Fun to Have a Sister

 The other day I was doing the dishes and asked Macy to give fussy Rachel her soother. After I turn around and Rachel is happy sucking on the 'soother' toy big sister got for her - a hanger!

It is fun to see them together and how much Macy loves talking and hugging and kissing Rachel, and how much Rachel smiles whenever her big sister is around.

Visiting The Cutts Family!

On boxing day we headed down to Lino Lakes, Minnesota with Grandma and Grandpa to visit the Tom Cutts Family. We had a great weekend with them. Rachel was a dream in the car, and Macy loved car time with Grandma, and then a weekend full of cousins!

Here’s a quick rundown of the trip. We left Thursday morning and got to Tom’s around 5ish. We had no trouble at the border, even though we didn’t have a birth certificate or passport for Rachel. Thursday night we hung around and visited. We attempted Macy sleeping in Eden and Alice’s room, but Macy and Alice would have partied all night! Finally we had Macy fall asleep in our room, and then we’d move her upstairs with the girls. Friday we did the Children’s museum, lots of fun, with Subway and Chinese food for lunch. We swam in the pool at Grandma and Grandpa’s hotel, and then had pizza for dinner. After, Tom, Chris, and I went to our first NBA game and saw the Timberwolves destroy the Washington Wizards. Saturday was some shopping, and more eating (a delicious roast dinner with Yorkshire pudding!). On Sunday was Henry’s baby blessing, and on Monday we headed back to Headingley. It was a great trip, thanks for having us Tom, Julie, Eden, Alice, and Henry!

 Bubbles at the Children's Museum.

 Snacks with Grandma.

 Beautiful Rachel.

 Eden with the babe's.

 Cousins Rachel and Henry, born one month apart.

 Soother babies.

 Matching dresses!

 Silly cousins.

 Eden at the pool.

 Macy being attentive to Henry.

 Alice (who is quite the swimmer and jumper) and Aunt Julie.

 No pictures!

 Finally back at Grandma and Grandpa's and Rachel could care less that it was her 5th day of being stuck in car in 10 days!

Christmas 2013

We were very excited to spend Christmas this year with my parents in Headingley. We drove out on December 21st, spent the night in a hotel in Regina (swimming pool and waterslide and a 6 week old who slept 8 hours!) and arrived in Headingley on Sunday, December 22nd. We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. Macy and Rachel were spoiled. We ate tons of candy, and managed to make a candy town too. Christmas eve Uncle Robin, Aunt Jeana, and Doug came over for a delicious meal of ham and cabbage rolls. Uncle Robin made and brought a delicious apple pie. Frosty came and dropped pajamas off for the girls, and then Santa stopped by and spoiled us all! Macy loved all the presents and insisted on helping everyone open theirs. When we finally finished opening gifts (around noon) we had the traditional Cutts' Christmas breakfast. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, talking to family, and getting ready for our trip to Lino Lakes!

 Our Gingerbread village. Chris designed and did most of the building. I did most of the eating.

 Doug comfy with Rachel.

 Opening presents from Frosty.

 Picking her nightly yogurt in her pajamas from Frosty. Macy was good at going to bed, she knew Santa wouldn't come unless we were all asleep. 

 So many presents. The big ones were a double stroller for us, and Grandma and Grandpa got a nice Radio Flyer red wagon.

 Opening stockings.

Opening gifts. Rachel is sporting her Frosty pajamas, too bad she is growing so much that they no longer fit.

American Thanksgiving

I've got a lot of blogging catch-up to do, which is pretty normal for me. If I look back to previous years, my Christmas posts are always in January or February. But before we get to Christmas, it's American Thanksgiving. I love being able to celebrate two Thanksgivings, and this year I was especially grateful that my mom was visiting and could celebrate with us (read that to mean she basically did the whole dinner herself, supermom!)

This year I am grateful for our new house and new dinning table, and that I have great friends and family to celebrate with.

Mom left later that evening, and here is Macy right before we took her to the airport. She loves sliding down these stairs.