Christmas Decorating!!

We spent out Black Friday in our PJ's all day and decorating for Christmas. We never got dressed and took long naps. It was perfect. This year I let the girls put the ornaments on the tree. And then I spent the next half hour spreading them out! Haha!

Some of my favorite ornaments. These were purchased on Shamian Island in Guangzhou, China. There is a little shop that sells these dolls and ornaments for each province in China. We purchased Ava's in 2010 when we adopted her so I made sure we made our way back this year to get Addy's. I love them! And I bought the doll sizes, too!

It was so exciting to hang four stockings this year!

Even as a grown up, I get all excited when it's dark outside and the tree is lit up! 

And while I stayed in the warmth of the house, these crazies got in the hot tub for a bit!

The Houghtaling's are officially ready for Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving 2014

We had a fantastic holiday!!! And Addy was a bit excited about her first Thanksgiving!! And I'm not sure she knew what it was until the food was in front of her. Haha!!

Ava started her celebrating on Tuesday at school. They had a feast and dressed up as Pilgrims and Indians. Ava was an Indian and her name was Running Koala Bear. Haha!! 

We decided to go Mainstreet on Wednesday night for their Thanksgiving service. It was such a nice service and the girls loved it. And here was the only decent picture I captured at the church. And I took about 40. 

Thanksgiving morning we all slept until 8:30 and had a nice morning. We didn't host this year so we got to chill for awhile. So I spent sometime trying to get the perfect picture. 

I do love this last one though!! 

We headed over to The Feathers for our yummy meal! 

Here are our gracious hostesses!!

We had such a great time spending time with family!

We played lots of games and the girls had a ball together!

There was a small incident which was a total accident, but Addy walked away with a "Hurtday" gift. 

Another successful holiday in the books with so much to be thankful for. 

Hooky Day with Roz!!!

We decided to play hooky on Wednesday. Well, kind of. Ava didn't have school and I took a vacation day. But it still felt like a hooky day!!! We met for lunch at Chick Fil A, went to get ice cream, walked around the mall, and stopped over at Ella's. It was such a fun day!! I had to steal a couple of pics from Roz's mom because I took none. Haha!

Photo booth! 

Waiting for Ella. I love this one!!

Ava's Party

Ava had been begging me to have a party with her friends for some time. Apparently her and Sophie (a friend from school) have been planning it and what they would do. We had a Friday night free, so I reached out to a few parents and made it happen! We ended up with seven little girls. They were actually pretty good, but the volume was out of control! Haha!

There was lots of dress up, singing, and cupcake decorating!

I think everyone had a pretty good time!!!

Cleft Clinic Update

We had our first visit to the Cleft Clinic with Addy and Ava's follow up. Poor little Addy has a road in front of her. It will be a rough (and painful) few months but the end result with be amazing!

Ava is almost ready for her bone graft. The dentist and the oral surgeon are talking this week to check on next steps. The good thing is there is no rush so it could still be awhile yet. 

Addy will be having a palate repair most likely at the end of January. Before we can determine for sure, we have to visit the ENT. They want to be sure she doesn't need tubes. But if she does, they will be able to complete everything at the same time. We will be starting speech therapy soon, as well. If you really listen you can understand a smidgen of what she is saying. She truly needs therapy so hopefully we will see results quickly! Stay tuned!

#houghtalinggirls

Boy, have we been busy! Work, school, friends, and fun stuff! It's hard being a Houghtaling. Ha!


It's been super cold in our neck of the woods! But it gave us a chance to bust out the new winter coats.

Addy experienced her first even snow. She didn't really care. She was more interested in her granola bar. 

But she totally loves the fact she can see her breath. 

We've spent some time at the art museum

Had a little dental work done

Ava drew a family portrait

We got new Bubble Guppies jammies

Went bowling

Helped Aunt Tammy make cookies

Decided this year we would be thankful for Jesus

Got to visit the treasure chest at school

And had a little nacho picnic on the floor

Life is good.