our trip to build a bear

posted by owen and everett

grammie and gampa gave us each an unstuffed animal from build-a-bear for christmas. so when grammie came to visit (we were so sad gampa had to stay behind to take care of their dog, mimi), she took us to the store to stuff them, wash them, and name them. owen got stormfly from the how to train your dragon movie and everett got chase from paw patrol. the line at the store was really long. it took a few hours before it was finally our turn. but it was so worth the wait. we helped stuff them, put a heart inside, gave them a bath at the spa, and then named them and filled out their birth certificates.

owen watching stormfly come to life

yep, she's perfect

evie standing on the pedal to blast stuffing into chase

testing the cuddleness before giving the thumbs up

getting their hearts ready to put inside

almost ready

a few final touches

stitching up chase

happy birthday stormfly lindon may

happy birthday chase oliver may

all ready for the spa

grammie lending a helping hand

evie did a great job brushing chase's hair

stormfly and chase loves their spa treatment

a few final touches on stormfly

we got an outfit for chase and a sweater for stormfly
and we were on our way home

christmas 2015

posted by owen, everett and eloise

we had an awesome christmas this year. our santa gifts were perfect, he always knows exactly what we want. we also received great gifts from mommy and daddy, each other, and the rest of our family as well. it was the first christmas as a family of five and eloise seemed to really enjoy all the activities throughout the day, even though she did have a cold. we can't wait until next year!

decorating the tree

discussing the story of each ornament as we hung them up

tracking santa on the computer...

...like every five minutes

a note (written by owen) and goodies for santa

we're ready for christmas!

stockings by grammie and our 2015 ornaments - 
a backpack for owen to remember his first year in school,
a sleeping teddy in a snow globe for eloise in honor of her birth, 
and tools for everett because this was the first year he attended building workshops with daddy

our santa gifts!!!!! we had filled our sacks completely full with toys we wanted santa to take and give to others who don't have as much. he took it all 
and left us each one new present!

ready to open our stockings

siblings enjoying christmas morning, and our new warm slippers

eloise loved her new stocking, the last one grammie will ever make!

owen gave hand-drawn pictures to his sister and brother

evie loved owen's gift, and we loved how excited owen was to give it. 

everett made ornaments out of pipe cleaners and beads - a candy cane for Owen

and a star for eloise, which she loved

eloise gave her brothers paw patrol characters on snowboards

a christmas tradition...sausage cheese balls, which even little miss got to enjoy

owen's santa gift was a steelers uniform complete with a helmet, exactly what he wanted

everett's santa gift was a cash register which both boys got into playing with right away. 

enjoying our white christmas

christmas eve service 2015

posted by mommy and daddy

since we stayed home this year for christmas, we spent time with our church family on christmas eve attending the family service. this service is always fun and meaningful for the kids as they all get to participate in the telling of the nativity story by dressing up as angels, shepherds, or wise men. this year, the boys chose to be shepherds. they were amazing at being patient and listening to what they were supposed to do and truly enjoyed having such an important part. the service always ends with the congregation singing silent night and lighting candles which is so meaningful, and the boys were thrilled to each have their own candle!

nicely dressed for service
(pay no attention to the non-dress shoes!)

goofing around

eloise's first christmas eve service

all ready to spread the good news

a real donkey!

angels, shepherds and wise men

cute little shepherds

listening to the nativity story

silent night

owen loved holding his candle

such an special night to be a part of

happy 8 month birthday eloise!

posted by eloise

i'm now officially 8 months old and mommy and daddy are beginning to realize that i'm the more vocal of the bunch. just wait until my baby talk becomes words you understand. i'm definitely a chatty little girl.