christmas in new ulm...

we spent the afternoon at uncle windy and aunt donna's house in new ulm on saturday. It turned out to be a snowy day for us; luckily Bobby is such a great driver! We were able to Skype to Nate and Cathy in Argentina, open some presents (i lost out from the coveted gift again this year, but still got a good one in return!), conversed with fun family members, and chased sophia up and down the stairs more than a hundred times (okay, maybe it wasn't a hundred times, but it sure felt like it!). It was a fun Christmas, and I am always sad to say good-bye to the Windschitl Family Christmas for another year... our beautiful girls in their christmas dresses

livia's legos

sophia's "magna doodle"

grandma and the girls...

look what livia made (she also took the picture!)

one game of 6-5-4 before saying "good-bye"...

too much fun...

on saturday we met up with our good friends, paul, laurie, and owen for some fun at edenborough park. The kids had a blast climbing, jumping, sliding, and scooting around the indoor park. Afterwards we headed to the Macaroni Grill for some edible delights, as well as some lovely Christmas presents. It was another fun time with the Mordorski Family! As always, we had too much fun...jumping in the "hopper"
livia and owen talking to each other

sophia scootin' around

livia (with dad's trusty hand) ready to be pushed on her scooter chair

i think he likes it!

look at all those presents! thanks, paul, laurie, and owen!

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going green...

livia's creative spirit always amazes me - here is her picture of santa with a reindeer!

sophia's creative holiday picture - it is a sleigh (just like her sister) with a purple rainbow!

thanksgiving weekend...

this thanksgiving we celebrated the holiday at my parents' house along with grandma nancy, auntie susan, and auntie jill. it was a relaxing and enjoyable day with all the families! the day after thanksgiving is always our tree cutting day. As always, we headed to Litchfield to Turck's Trees to cut down our own Christmas tree. It felt a little weird this year, since there was no snow. But add some family, apple cider, and christmas music - and it's starting to feel like Christmas!

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standing next to THE tree (a black hills spruce - a first for the withers family!)

"how does it look, daddy?"

"is that one cupid, mama?"

our two little snow"girls"

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

it is hard to believe that next week is already thanksgiving! I think that since the weather has been so mild, we almost forgot that the holidays were approaching. Well, today all of that changed! It finally snowed and for some odd reason, it now feels like it never left...maybe that is part of the routine of living in Minnesota. Oh well...the girls were so excited to get outside and play in it, I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the first snowfall/play of the season!"look at the snow, sophia!"

looking at the snowflakes turning on for the first time this season! way to go, bobby!

caught sophia reading to her baby and then putting her to bed. hmmm, that routine sounds familiar...

livia lost her other front tooth at school on wednesday...what a surprise to mom and dad!

sophia sporting her balloon wings and wand made by me...i guess i have another career if this whole teaching thing doesn't work out ;)

thanks for the stickers grandma nancy! i bet you thought they were going to use them on paper, huh?

three little turkeys...

it was mommy/daughters day at the withers house on saturday. bobby was gone for the day, so we took the opportunity to play and make some turkey and pilgrim hat cookies. sophia had more fun eating and livia had more fun decorating...that could change with time.

all in all, it was a gobblin' good time! livia decorating, while sophia was partaking in ALL the sweets
livia . mom. sophia
(using some fancy photography...aren't you impressed?)


pilgrim hats

tasty little turkeys...er, hats!

having some fun at mcdonald's...my two little turkeys!

tricks and treats...

Trick or Treat,

Smell my feet,

Give me something good to eat...

it was another memorable and haunting halloween! sophia was a strawberry fairy (thanks, pottery barn kids...) and livia was a popstar cowgirl (that is what the package said). We put together the costumes and tweaked them a little to make them "Uniquely Withers". Here are some pictures from our exciting Halloween evening!

look at that tooth...

for some reason, i think that missing tooth only enhances her costume ;)

thanks, daddy, for the strawberry cheeks! if you look closely, sophia is wearing her great-grandmother sylvia's strawberry pin...i thought it was special!

here we go! what a lovely, autumn halloween...

sophia . great grandma marilyn . livia

livia and grandma pam (sophia was done with pictures by this point!)

our "loot" at the end of the night...

later we sorted and counted the candy (once a teacher, always a teacher!)