After we arrived home from Christmas with my parents, we gave the girls their gifts from us. We usually only do one gift to each of them since they get so many gifts from everyone else.
Bentley opening her gift while Bria waits for her turn.
Bria taking her turn. I think she was just putting on a show for the camera.
Bentley sucking from the straw of her new cup even though it is empty.
Our family celebrated Christmas with J’s parents. Mom’s house always feels Christmasy with all her snowmen throughout the entire house. We actually sent the girls with my parents the Monday (after our church’s Christmas program) before Christmas so we could have a little time to ourselves. Because of all the projects we had to work on, we didn’t get much time to relax.
Bentley enjoying one of the sugar cookies aunt D made and Bria helped frost.
Bentley trying to sneak up on one of the cats. This is the mean cat that only likes my dad and brother. The cat was ready to strike with Bentley being this close, but Bentley was oblivious.
Bentley among the stacks of presents at my parents’ house on Christmas morning. It was a bit of a maze that she could have gotten lost in.
Here are all of the presents after they were distributed to everyone they belonged to. The picture doesn’t come close to doing the piles justice.
Bentley giving grandma a hug. That girl really loves both of her grandmas. She didn’t want to let go of grandma. Grandma loved every minute of it.
We didn’t get as many pictures of Bria this year because she always seemed to be running around. Both girls really loved their gifts. Of course, all of Bentley’s gifts also are Bria’s, according to Bria.
Here is a quick synopsis of what went on for the rest of the month of December: several work Christmas parties, bible studies, bible study Christmas parties, Christmas program practices and the actual program, company visiting, caroling, a church Christmas party, a Men’s football night at our house, Christmas shopping (which ended up being mostly online), and I could go on. Every day was busy with some type of activity. There are only three days on our calendar that didn’t have something going on, but I think even a few of those ended up with another event.
It is fun to get together with people during this time of year, but sometimes all of the preparations can be a bit overwhelming. We felt like the season went way to fast. It is nice to just be able to sit and enjoy a lit Christmas tree from your couch, but we didn’t get much of that. The lack of snow made it hard to believe it was actually Christmas.
Here is Bria out in the little bit of snow we did have.
As you may have guessed, we actually decorated for Christmas quite a while back (around Thanksgiving). By the time I actually had time to sit down and update the blog, our computer crashed. Now it is time to catch up.
Our stockings, hung down the stairway, since the fireplace is in our bedroom.
Our Christmas tree with all of the ornaments. We had to move the computer desk to a different part of the room in order to fit the tree.
I always love decorating for Christmas. It makes the long dark days of winter a lot brighter.
The kids were fascinated with uncle J's new iPad. The adults had plenty of fun with it too.
Bria and cousin C being bridges over two train tracks.
The kitties provided great amusement for the littlest kids. Bentley even says "meow" now.
Bentley and cousin L playing together, as much as two one-year olds can.
Rolling around on the air mattress that D and I had slept on the night before (to avoid paint fumes). They had a good time jumping and walking on it.
We went out for pizza one night and Bentley wanted her shoes on. Bria offered to help, so Bentley sat right down and let her.
Bentley was resting on grandma. Nap times did not work out very well since we were painting the girls' room, so Bentley was quite tired the whole weekend. Bria dressed herself and insisted that pink and red go together.
Bentley found dad's hat and had to try it on. Too cute!
One of the bedrooms in the basement before it was painted. The other bedroom is very similar, it only had a different color of paint. We didn't actually mind the colors, but they were so banged up they needed some help.
The same bedroom after it was painted and had the furniture back in it. Right now the basement is all the same color. Eventually we may paint a wall in each of the bedrooms to dress it up a bit.
The girls' bedroom before. The picture is a bit dark, but the room was painted gray and dark blue with a horse border that was partially torn off.
Now their room is pink and purple (just a little bit girly). On this wall we did pink stripes on the top portion. They are very subtle because the pinks are the same color, we just used a different gloss in the paint. We also replaced the horrible light fixture and hung some of the girls' wall hangings.
Over by Bria's bed we hung the letters we had painted for her when she was born.
Her hair is now just below her shoulders. Before it was just above the top of her pants. Bria is excited to have shorter hair.
The bride (J's sister) at our Friday morning breakfast.
One special Daddy and his daughter.
J with her sisters.
Instead of a traditional guest book the bride and groom decided to have people sign something they would use every day. All the guests signed a cookbook. I thought that was a wonderful idea. It was fun to leave a little message to them on a recipe.
The little girls were all entertained by all the tissue paper and bows during the gift opening.
Bentley loves to pretend to talk on the phone. Here she has two toy cell phones that she is using at the same time. She likes to hold the phone up to her ear (more like neck and shoulder) and say "hi".
Coming to get the camera after I took a couple of pictures.
We have to snap a couple of quick pictures of Bria before church. She lets us pick the clothes and she hasn't had enough time to play to make her hair a mess. As a four year old she wants to pick out her own clothes every day; she ends up with some very interesting outfits.
Bria helping Grandma water and "pick" the flowers.
Bria and Bentley playing with the Mr./Mrs. Potato Head parts. Instead of putting them on the potato, they put them on themselves.
Bedtime Bible reading with Grandpa and Uncle N.
Bentley on Cousin J's lap during some of the football game. J was sitting on the floor, and Bentley just decided to go sit on his lap. She would get up sometimes, but she would continue to go back to his lap.
Bria and Cousin T were playing in the dirt in the backyard.
Cousin I taking a break from the playing and sitting on his Dad's lap.
Bentley eating her cake for her first birthday. She enjoyed this better than the cupcake she tried the week before. It was only because the frosting didn't make such a mess of her fingers. Bentley really doesn't like having messy fingers.
Bria couldn't quiet blow out all her candles in one try. I think I put them too far apart. She didn't mind having to do it twice.
Grandpa helped Bentley open her gifts. She lost interest pretty quick, but came back to it after a while. Of course, she enjoyed playing with the boxes and the paper after the gifts had been opened.
The tradition for the grandkids to get a John Deere tractor on their first birthday as continued through all 7 grandchildren. Bentley really loves her tractor. We keep it in the garage and every time we go out there she points to it and gets all excited. She know it moves, so even if we just set her on it that isn't enough. She wants to actually take a ride.
After the parties were all done and everyone had gone home, we had to finish up some work on the yard. While D was working, the girls rode their tractors. Bria has finally gotten the pedaling down along with the steering. Bentley's is electric and she can't reach the pedal, but I was able to make it go for her. She loved it! Bria also took a turn riding Bentley's tractor, but kept running me over. The electric tractor has a lot of power and goes faster than Bria could control in the short space she was trying to drive it.
The float from D's office. They did a great job.
The girls were waiting for the parade to start. It was a little chilly, but it has been a lot colder since then. The parade was fun, and Bentley absolutely loved the horses.
