Hard to believe our sweet little munchkin girl turned 5 a few days ago. Emily is turning into quite the young lady. She is so beautiful, so smart and so incredibly funny. She loves her family and friends. She is caring, thoughtful, respectful and just a joy to be around. I couldn't imagine we'd start out with this teeny tiny infant and in just 5 short years she would be this amazing. Love you so much Emily and can't wait to see what the next 5 years brings!!!
Ohh an Emily sign to hang on the wall and hook all your hair clippies on!
A new chair for outside - with a cup holder!
Cowboy boots!
Ohhh a big one daddy! What is it?? A camping set with a horse, tent, and atv!
Another doll for my dollhouse!
Matching Em and baby jammies!!
For Em's actual birthday - I had asked her a while back what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to go get her finger nails and toe nails painted. So there is this new kids spa in town that I was planning to take her to - I just hadn't made the appointment yet. Mistake on my part! I called when they opened on her birthday and they didn't have any appointments left :( I was soooo bummed! So I asked her what she wanted to do instead and of course she said bouncy town. So we called up my sister and they met us there with their 2 girls. Then we took the kiddos to McD's afterwards.
The Birthday Girl!
Then after BT, I played with her all day long while Daddy got some more work done on the basement. We did card games, board games and lots of puzzles. It was fun to just relax and hang out!
Aunt Kristen even had a special delivery for Emily - the local flower shop dropped off some balloons, candy and a stuffed animal for Em. She was floored to get a delivery!!
Emily with her new tiger
Emily got to choose where we went to dinner that night and she wanted to go to Red Robin. So before we went to dinner - Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Tom came by to have Emily open her presents before we left. We had known for a while that this was the present she had been wishing for and asking for for months! So we skyped with Aunt Kristen out in Montana. Aunt Kristen was sweet enough to give one of her American Girl dolls to Emily. Kristen used to play with this doll when she was a little girl. So watch the video and enjoy!
G with her Emily and the doll Emily :)
Red Robin was a blast too but I left my camera at home! We had quite the table with me, Kory and Em, Cori, Jeff and the girls, My mom & dad, Bonnie & Tom, Kacey, Tony and the boys and also Casey, Mike and Audrey! Em LOVED being sung to by the wait staff. she was just glowing. Only my child!!! LOL!
Happy Birthday princess! Mommy & Daddy love you very much!!!
Ho ho ho! Santa came!!!! Emily must have been on the nice list. She was sooooo excited!
Em and Mommy posing for a picture
Em and her daddy!!
Opening the strange shaped present first - they were orange cones!!! She thought they were a rocket ship :)
Em got daddy an ice cream maker!
Loves her Orbeez! She got two sets and plays with them non-stop
Ohhh a Hello Kitty puzzle and lots of beads for making necklaces!
Building legos with Daddy
Christmas Day is our time to spend as a little family. It seems like the holidays go by so fast and so we spend an entire day in our jammies and just hang around the house. We love having visitors but it's also nice to just have time as the three of us. So we had a very nice day. Daddy even got some work done on the basement.
Christmas Eve was hosted by Cori & Jeff for my side of the family. We always love going to their house! The food and the company is fabulous!! Thanks for having us - as always :)
Emily with her curly locks all ready to go!
It was Audrey's first Christmas and she was as sweet as can be!
My dad with his grandchildren - ALL GIRLS!!!
Me, my sisters, our daughters, and my parents
Mom, Casey with Audrey and Cori
Sisters with Audrey!
Mary with a sleeping Audrey
Emily and Braenna all ready to open gifts
Emily had to help everyone - here she is helping Ray
Mom opening her gift from Dad - a Kindle!!!
Bee-bop
Emily loves her Lalaloopsy art kit!
Ohhh Mikaiya got legos!
Yes! Casey got all sorts of Bears gear
Emily talking to Audrey
All three girls
Mikaiya loves her peace signs!
The boys did it again - got all us ladies "beautiful" shirts
We had so much fun watching the kids open their presents. It's amazing how much they change each year. They are all such good girls!
When we got home - Emily set out 2 cookies, some water and a letter for Santa. It was so cute!!
Oh and reindeer food! She made it at school so we put it out on the back deck where we told her Santa would leave the reindeer while he was delivering her presents.
The night before Christmas Eve, we braided Emily's hair after bath so it would be all curly for Christmas Eve celebrations. she loved her braids!! So she was being silly and making faces...
Posing in front of the Christmas tree
How did she grow up so fast???
My silly girl!
My parents decided to come by and give Emily her birthday presents just a few days early!
A cute outfit!!
Ohhh and art thingy! Her favorite :)
A barbie hair salon??? OMG!
What is this huge present??
Oh my gosh!!!!!
Grandpa made me a high chair for my dolls!!!!!
Later that day, Barb our neighbor came over and asked if she could make some chocolate covered goodies with Em. Barb is so sweet! So here is her and Em making treats for us!
Kory's sister Kalli, her husband Mark and their 4 boys moved from Portland to Barrington, IL this past fall. Kalli gratiously invited all of us over to celebrate Christmas at their new house on the weekend before Christmas. We had such a nice time!!
Emily posing in front of the tree before we opened presents
Emme and her baby all ready to open presents
Zander waiting patiently!
Mr. Maddox! Such a cutie!!
Grandma Bonnie, Tyler and Nathan
Zander and Emily helping Reese with his present
Aunt Kalli and cousin Reese
AJ helping Em
Reese and Grandma
Emily loved feeding Maddox - and Maddox loves to eat :)
The boys playing Rummikub (Ethan, Kevin, Tony, Kory and Tom)
The other table of Rummikub (Emma, Kalli with Maddox, Nathan, Kacey with Em)
We had such a nice time celebrating with the family. Thanks to Kalli & Mark for hosting! Can't wait until next year :)
