Feeding the ducks!

Sunday was a gorgeous day outside so we decided to go feed the ducks at the pond. It has been so fun watching the ducks grow from babies. Claire was very hesitant to feed them out of her hand at first but once we convinced her that it didn't hurt, she decided to face her fear and try it. Of course, once she did it, she wanted to keep feeding them!

Claire and baby Easton

We got a visit this past Saturday from Claire's old babysitter, Ms Jen and her baby Easton!

Claire got to meet Easton in the hospital but that was 5 months ago. I had to fight her to even get to hold him for 2 minutes! Claire loved every moment she got to entertain Easton and spoil him!So thankful to still have Ms Jen and her family in our lives!

A few great weeks with Grandma!

We were blessed to have the past few weeks with Grandma. She returned to Texas with us from Minnesota and I think we were all glad to be out of the cold and snow! Claire soaked up every single moment she got to have Grandma to herself! Thankfully, she was off of school one Monday and got to spend the entire day with Grandma! They did lots of baking, playing games and puzzles, line dancing, and of course, joking around. The hot game this year was Qwixx- a dice game Claire got for Christmas from Grandpa and Grandma Naustdal! We have played it so much that I had to make copies of the scorecard because we ran out!

 Grandma got to come to a swim meet and cheer Claire on! Claire qualified for finals in the 200 freestyle and the 50 backstroke!

 Always good to share a tall beer with your mom right?!

Christmas in Minnesota!

 We had such a blast the past few days with family and friends in Minnesota! Claire LOVED the snow and the temperatures were nice enough to tolerate being outside for a while. The best part was watching Claire with her cousins and Grandpa Bruce!

Claire challenged Jeff and Grandpa to a snowball fight. It was short lived because Claire kept her distance and made it very hard for anyone to hit her!

 Claire got to spend a night with her cousins at Auntie Shannon's house. They made cupcakes and puppy chow, did some painting, and of course, played in the snow!

 Friday night we had Christmas at Uncle Brandon's house. We love to get a picture of the cousins stacked on top of each other whenever we get them all together. Thankfully, Owen is still willing to let them pile on top of him!

The kids drew names this year and each made a list of what they wanted. It was a fun time watching them open their presents.

 We got to go snow tubing (a first for Claire) on Saturday morning. We all had so much fun and found out just how exhausting this activity can be!

 Once the sun came out, Claire got hot and had to take off a few layers! She loved the snow so much and we loved watching her play in it!

After snow tubing and lunch, we all went to play laser tag. Kids plus Brandon vs. Adults. Kids won all three rounds! They are fast and sneaky little stinkers!

We ended the day by enjoying a wonderful meal at Benihanas, a hibachi grill. The food was excellent and so was the company! We made so many wonderful memories on this vacation that we will treasure forever! God has blessed us with some wonderful family and friends! 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

The other day Claire worked on making her birthday cake for Jesus. This year she got very creative and used her piping bag to do some fancy decorating!

 Claire's elf, Eddie, brought her a few gifts this year. He had some very crazy wrapping skills and some very crazy gift ideas! Each gift he gave, he wrote a note. Claire got Dominoes that she has to learn how to play and teach him when he returns, a color by number book to help her relax because he knows how crazy she can be, some dog dental sticks because he knows she doesn't like brushing her teeth so he thought she might want to try dental sticks instead! Then he also got her a small aquarium that you add water to and the fish grow larger in a few days- he said this is the best kind of fish because you don't have to feed them. Finally he got her a puzzle with different fruits on it and dared her to do the puzzle and then try each kind of fruit from the puzzle and a notepad with inspiring sayings on to keep her spirits up while he is away. Pretty thoughtful elf after all!

 Claire's wish list included a pet rock. So, Claire got a pet rock named Fred. The noted told her his name and asked her to color him. Crazy gift request but easy to fulfill!

 Claire got Jeff a chess and checkers board. Jeff spent some time teaching Claire how to play chess. He better be careful, she is one smart cookie and catches on quickly!

 A request from Santa was AirPods. I love the excitement on her face when she opened these!

 We plan to take Claire on a vacation in August to a surprise place. We thought it would be fun to order her a puzzle with a few of the things that we will be doing on our vacation on it. She has until August to put together this 1000 piece puzzle to find out where she will be going! The hard part is we took away the finished picture so she has no clue what she is making! We will see how determined she is to find out where we are going in August!

 Another item on her wish list was lollipops in cotton candy flavor. She asked for a lifetime supply...this should make it a few months at least!

 She had asked for some specific books and was pretty excited to get some of the ones she asked for!

 An Apple watch is something she has been asking for for over a year. We finally caved and got her one. She was super surprised and excited when she opened this final gift! Also in the picture is a large stuffed animal hamster (which Santa got her since it was at the top of her wish list to him- Claire names him Chunky).

 We finished our Christmas celebration by lighting many candles and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus! He is the reason we celebrate today and to Him we owe everything! God has been so very good to us and our family. Praying for a wonderful new decade ahead!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!