December 27th

After we returned home from Chicago we discovered that Santa had come to our house too!! We started the morning with Layna passing out the gifts she had gotten us from her Santa's Workshop at school. It was really neat to see how excited she was to GIVE--as opposed to wanting to open her own gifts! She gave me an Angel pin and Angel ornament. (I plan to remind her that she once saw Mommy as an Angel..maybe when she is 13?!) For Karl she picked out a Cardinal's Baseball, Cardinal Bear, and pad of paper that said DADDY! Claire also got a teddy bear with matching book! Layna's favorite present under the tree was her Prince Eric, Aurora Barbie and Princess Watch. Claire was mostly distracted with the boxes but she loved her stacking blocks, shape sorter, mum mums, and puffs! It was a great morning with lots of memories made! Our 1st Christmas with both little girls...the 1st of many more to come! :)

Christmas Eve in Chicago

We were in Chicago for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year! It was a wonderful time to relax and enjoy some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson! We also visited with Sheila and kids-went out to dinner at BUCA- and attended the 5pm service at Kurt and Bev's church. Layna was surprised with a PRINCESS CASTLE and Claire loved her Snap N Style Babies. We had a very relaxing time. Here are a few of my favorites!

SNOW!

While in Chicago over Christmas- Karl and Layna were able to play in the snow for almost 2 hrs! They had snowball fights, made snow angles, and even went sledding! At the almost 2 hr mark--Karl told Layna that he was TIRED! Layna quickly replied with 'IM NOT!' :) Claire watched from up in the bedroom -wishing she were in the snow too! Maybe next year little one!

Claire got a wagon and lots of clothes for her birthday! She even ate 2 whole cupcakes!! Happy Birthday baby girl! You have filled our lives with such joy--WE LOVE YOU!

Claire's 1st Birthday Party!

Being that I love to throw birthday parties for my girls--I had to come up with the perfect theme for Claire's 1st! PENGUINS! Bev found this perfect little bow and so I had to make her a shirt to match! The back says 'Waddlin' to 1'-- and Karl gets all the credit for this! More picutres to follow but we had a house full of people and an awesome 1st brithday party!

Nelson Family Reunion

We had a Nelson Family Reunion here in St. Louis the weekend of Dec 18th-20th. Eric and his family drove up from South Carolina and the rest of the Chicago Crew made the trip too. We celebrated Christmas, Claire's and Alex's Birthday, and took TONS of pictures! So many that I need a whole new scrapbook just to fit them all!! We had a blast--and it was so fun to see all 10 grandkids play together!

Christmas at Zims!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas at the Zimmermans on December 18th. The girls got carseats, diapers, clothes and toys! Karl opened a Garmin--along with 5 bags of his favorite pretzels--and I got an AWESOME camera strap and an Ipod! We enjoyed having the whole family together!

Jamaica 2010

Karl and I were given a wonderful gift this December when Kurt and Bev came and stayed with our girls while we took a weeks vacation in Jamaica!! For all their kids 30th Birthdays- Kurt and Bev give the generous gift of a trip + childcare!! Kurt and Bev own a beautiful condo in Negril--so we even had a free place to stay!! Although I was a nervous wreck the weeks leading up to the trip--the girls ended up having a blast with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and Karl and I had an AMAZING TIME! The 1st few days were rough for me as I felt like I was missing my two arms--I even told Karl I didnt know if I could stay the whole time--but once I was able to relax---it was such a blessing!! I will have a huge section of pictures in my scrapbook (of course) but these are just a few of my FAVS! The picture below was taken in the exact same spot (7 years earlier) when we were on our honeymoon! The only difference was that Im sure I was in some skimpy bikini---not thinking about my two little girls back home! HA! This is a trip that we look forward to taking again---maybe every couple of years if we are lucky!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year at the Zimmerman's! Grandpa and Grandma Fry were able to join us which is always such a blessing! Kurt and Bev were in town and we were able to spend the afternoon over at the Ferris house with the Nelson side of the family. Then again this year---crazy as the all the years before---I got left the house at 2:30am to go shopping with Bev and Sheri at Kohls. I had a great time and was back in bed by 4am--Sheri and Bev were much braver--they headed to the mall and were out and about for another 4 hrs! A great time was had by all...and some great deals were found as well!