Christmas- Part 1 (of many) ;)

Caitlyn dressed in her "gorgeous" (her words, not mine) dress, ready for Christmas Eve service

Showing off for the camera

She had to twirl in her new dress, of course!

So Pretty!

Brayden and Caitlyn looking pretty cute before church

Christmas morning- Caitlyn modeling her new jeans and red, sequin shoes (which will likely be the shoes she insists on wearing everywhere now).

Reading her new book from Grandpa Larry & Grandma Susan

Uncle Andy reading her book, while Caitlyn wears her new apron that says, "This Chick is in Charge"....so appropriate!

Happy with her new gifts-a purse like Mommy's and Strawberry Shortcake doll.

Ice Skating & Cookies Galore!

I'm really behind on posting pictures, so I decided to just highlight the most recent activities of our family. Last weekend we took Caitlyn to the ice skating rink at the outdoor shopping mall in Loveland. This was Caitlyn's first time skating, and she seemed to really enjoy it!

"C'mon, Dad, I'm ready to go!"

The beautiful Christmas tree in front of the ice skating rink.

Doing pretty good with a little help from Dad

Taking a little break while they swept the ice

This week Caitlyn and I did a bunch of baking and made up cookie plates to take to some of our friends. Here is Caitlyn proudly showing off the end result.

Wrapped and ready to be delivered!

Last night we made sugar cookies to take up to our families in Wyoming. Caitlyn decorated pretty much all of them, and did a wonderful job!

A girl could never have too many chocolate sprinkles!

"Hurry up, Dad, frost the cookies faster!"

Taking her job very seriously

The finished products!

She wouldn't even stop decorating for a second while I took a picture. :)

Working Out

Last week Kyle and I needed to get some Christmas shopping done, so Caitlyn hung out with her Uncles, Jordan & Paul. She had fun "working out" with her Uncle Jordan's fitness equipment.

Trying to hold on to the Spinning bike handlebars

So strong!

Building some muscle

Having fun playing on the spare air mattress...and experiencing a little static

As Caitlyn would say, "I have CRAAAZY hair!"

I know from this picture some might think we are brainwashing our child into a medical career, but I promise we aren't. She found my stethoscope in my work bag, and she now loves to listen to her stuffed animals' and dolls' heartbeats. ;)

A Gingerbread House & December Snowstorm

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sesame Street Live!

Friday night my friend Stacy and I took Caitlyn and Stacy's daughters, Kamrynn & Makenna, to the performance Elmo Grows Up. At first Caitlyn seemed very serious and overwhelmed when the characters came on stage, but after the first song, she started to enjoy the performance.

Clapping along to one of the songs

Watching Abby & Zoe, two of her favorite characters

Watching Abby Cadaby

Enjoying the show with her friend, Kamrynn

Two happy girls at the show: Caitlyn and her friend, Makenna

The Finale

Taking the performance very seriously...  ;)

At the end of the show--I think the smiles on their faces mean they had a fun night!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hanging Christmas Lights

Thursday evening we decided to start hanging lights up on the outside of our house. Here the guys are discussing the "plan" for where to hang each set of lights.

Caitlyn had fun sitting on the stepstool on the driveway listening to music on her Dad's IPhone while we worked.

Uncle Andy & Caitlyn going through some of the lights that my parents brought up for us to use.

Caitlyn quickly grew bored with "helping" the guys hang up lights, and found the snow in our neighbors' yard much more fun to play with.

She wasn't having much success at scooping up the snow with her mittens on.

The finished work...when my mom, brother, Andy, & I returned from shopping Friday the lights were all lit up. We think they did a really nice job. :)

(The red & green sign above the porch says "Merry Christmas", but you can't really read it in the picture.)

A couple pics of two handsome boys!