Ramping up to Christmas

We got a really late start to decorating this year. Two weekends away from home at the beginning of December- the first to Vegas and the second to Vancouver for J's holiday party- left us with very little time to get our Christmas decorations up.

By the time we finally got to the Christmas tree lot, the trees were a little sad, but Kate helped us pick out a great tree.

We all got in the holiday spirit and made the tree look beautiful. The corner of the room hid the brown spots and the big ornaments fit perfectly in a few of the bigger holes. Kate really loved helping us hang ornaments.

Couldn't resist a pic of the girls once the tree was decorated.
Lily didn't really get to hang any ornaments.....

... But she sure tried to grab them off the tree.
We also caught her trying to eat pine needles.

On my first day of vacation, J, my mom, Kate, Lily, and I spent the day at Legoland.

Kate had her first go at sledding at Legoland Snow Days. She didn't like the slippery ice and didn't last very long, but she seemed to enjoy the sledding.

Kate rode on the boats with Daddy...

... and the helicopters with Mommy.

Lily got to ride in her stroller, but she looked really cute as usual.

Let the Holiday Season Begin

We have had an amazing holiday season filled with the love of our entire family, amazing food, and some much needed rest. Since we have been such bad bloggers, we are going to go all the way back to October and catch you up on all things holiday.

We had a great Halloween. Kate really got into this year. She picked out her own costume and rocked it at trick or treating. Mommy and daddy were very grateful for her excellent candy collecting. Daddy and I switched off taking her to visit our neighbors. By the time I got to her, she had already learned to ask everyone for two pieces of candy and say "next house" after we left a doorway.

Kate wanted to be an octopus for Halloween.
She didn't really want to leave the hat on, but we did get a few pics.

Our little Tiger Lily. She didn't trick or treat but she looked awfully cute.

Thanksgiving followed quickly after Halloween. I enjoyed a week off of school in addition to our amazing feast. We didn't have a huge crowd, but we had enough to make it a wonderful weekend.

Kate and Lily preparing themselves for dinner.
Kate was much more interested this year.

On a sad note, our dog, Willow, got sick shortly after Thanksgiving. We decided that she had been through enough costly medical treatments in her life and we didn't want her to suffer through invasive and lifelong procedures. Needless to say, we miss her greatly. Though it is a little lonely around the house, especially when J is gone, we are on an animal hiatus for awhile. I want our girls to grow up with dogs, but the idea of potty training a dog and a toddler in addition to dealing with an infant is more than I can handle right now. So we will reassess in a year or so.