Merry Christmas to all

Nina made cookies and that Santa ornament

The Naks were all over the place and it seemed like we never stopped opening presents.  The girls did pretty well with Christmas here, then at Yaya's, then in Owatonna, then back here with Nana and Papa.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of craziness, but overall we feel blessed to have so many loving family members to help us celebrate.  

Nina's go-to phrase when opening gifts at Grandma & Grandpa's house was, "Ohhh, it's what I've always wanted."  The girls had a good time playing with Maggie and Gus, as always.

We appreciated Nana and Papa braving the cold to visit the girls.  They loved showing off their gifts and Vivian enjoyed showing off her Ray Charles skills.

Nina used her new camera over 200 times, mostly of Papa and the floor

Christmas don't be late

The girls are obsessed with Christmas lights, so we've wandered the city to see different displays.  Vivian loves yelling "lights" and "see" while Nina tells her which window to look out of when we're in the car.  Downtown Saint Paul parks and Saint Thomas have been great spots and we all caught a concert at Concordia too.

Both girls have been entertaining as usual.  Nina has been singing songs and telling random jokes.  She likes playing Candyland and Go Fish.  Last week, at church she asked if they were singing in spanish and I told her it was Latin.  She responded with, "They're singing Aladin here?!"  Also, she recently told us: "I have a secret; uno, dos, tres."  Latly, there was a sweet moment where after a lot of playing Nina sat back and said, "I had a lot of fun with Vivian tonight."

Vivian likes to say, "that one," "got it," and "why?"  She often finds the elf on the shelf's hiding spot every morning with shouts of "ELF... ELF" as Nina is too groggy to compete.  She is in tune with her emotions and will tell us "happy" when she's enjoying whatever is happening.  Lately, her favorite animal is the elephant and she will make their sound while pretending her arm is their trunk.  After all this funniness, she will actually say, "I'm funny" just in case you don't tell her.  What a gal.

To offset the ice and cold, Friday Family night at the pool was another success.  Both girls love wading about and we had the pool to ourselves for most the evening.

Professional Photos

We are lucky to have some talented family and friends.  A few weeks back, we had our friend, Amy, take some photos and the girls weren't overly cooperative, yet she still got some good shots.

 

Vivian is into saying "Ho ho ho."  She loves singing Christmas carols, which mostly means she yells a lot while Christmas carols are playing.  She had fun with cousin Maggie and Aunt Annie got in some great looking photos too.

Nina likes making up stories and reading them to us.  Most stories include a mean guy that changes his attitude.  It's hilarious to hear her use our own phrases back at us; yesterday she told Kara, "A week is not so long."

San-sa!

The girls have had several fun-filled days with grandparents while Barb was on vacation.  Coloring and puzzles with Nana all week, cars and dominoes with Grandma and Grandpa over the weekend, and getting to even see Annie and Maggie for a bit, too!  The girls helped decorate the Christmas tree and they seem to be in the holiday spirit, chasing the elf on the shelf all around the house.

Listening (and dancing) to the Carolers

Vivian is still a good communicator and one of our new favorite phrases is when we ask her what book she would like to read.  She always says, "ummmm, dat one" and points.  Nina has been working on her letters and likes to write her name.  Sometimes it turns out better than others, but it's still fun to watch her learn.

We got geared up to see Santa at Holidazzle this weekend and so we tried to prepare the girls.  We asked Pip if she would sit on Santa's lap, she nodded and then did the following:

The practice must have paid off, because Vivian held in the tears and Nina answered his questions somewhat audibly.  When Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she replied with, "presents."  

We had only planned on seeing Santa and skipping the parade since it was so cold, but the cold actually worked in our favor.  As we stopped to grab a bite, the streets weren't clogged with people so we could see the floats go by from the counter.