Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Christmas in Indiana

Here are some photos of our Christmas visit to Indiana.  It was a whirlwind trip: three family Christmases in three days, then home on the fourth.  Complicating matters even further was the fact that Lena got sick while we were there and she and I stayed up all night one night. :(  But we still had some fun too.  Here are some pics.

 First up was Christmas at Grammy Tammy's right when we got into town. 


 A cute school bus puzzle.


 Pretty new snowpants. 


 Grammy made Eva a super cute sleeping bag with a built-in pillow.  Adorable!  (She had made Lena a giraffe one a couple of years ago.  So now they each have their own.)


 Slinky!


 Doing the puzzle with Grammy and Roger.


 All done.


 Grammy reading to Eva.


 Next up was Christmas at Hilary's.  Look at these cute little Junebugs in a bag!


 Lena and Kara wanted in on the sleeping bag fun too.


 Love this one!


 Lena and Kara.


 Kids glued to the iPad.


 The kiddos got to frost some yummy cookies.












 Kara loves Grandma. . . 


 . . . but still not sure about Uncle Jim.  


 Time to open presents.


 Lena looks like Cat in the Hat.




 The girls got some pretty jewelry.


 New headbands.




 Aunt Hil showing Eva how the stencils work.


 A whole box of them and neat paper on a roll.








 The next evening was Christmas with the Roemkes at Grandpa Brian's.


 Jim showing Grandma Roemke and Great Aunt Frieda pictures of our church and house on the computer.



 Eva was Grandpa's Little Helper when it came time for the white elephant gift exchange.


 We had lunch at Cracker Barrel with Grandpa, Teresa, and Aunt Amy before hitting the road on Sunday.  You can tell that Lena wasn't feeling good.


 This was the best "smile" she could manage.


 Eva was asleep before we even left the gas station in Leo.


Poor Lena!

Lena perked up throughout the day and was doing fine after we got home.  We enjoyed seeing our family, but wish it wasn't quite so rushed!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2013

A few pictures of our first Christmas in Wisconsin.  These are pics of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here.  After we get back from Indiana I'll post pics of our celebrations there.



 The girls in their beautiful dresses at church on Christmas Eve.  They are so fun to dress up!  The participated in the service by singing "Star Light, Star Bright" and "Away in A Manger" with all the other kids.


 Even though it was late by the time we got home from church and had some supper, we decided to let the girls open their stocking stuffers and one gift each from under the tree before bed.


 Reindeer socks.


 Eva got snowman socks.


 Pocket ponies and trading cards.


 Their gifts from under the tree were magazine subscriptions.  National Geographic Kids for Lena and National Geographic Little Kids for Eva.


 Lena being goofy.


 Christmas Day at church.







 Time to open the rest of the gifts!


 What could be inside these tiny little bags?


 Pretty My Little Pony necklaces!  They were so excited!  Lena got Pinkie Pie.


 And Eva got Twilight Sparkle.


 They had a lot of shared gifts and did a good job of opening them together.


 A new nightgown for Lena with a horsey on it.


 Eva got a penguin nightgown with a matching one for her dolly.


 More horsey clothes for Lena.


 And some unicorn shirts.


 Cute hoodie.


 Eva's first My Little Pony shirt.


 My Little Pony walkie-talkies!  


 Ten minutes to wrap, ten seconds to unwrap.


 New drawing pads and a box of 120 crayons.


 And several new books.  Eva also got some Scholastic books.


 Lena also got a box of 12 Biscuit books for practicing reading her short vowel words.


 Some new duds for Eva's hand-me-down Barbie that she loves.


And a fun game.  My Little Pony Memory.

It's always so much fun watching the girls open their gifts.  Can't wait to do it some more this weekend in Indiana!

Merry Christmas from the Roemkes!