Birthday

I had a great birthday and loved celebrating with these great kids. After they all took me out for breakfast, Grace and Lucy and I enjoyed getting a pedicure together. They took care of me all day long. I also loved talking to family and friends.

A Few Adventures

We spent one day during our Christmas break exploring downtown. We took the metro and then walked and walked and walked. We were all exhausted by the time we got home. We started at the Botanical Gardens and then we went to the American History Museum and the kids liked seeing Abraham Lincoln's top hat. We also walked over to the the National Christmas Tree and the White House.


The Botanical Graden had a train display and these buildings made out of leaves and acorns. We liked the capitol building the best.


Bowling on Christmas Eve.

We suggested many activities to the kids, but all they wanted to do was stay home. Noah informed us that holidays were not for going and doing things. Holidays were meant for us to stay home. So we played a lot of games, lots of Wii, lots of legos, and just enjoyed being together.

Christmas

We had a very relaxing Christmas break.



Noah built this intense lego set in just a few hours.



Grace took up sewing.

The kids loved their snuggies from Grandma Ogden

There's a snake in my boot!

The result of unbridled avarice.

Day 150

Maybe I should buy some tall barstools? But that might stifle Lucy's creativity, so I don't think I will.

Day 149

Tonight we went to a concert at the DC Temple Visitors Center. It was Jenny Oaks Baker playing Christmas songs and it was amazing. We loved it!

Jake pointing to a star that was projected on the wall behind the stage.

While we were waiting for the concert to start, Jake was a very busy 2 year old. He did pretty good once the music started.

After the concert we made our way outside. The kids enjoyed "slipping" on this patch of ice.

Day 148

Today Aaron took his last final. He has been studying and working so hard and we have not seen him for a few weeks. It is good to have him back.
To celebrate the beginning of his winter break, we went downtown to see the Christmas tree and train at Union Station. I forgot my camera, but found this picture online.

Day 147

Today for cookie Friday, Jake and Lucy helped me make a classic Christmas cookie, Peanut Butter Temptations! My kids love helping me make these because they get to unwrap all of the Reeses pb cups and sneak a few while doing it.

I was going to take a picture of the final product, but they disappeared too fast. Happy Cookie Friday!

Day 146

Today we had our first snow of the season! It started in the morning and lasted about4 hours. The funny thing is, they cancelled afternoon kindergarten, ended school 2 hours early, and announced a 2 hour delay tomorrow morning. I think the total amount of snow was 2 inches. I am not really sure why everyone was panicking. The great part was I went to the post office expecting long lines, but there was no one there because of the snow! I guess living in Nebraska for 4 winters has taught us not to be afraid of a little snow.

Days 132 - 145

We have been really busy the last few weeks with some really fun events!

Grace has spent the last 3 months training for a 5K. She is part of a running team called "Girls on the Run" and she has really enjoyed it. So on a saturday morning in December, in 30 degree weather, she and I ran her 5K. Grace did an excellent job and I loved running with her.

Brenna put this poster together and left it on our car as a surprise before we left for the run. Grace loved it and appreciated the support!

We got our Christmas tree.

Grace, Lucy and I had a great girls night out! We took the metro downtown and ate at a great salad place called "Chop't" We loved it. The we headed over to the Warner theatre to watch the Nutcracker!

It was so fun to spend an evening with my girls.

And for the past few weeks we have been potty training. So there has been m&m's at all hours of the day as an incentive for Jake. It is working and he is doing great!