Houghtaling Girls

Friday, January 2, 2015

Happy New Year!

We had a fantastic New Years! We joined four other families and headed to Splash Universe in Dundee. We swam, we ate, we played cards, and just had great fun! Thanks to the Dunn family for putting everything together! Ava has already asked when we can go back!

Ava's BFF from school, Myles

The hangout spot…the bathtub

A little under the weather, but still made it to 11:10

And all of the kids….A little dark but you get the picture…

Happy New Year from these little angels!

Our Annual Christmas Playdate

What do you get when you wear your pajamas and swimming suit at the end of December within an hour of each other?

A Chinese friends playdate!

We had Ella, Roz, and Thomas over to play. We missed Emmett, but hope to see him soon.

And let's not forget the fashion show

Holidays with The Houghtaling's

The Saturday after Christmas we headed out early to Medina. Uncle Jim and Aunt Vicki were hosting a holiday gathering for the Houghtaling clan. As usual, they were fantastic hosts, great food, and tons of fun. The girls loved spending time with their relatives and playing with their cousins.

Addy stole Aunt Vicki's accessories

Leilani, Addy, and Aunt Rosemary

We love cousin Megan!

Being so silly

Sweet

They matched my shirt!

Thanks, Jim and Vicki for the hospitality!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Merry Christmas!

We hosted Christmas this year for my moms side of the family. We had about 25 Dunn's up in here! We had amazing food (thanks for the spaghetti, Mom!), great company, and fantastic desserts! We got all of the little girls together for the annual picture. I can still call them that, right?

With the addition of sweet little Addy Grace….

The girls with their favorite gifts! Paw Patrol and Nemo. Pretty much all we watch.

Our little monster...

My first loves. The girls who made me want to be a mommy. Love you Liv and Mo!

To our family and friends:

We love you.

We appreciate you.

We are thankful for you.

We wouldn't be who we are without you.

Love,

John, Sara, Ava, and Addy

Christmas Morning!

Oh, Ava Kate. This is the first year she was truly so into Santa that I had to really watch my back. The packages coming in the mail, the secret wrapping paper, the sneaking out in the middle of the night to wrap. Whew. And it all built up to 4:09am on 12/25/14. Begging. Begging hard. I couldn't do it. I knew she would never go back to sleep. She cried for about 10 minutes and then passed out until 7. Much better. She was so excited!!! And Addy figured out pretty quickly what was going on! Every present she opened she screamed "Oh!" even if it was just a box. We were cracking up!

Paw Patrol was definitely the theme this year. Both the girls loved it! And their kindles. I'm pretty sure Santa made two little girls pretty happy!

Christmas Eve

We started out Christmas Eve with shopping. Yes, we did. Uncle Nate had to finish up so we went along for the ride. The girls wouldn't take a nap and I knew it was going to be a long night. And, of course, this will come into play.

We got all dressed in our best clothes and headed to church

Where Addy slept through the entire first portion

Ha!

We came home and I had made stroganoff in the crock pot. After dinner, Nana and JoJo brought the girls over their gifts. So the girls got to start ripping open presents early!

Ava was already in her jammies. When we came home from church, the girls had a gift from Barry. You know, the elf? He left them a letter telling them he had to go back to the North Pole until next year and left each girl a set of Elf jammies.

We set out the reindeer food

Set out the ugly cookies for Santa

And called it a night. Shortly after the girls fell asleep (which was surprisingly quick), Santa visited the Houghtaling house.

The Days Before Christmas!

It has been a wonderful Christmas break. Ava and my last day of work/school was December 19th and we don't return until the 5th. I'm ready for my schedule again, but I'm going to miss the late nights, sleeping in (9:30 today!) and family naps.

December 19th was pajama day at school. Ava picked her minion pi's and they watched Polar Express at school.

Yes, that's her under there. She fights me every day about coats and hats. But lately since they are starting to go out for recess, she is asking to dress warmer. Ava, my love, haven't you ever heard? Mama is always right.

One night we dressed in jammies, made hot chocolate, loaded in the car and drove around to look at Christmas lights. The girls loved drinking out of adult mugs!