Happy New Year!

For New Year's Eve this year, mom and dad Stock hosted.  We had a great night of visiting, playing games, and eating, eating, eating!  Almost all of us made it to midnight.  I took a little nap, but woke up just in time for the countdown.  Preston made it until 11:30, and there was no waking him up.  He was out!  And of course Jilly went to bed around 8:00.  There was no way I was going to let her stay up!  That girl goes a day without a nap, or goes to bed late one night, and she is a bear afterward!  Sleep is essential to her happiness.  :)

These two... like father like son.  :)  I swear the older Trent gets, the more and more he becomes like his dad.  That's a good thing though, because his dad is great!

Ice Skating Fun

Over Christmas break we took a day to go ice skating.  Trenton and I opted out.  But Colson, Vivian, Trent, and Preston had a great time!  We also met the grandparents and my brother there.  My poor brother was out on the ice a whopping 10 seconds before he crashed and sprained his ankle.  He had a lump the size of a baseball on it!  Auntie Kiki came and met us so she could see the kids ice skate.

Colson is all smiles.

Nice pose.  Love the Jazz hands.  Ha ha!

Preston kept calling out, "Look! I'm getting the hang of it!"  He was an ice skating champ this time around.  When we've gone in the past, he wouldn't let go of the wall for anything.  This time, he was out in the middle of the rink almost the whole time.  :)

Vivi LOVES to ice skate.  It is one of the things she looks forward to in the.

After ice skating, we all went to Chili's for some lunch.

Jilly fell asleep on the way to Chili's and snuggled right in to her daddy, whom she loves above all others.  ;)

A picture with Auntie Kiki.  We love her!

Christmas Time

It was another wonderful, magical Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we had a special visitor stop by before dinner.  :)  We had Christmas Eve dinner at Janet and Steve's, then had a quick program.  Trenton played "Carol of the Bells" on his saxophone, and Colson played a couple of Christmas songs on his trumpet.  Trent read the story of Jesus' birth from  Luke 2, and Vivian and Preston told us of the symbols of Christmas.  After all of us sang some carols, the kids got to open their Christmas Eve present.

New pajamas!  As always.  With a book and a movie.  I just noticed how holey Trenton's socks are in this picture.  Yikes!

 On Christmas morning, the kids got us up at about 7:00.  We started the gift opening with the stockings.

 Jillian got some new binkies in her stocking.  She was down to one, and it was missing half the time.  We probably should have just let it get lost and be done with them, but she's not much of a sleeper without it.  If she doesn't sleep, I don't sleep.  And I need my sleep.

 Some new American Girl accessories

 Preston's favorite; fruit snacks.

 Lou, trying on Vivi's new hat.

 Once Jillian found some M&Ms, she she wasn't too interested in anything else.

 The boys got lots of iTunes gift cards this Christmas.  They were in heaven!

 Jillian pushed her baby doll in circles around the island dozens of times.  It kept her busy for quite some time.

 And of course Dustin was a turkey about getting his picture taken.  I had to try!

 We got to enjoy the company of my aunt Sylvia, her husband Dean, and my cousin Jesse during the holidays.  It was wonderful being able to see and visit with them.

 It was another wonderful Christmas.  We enjoyed every moment we were able to spend with our loved ones.

Notes From My Girl

My Viv is so sweet.  She is always writing notes for us and others.  Notes of encouragement, notes of thanks, and notes that lift your spirits.

I am so thankful for my sweet girl.  She brings so much joy to my heart.

Christmas Dresses

Every year my mom makes Christmas dresses for the girls.  Here are the masterpieces she came up with this year.  Thanks mom!  They are absolutely amazing!

Ugly Sweater Party

Bring on the ugly!  

Oh Christmas Tree

It took us a while this year, but we finally got the Christmas tree up.

And it took Jilly no time at all to take all the ornaments she could reach off the bottom of the tree. 

Holiday Concert

Vivi's grade did a Holiday concert this year before Christmas break.  They sang songs from several different holidays that are celebrated during this time of year.  She was so excited for her family to come and watch her dance and sing.

 Vivi was a dancer for one of the musical numbers.

And she was a sign holder for the "12 Days of Christmas".

Basketball

Preston played on a basketball team with is friend Blake this last Fall.

We discovered that Preston is a lefty when it comes to dribbling.  He writes with his right hand (although he used to write with his left hand when he was younger), but when it comes to sports, he's a lefty.  He dribbles a basketball with his left hand, he golfs left handed, and he even kicks a soccer ball with his left foot.  I wonder if he throws a ball left handed?  I'll have to pay better attention and see.

This was Preston's first year playing basketball on a team, and he enjoyed every second of it!

Jilly Girl

Here are a few snap shots of my little Lou:

 In her new coat that grandma and grandpa Stock gave her.

 Laughing hysterically before bedtime.  She was quite slap happy that night.  Delirium had set in for sure.  Ha ha!

 She found some of her big sister's play make up and had a grand old time with it!

Sneaking candy canes off the Christmas tree and hiding from me while snarfing them.  She sat so quietly behind the tree, it took me several minutes to find her.  And in this little 3 bedroom apartment too.  She didn't make a peep the whole time I was frantically searching through the apartment for her, calling her name over and over.  She's one sneaky little chica!