New Year's Eve!

Brian and I had a few different plans for New Year's, so Lolli and Champ had the kids come over for their celebration. They each had new pj's which was part of their scavanger hunt!

They made cupcakes too1

Celebrating the New Year!

Happy 2011!

Lolli moved Ella into a big girl bed at her house too!

Ella was thrilled:-)

*Brian and I ended up on a fun date with the Benton's at the Melting Pot. We didn't eat until 10:00, but it was super fun! Happy 2011!

Sledding or Skiing

My kids LOVE having a plan and looking forward to it. One of the downfalls is that if they are TOO excited about a day plan, they could get up as early as 3-4 a.m. because of excitement! I decided to keep a few secrets so we could get a little sleep Wednesday.

I had to run some errands so I arranged for the kids to spend most of the day with JuJu. When they got up I was going to surprise them, but Brian walked in to tell them bye and spilled the secret:-) Next I told them we were going to go sledding in the city that night, they were SO excited but kinda kept thinking we were going skiing instead.

Lolli and Champ went with us for the perfect night of sledding. I think it was about 60 degrees outside! It was so beautiful I didn't mind sitting and waiting for our crew at the bottom of the hill.

Ella went down one time and clearly was not a fan. She decided that sitting with Mommy and chewing gum was a much better option!

Haynes absolutely LOVED it! He didn't quite understand why we wouldn't let him eat the snow at the bottom of the hill...

Port was an absolute pro as well!

My boys are getting so big!!!

It was so nice out that we headed for ice cream after sledding! We walked the river for a little bit with Lolli and Champ too!

Family photo... just a few more weeks until we add #4!

I just love this funny girl! If you ask her to show you her smile when taking a picture, this is the face she gives you.

Day after Christmas...

So this is what we came home to on Christmas day...this is cleaned up:-) Thankfully we had Sunday to recover from our week of celebrating!

Haynes got a bubble gum making kit that he was SO excited to try! First thing Sunday morning we made blue bubblegum...doesn't it look delicious?!?

Port enjoyed a day playing on the DS.

Time regulations didn't start until Monday morning:-)

Daddy enjoyed a day of relaxing and playing with kids! I was so exhausted we didn't start cleaning until Monday morning...I blame completely on being pregnant:-)

Hartsock Christmas

On Christmas day we all head back to Grandad and JuJu's to have lunch with the Hartsock side of the family. I think there were 18 kids there!!

Opening gifts...

Ella and Riley performing for MiMi. The big girls got microphones, but Ella had no problem testing them out:-) By the end of the afternoon we were all ABSOLUTELY exhausted...we took a family nap. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning

We told the boys they could not leave their room before we came in to get them. We were up around 6:30am waiting to hear some little noises, but we didn't start hearing anyone until after 7:00! When I finally came into their room Port said, "What took you so long?!?"

We told the boys they had to get Ella up, because she was still sleeping. Haynes was really excited to get her up!!

Ella was absolutely exhausted. She actually sat up, looked at the boys, and then laid back down! She really loves her sleep...which mommy is so thankful for:-)

Eventually they convinced her to get out of bed, and she couldn't have been more excited to find Daddy waiting for her.

The excitement on their little faces is really priceless!

Port did actually get his DSi. He didn't spot it at first, but after a little help he was beyond thrilled!

Haynes loved his new 4-wheeler, but really wanted to open the gift that has been sitting under Lolli's tree for the last few weeks.

The boys couldn't hardly wait, we took a breakfast/game break in the middle of gifts.

Ella loved her new little house, but let's be honest...the chapstick and chair were really the hit of the morning.

This is the before picture...

I didn't actually get an after picture, but just imagine.

Josh and Jenny win the award for greatest aunt and uncle! They stayed up and put things together, got up early for gifts, and slept on a blow up mattress in the nursery. We loved having them at Christmas morning to celebrate with us!

Our last gift to Port was a zip-line Brian had been working on in the back yard. The first few days of the project Brian was really confident. Christmas eve he came in and seemed a little disappointed...I couldn't quite understand why. I knew the kids would love it no matter what...

Brian warned Port he might want to put his feet up, little did we know that his bottom would hit the ground about half way through the zip-line! We have a little work to finish the zip-line, but don't worry the kids LOVE it! They've been playing on it all week and Port has even figured out a way to get all the way across the yard without touching the ground.

Christmas Pajamas

Yes...it is about 10:00pm at this point in the evening! We met Todd and Robin at my parents house to open Christmas pajamas that my Granma makes for us every year. Todd brought the kids this singing puppy. As you can tell they LOVED it!

Granma with the kids...it's really too late to ask for great pictures from the kids:-)

The girls...

The boys...

Thanks Granma for all your hard work! Ella's nightgown is especially beautiful!

Christmas Eve at Poppy's

We meet the Wright family on Christmas eve. We all eat together, open stockings, and exchange gifts. The boys were so disappointed because Hanna and Lilly were sick with the flu.

Ella loved helping everyone open their gifts.

Peggy bought the boys David and Daniel action figures. She couldn't have picked a better gift, they LOVED it!

Ella helped Amy with her gifts too!