Christmas 2014

I thought I would pop on and share some pictures of our Christmas this year.

For the first time that I can remember, I was not involved in the Christmas Eve service at church. However, the sister gift exchange happened before church just the same.

This is the first year they didn't buy each other a toy or stuffed animal. They shared their love language of books.

After church, new PJ's with glow sticks in hand.

 Christmas morning stockings!

Emma (Alias: SK99) and her spy gear

Lydia (Alias: SK101) and her spy gear

We really went with a spy gear theme this year!

Scavenger hunt that ended with a laser beam obstacle course.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Summer Birthday's

Lydia and Emma celebrate their birthdays within a few weeks of each other so we often combine their celebrations.  One tradition I have is that I decorate their doors while they are sleeping so they wake up to something really fun.

The girls chose to have a "Frozen" themed birthday so  Emma's door is decorated as Anna and Lydia is Elsa.

The hall all lit up

Anna's spring colors

Elsa's frozen icicles

Anna's (Emma's) gifts

Elsa's (Lydia's) gifts

 

 Besides the new dress the girls get every year we had very few presents this year. Rather than the gift of more stuff we gave the gift of experiences. I will  share pictures of those in the next blog entry.

Summer Outing

Deplorable.

That one word describes how I've been keeping up with the blog through the summer months. However, we've had such a great summer that I want to actually share about what we've been doing. I've decided to start with this weekend and work my way back.

Justin celebrated his birthday this weekend and our family took a rather impromptu trip to PA for an overnight disc golf outing. Our family traveled to two beautiful parks and while Justin enjoyed the courses the girls and explored the sights, sounds and attractions at these beautiful destinations.


First up was Deer Lakes Park in Allegheny County. Beautiful lakes with waterlilies galore, splash park and playground. By far this is Justin's favorite disc golf course. Here are some pic of our time.

We spent the night as my dad's house and got an early start to Moraine State Park in Butler County. While Justin was spotting skunks and "chucking plastic" (disc golf lingo) the girls and I enjoyed the playground equipment and the lake front.

Getting ready for our August beach trip!

Swimming in the Lake

Rocking the car nap!

Enjoying a good book

We all had so much fun and would repeat the trip in a heartbeat. We all agreed that we could have spent far more time at Moraine with all the hiking trails and bike paths. This could easily become an annual event and made me appreciate having the margin in our lives to enjoy the time together.