over the elk river and through the woods...

over the elk river and through the woods: today we packed up the girls, grandma nancy, auntie susan and auntie jill, and headed to elk river to be with the sederholm family (auntie sharon, uncle terry, and cousins- kaytlin and elana). We had a lovely day filled with lots of great food and fun. The girls always have such a nice time playing with Kaytlin and Elana. Thanks Sederholm Family for another memorable Thanksgiving! livia and kaytlin - 10
elana-8 and sophia

the "girls"

sophia with her dress-up outfit and wings

livia with her dress-up outfit and wings

sophia having some "dessert" :) it was really play ice cream, but we did have delicious desserts to choose from. I especially loved Sharon's pumpkin cream cheese dessert-yummy!

just checking...

here comes santa claus...

here comes santa claus: today we met santa claus in hutchinson. Bobby, the girls, and I waited for him to arrive at Cash Wise for the annual "meet and greet". Here are some pictures from the day... sophia - 19 months
livia - 4 1/2

the girls in their christmas shirts for santa

santa arrived on a fire truck

daddy and sophia waiting in line to meet santa

livia with her bag of treats (every child receives a bag of "goodies" before they meet santa)

telling santa she wants mystic, the unicorn, for christmas

all smiles (and a hug) for santa claus

girls weekend...

girls weekend: it has been a tradition for many years (i guess it is probably around 10 years) when bobby and my dad go deer hunting, i go and stay with my mom. Well, as the years have progressed, so have the family members coming along with me...first it was copper, then livia, and now of course, sophia. Every year my mom and i go christmas shopping one of the days. This year we decided to go on Friday so we were able to spend some time with the girls on Saturday and Sunday making cookies. We had a really nice time with grandma. It makes me appreciate all the little "traditions" we have started together - christmas shopping, watching "Wizard of Oz" and now added this year- cookie making and decorating. Thanks, Mom! We love you...can't wait until next time when we can stay and have 6 "naps" together ;) the cookie cutters didn't turn out as great as we had hoped

decorating was definitely more fun!

listening to christmas music, while decorating cookies

livia making clouds for grandpa buck

grandma getting in on the fun (her cookie reads, " I love my girls- XXXX")

grandma getting sophia to help her clean and keep her out of trouble