Summer FUN.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Christmas day

 Christmas day 2011.  We created many fond memories in the company of our family!  It was fun to experience Christmas through the eyes of children.  Noah and Breven were so excited and animated as they opened gifts and so thankful, as well.  Precious.  Lily kind of got it this year.  She enjoyed opening gifts - hers and other's.  She loved the visit from Emy and Aaron's friend's puppy.  The pure joy that came with seeing the dog and petting her was infectious!  "Hi doggy!"  She kept saying it and bending over as if to make sure to look the little pup in the eyes.  So stinking cute!!  She was fascinated by Christmas trees this year.  At home, she woke excited to see the tree and told it goodnight before bed!!  Each and every ornament was a new treasure in her little eyes.  Again, seeing things for the simple, pure joy that they are was priceless this Christmas season!!



And who's fab gingerbread house might this be?!  Yeah buddy!  It's the master work of team Robb (with some help here and there from his wifey).  The gingerbread build-off was a blast and made for some great memories and hearty laughs!  


Christmas dinner.  Lily and Breven are bibbed and ready to GO!


Noah is also ready ... ready to give us a show, I believe! :-)

 Christmas in IN - 2011.

Christmas in IN

After returning from MN, we quickly repacked the bags and hit the road to spend Christmas in IN, with Auntie Emy, Uncle Aaron and cousins Noah and Breven.  Nonni and Papa were part of the trek, as we all piled into a ... wait for it, wait for it ... cop car (LOL) for the drive!  It was an adventure, to say the least.  Ask Papa and Robb how powerful they felt driving a cop car down the interstate! ;-)  Cars would literally pull to the right lane, thinking we were highway patrol, and then pass us, once they realized we were the Doerksen crew from CO...LOL!

Lily is situated with her babies and ready for the ride.  She did so well.  We really could not have asked for a better 18 month traveler!  She might have actually done better than pregnant mama!



All of the kids loved spending time with Nonni and Papa.  Lily also found time to play with all of the new toys at Emy's.  The kitchen was probably her very favorite! 


In deep thought/conversation over very cool Pinterest boards, tags, posts... 



Little Bee found a car and realized that dolls are not the only fun toy in this world.



Legos were a bit of a hit too.  Lily learned to diversify her playtime.  Impressive. :-)

Monday, January 23, 2012

I play pool.

Yes, you read the title correctly.  Lily would tell you that she plays pool.  The fascination with the pool table began the night (actually butt crack of dawn/early morn) of the day we arrived at mom and dad's.  Robb took Lily to the basement to try to get her to settle down (finally at 3 am) and go to sleep.  When she saw  the pool table, sleeping was the last thing she was interested in.  She wanted to throw, not roll, the balls and thought it was absolutely hilarious.  Robb might not have found it as funny, but over the course of the weekend, any chance she got, Lily was game for a "game of pool..."  Nana was gracious enough to take her down and let her play around.  Giggles, giggles.  Pure joy on that pool table. 

"This is how you line 'em up, Nana."

 Lily has her own way of making the balls go into the pockets.  It may or may not involve a pool stick! Hee, hee!
 "Nana, this is serious business.  I would like to give you lessons...are you in?!"

Thursday, January 19, 2012

60 Years of love

The second part to our MN trip included the celebration of my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary!  They are a true testament to love that goes the distance and lasts a lifetime!  We were thrilled to be part of their celebration.  As you can see from the photos, the kids were excited that there was room to run and play...heehee. 

Mirrors are so.much.FUN!

Taking a break from all of the running, running, running!!
Grandma/Bucca Betty ... such a beauty! 

Grandpa/Bucca Ed and the ladies!  BIG.SMILES!


FAMILY

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Christmas at Nana and Grandpa's

MN might have been snow-less but we still managed to bring the Christmas spirit and celebrate Schwartz style!  Mom had the house decorated just like it was when we were growing up.  Santas everywhere and the joy of the season bursting from the seams of the house - I was in heaven!  The tree was magnificent.  Standing a good 12+ feet, it smelled every bit as great as the trees we used to cut down as kids.  It truly was magical to share Christmas memories with Lily, as I reflected on the years that our family had created and cherished our own.

Wow.  Mom and daughter getting a little Christmas red eye stare.  Someone teach me how to use the quick red-eye correction tool... *wink*

 Jude and Lily waste no time playing with their new Christmas gifts.

  Uncle Jon's home brew was tempting for the tots...Jude's ready to crack open a cold one!

Snuggle time with Daddy!

 Lily's obsession with Santa was in full effect, as she marveled at the hundreds around the house (literally, especially when you count those on the tree alone...love it!).

It's time to PLAY!

Grandpa used his resources well and turned an old box into a fun play house for Jude and Lily.  It's the simple things, really, that the kids like the best!

Peek

 "Hello, would you like to come play in my new box house?!"

 "Nana, are these for decoration or for playing?  ...Ok, playing sounds good to me!!"

 Jude found a friend in one of the wisemen...

 The nativety set kept both kiddos quite busy.

Over the river and through the woods....

...to grandmother's house we went!  December saw two back-to-back trips for this Doerksen crew.  The weekend before Christmas, we flew to MN, to visit Nana and Grandpa and to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of my grandparents, Ed and Betty.  Great memories to be had, as Heather, Jon and Jude were there and the two little cousins got to play, play, play!!

Lily insisted on helping carry the suitcase.

 "Hey, Jude ... check out my boots!  Do you like them?!"

 Lily is a finger sucker and when Jude saw her sucking her fingers...well, he wanted to try it too.  Priceless!

 These two played so well together and in the coming posts, you will see more pics of the duo chumming at Nana's.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Santa. Great from a distance.

All Christmas season, Lily has had a slight obsession with Santa.  Soooo, we thought we had hit a goldmine when we waited for our plane to MN and Southwest happened to have a Santa on hand for free photos!  Key word = thought.    As you can see from the photo time lapse below, Santa up close and personal totally freaked Lily out!  We ended up literally sitting alone on Santa's chair, as he stood by for a very fast photo!!

"Noooooooooo!  Get me outa' here!"

 With fear in her eyes and not a chance of a smile, we look at the camera for a quick shot.

 "Ok, Mom, I've had enough.  Let's go...."

Christmas day fun

Click here to see a video of Lily playin' around in IN, at Auntie Emy and Uncle Aaron's house!  She was BUSY, busy, playing with all of the new, fun toys that they have!