Winter Break

These are a bunch of random pictures from the last two weeks. An extra reason we love this time of year is, Jay takes a few days off and with Christmas and New Years is home for quite a while. WE LOVE IT!!

Ready for a Christmas party!

Christmas Eve dresses from
Grandma and Grandpa.

Gorgeous girls ready to dine at the
Cheesecake Factory with
Grandma and Grandpa.

Along with the bathroom redo, we threw a bottle of bubble bath in. I realized Lily had never taken a bubble bath (that she would be able to remember). She is a huge fan!

Grandma and Grandpa brought oranges up from Florida. Emma has been asking if we can make lemonade lately..... so, we showed her how to make orange juice out of the oranges!

Working hard!

Couple selfie on Christmas.

We went to Jolly Holiday lights this year thanks to Jay's company where you can purchase tickets half price!

Emma's favorite.

Lily's favorite.

Goof ball.

Emma found Grandma's hat and decided to
wear it around. I think she was missing someone already.

Waiting to make pancakes!

We decided to celebrate New Years Day instead of New Years Eve...... 

Ice cream cones!

Happy 2015!!!

Faithwalkers 2014

This year Jay and I were able to attend Faithwalkers again. This would not have been possible without his parents. The girls tagged along with us on the last day, but that meant they only sat through 2 sessions. As any parent knows, you get so much more out of conferences like this when you can focus all of your attention on the speakers.

The theme this year was "Heros". We talked about people most of us have heard of and a few that I didn't even know the name existed in the Bible.

So excited!

Our family!

Our Community Group's kids (missing Sawyer)

Other than Pat and Stasos, our CG that was
was able to attend Faithwalkers.

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa

Jay has decided to dive into the blogging world with me. Here is his first post:

Grandparents from Florida arrived Christmas Eve after making a long trek from Florida.  After the screams of excitement wore off when the girls first set eyes on them outside, the reading of books began.....

......and continued,

.....and continued...

The girls were excited for them to arrive and had been keeping track of 'sleeps' until they arrived.  After there arrival, they looked for any opportunity to be with them near a Christmas tree.  They also enjoyed the opportunity to show off their new dresses and shoes!

Emma having fun drinking from a big person cup at the 'cheese factory' (her term for the Cheesecake Factory).

The Holidays were also welcomed in with a box of sweets from Grandma Udey.  

Here Lily is showing off one of her favorite treats from the season.

And then there was Christmas morning with lots of; presents,

more presents,

and of course EXCITEMENT!

Taking it easy.

One of the prized gifts this year from the Grandparent's was this easel.  

The girls are having so much fun with it!

Grandpa reading a book in style.

With the lack of snow this year, the princesses have taken their sledding in doors.

Grandma taking it all in and having Bible Study with the girls.

Enjoying some coffee before the day got going. 

The one thing that Iowa has over Florida is the coffee 

(and this has been confirmed by both Floridians).

The happy couple about to set off to a movie for the first time in a few years!

Grandma and Grandpa discussing the plan for how the time was going to 

unfold while Mom and Dad were away at Faithwalkers.  It was great to have people we know that care so much about our kids offer to watch them. Thank you! We definitely appreciate it and so do the girls!!

Opening Presents!

We opened presents as a family on Christmas Eve morning this year. 

It was fun to have 2 giddy little girls tear open their presents. 

We did a few 'practical' things this year that we knew they would still be super pumped about. This bathroom used to be a strange shade of green with no shower curtain. SO..... with a little paint and and a princess shower curtain, it looks totally different!

First glance.

All cozy in their new robes!

Emma saw there was a light
dusting of snow outside.

One of our other practical gifts was a 'wardrobe'. I decided to throw together some boards from the garage and use a little paint from the basement. The result....

Emma soaking in all the new toys.