Thursday, January 19, 2012

Holiday Black Hole: Part Two

Part Two: The In-Between

The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas went very quickly - mainly due to a week and a half spent out in Chicago to visit and celebrate with our friends and family out there.


Loved having a tree in the playroom this year...and Maggie loved having one that she could decorate/sort ornaments all on her own. (Not that the ornaments on our regular tree are anything special)


The first day of the advent house and the little elf were a hit. That was about it.


Every year I think, "certainly. THIS is the year we will replace our $16 mascara-brush Target tree." And every year it goes up. I took this picture after I put it up just to remind myself we have NO MORE ROOM for ornaments from any post-holiday sales.


Watching Finding Nemo on YouTube. In Japanese, naturally.


Prepared for snow...which we STILL have not seen much of. (Do not read this sentence as complaining)


One of the reasons we were in town was because Gary had some meetings for work in the city. We decided to make the most of it and spent our first night downtown with the kids. After dropping off our stuff we took advantage of the gorgeous December weather (really!) and went off exploring. Walking - or rather riding in the stroller - is exhausting...definitely needed to take a load off and refuel.


While we had dinner with some good friends downtown, my sister Laura was kind enough to stay in the hotel with Howie and put him to bed. I hear they had a great time.


Our night at the hotel was a huge success...although I was not feeling that successful when both kids were awake at 5:30 and Gary was already gone to work...


Baby in the bathroom. Because we're classy like that.


Maggie and Charlotte were SOO happy to see each other and play at the First Trust Christmas party. I love when something that you think will be great in their eyes totally blows away your expectations. They were beyond thrilled.


Sundae for two.


Our friend Stan has never quite gotten over the fact that Maggie has never responded to him very warmly. He was thrilled, as you can imagine, to hold an Anderson offspring that not only came to him willingly, but seemed to enjoy his time in his arms.


Maggie clearly feeling a little left out. And Charlotte clearly needing a baby in her life.


Howie experiencing his first "Christmas."


Markers + stickers = no-fail gift


Decorating gingerbread with Gramma.


ALL of us truly enjoyed our time with Gramma and Papa.


Here we are! A year later. WOW.

1 comment:

Matt and Jacqueline said...

Was there a not so subtle hint in this blog post for a certain couple? ;). It was great to see you all. Wish it was more often.