More Christmas

Here are a few pictures of the kids opening their gifts from us...



Olivia got lots of clothes for Ruthie and even some matching clothes for herself.
The pajamas she is wearing were also from us.
She also got a closet to put all of Ruthie's clothes in :)



Charlie got a Skid Loader and his workbench that he absolutely loves :)

Movie Time :)

Day full of Surprises :)

Thursday night after school, we had the car packed and headed up to Duluth to see Bentleyville. It is an amazing Christmas light display. We had so much fun and the kids were totally surprised.

After we left the light display, we went to our hotel. The 2nd surprise for the kids. We stayed at a hotel with a Water Park. It was pretty late by the time that we got there, so we had to wait until this morning to swim. The kids had so much fun.
Sorry, no pictures of the Water Park. I really need to get a waterproof camera :)

When we were all "watered" out we checked out of our hotel and headed to Canal Park. We were supposed to meet up with some friends, but unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse and the roads got really slick. We still went to Grandma's for lunch and just before we were about to go in, we noticed the bridge was up. We were there at the perfect time to see a ship go through the canal and under the big bridge. It was a beautiful sight with all of the snow.









We had such a fun getaway! It was so nice to have some family time =)

We hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Kevin

Tonight we had Christmas with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Kevin. This year mom rented out the party room at the Hotel in town. We even had a special visitor.





Swimming in the Pool




Thank you Mom and Kevin for all of the great gifts and for having the party:)

Larson Family Christmas

Yesterday we had our first Christmas party of the season (well...at least for Jesse and I...the kids had their first last week at Rita's)

We had lots of fun gathering with family. A big thank you to Patty Jo for hosting this year. Of course I didn't get my camera out before Olivia had to change into her pajamas. She has the cutest Christmas dress this year. At least I got a picture of Charlie in his cute sweater before he had to take that off.



We have a "White Elephant" gift tradition for the adults and it is so much fun.
Here are some the gifts :)

Hilary Clinton Nut Cracker (a big hit...it was stolen many times)


Horse's Ass Trophy


The "Ugly Christmas Sweater" that has been going around for years. If you end up with it, you have to add something to it and wear it the next year :)


"Man of Steel" Superman Underwear

Carrots!

Pretty sure Charlie didn't want to eat his carrots...

Our Little Helper :)

I quickly ran downstairs to switch some laundry and I came upstairs to Charlie doing this...





...apparently he wanted to do dishes!!

Good thing my camera was close by =0)

Ice Cream!!

Charlie loves ice cream. Tonight was the first time we gave him his own bowl and spoon. He enjoyed it so much he had to lick the bowl. When he was done, he went straight to the bathtub.

Rita's Christmas Party!!

Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile. We have been very busy!! Here is a picture of the kids just before they left for their "Kids Only" Christmas party at Rita's house. They had so much fun!!

Thank You Rita for hosting such a fun party for the kids and to Grandma Ruth for helping out
(Emily and Jenna too)!!

Turkeys!!

Today was spent getting ready for Thanksgiving!! My friend Megan gave me the idea to make these fun turkey treats for the kids. Olivia loved making them and even Grandma Ruth came to help =)

Charlie liked to just watch and enjoy the sweets. You can tell he likes Oreos. He ate all the frosting and left the cookie for last...just like his mom!!



He is such a clown!



Counting out 5 candy corn feathers for each turkey



Adding the Turkey (whopper) heads...



The Finished Product!!



Can't wait to enjoy them tomorrow =)



Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

SNOW!!

Today was the first snowfall of the season =)

Olivia played outside for nearly an hour; Charlie only lasted a few minutes.

I would love to say that I love the snow, but I really don't (I would much rather have it be 90 degrees with lots of sun)!! Of course Jesse had to work and missed out watching the kids play. Hopefully it will at least stay around until tomorrow so maybe Olivia can ride her snowmobile around the yard. It is supposed to warm up again before Thanksgiving!

Having so much fun...

Going for more...

Saying to heck with it and heading for the house (he takes after his mom)...

Jack

I know that I have done my fair share of complaining about Jack, but one thing I do know is that he loves our kids. We couldn't ask for a better dog for Olivia and Charlie. He always has to know what the kids are doing. When Olivia gets the mail or the paper, he is pacing back and forth in front of the window and waiting at the gate when she gets back in the house. When Charlie or Olivia sit down to read a book, he has to be right there on their lap.

I am sure there are not too many dogs that would do this :)


He let Olivia do the same thing when she was little! Pretty sure Reed thought it was funny to put the head piece on him.



Love these ones...