St. Nick's

This was the first year that I did anything for St. Nick's day.  We didn't celebrate this tradition when I was growing up, although I do remember learning about it in my German class in high school!  Chad's grew up celebrating St. Nick's day and it seems to be a pretty popular tradition in this area of Wisconsin.  I tried to google about it and learn some of the history/tradition and realized that depending on the country, there were many different traditions!  We ended up going with treats in everyone's shoes!

Here's all the gifts lined up the night of 12/5!

Here are the girls opening their gifts!  They had fun doing this before school/work!

Here's Lydia with her new Minnie Mouse phone and her Ferries insulated mug!  Both girls got insulated mugs because Makayla always wants to drink out of my travel coffee mugs and Lydia just LOVES hot chocolate.  For a long time, she called it "caw-pee" (coffee).  Now, she has learned that she's really drinking hot chocolate.  Some mornings she wakes up and the first words out of her mouth are "Hot Chocolate".  One morning she chugged down 2 sippy cups full and still wanted more, but I had to cut her off!  She is definitely our chocolate lover and our sweets lover!  :)

The Wilderness

We took a trip to the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells with the whole Evers' clan!  We got there Thursday night and stayed until Sunday.  The girls were a bit tentative the first day, but then they had a blast!  Lydia enjoyed jumping up and down in the pool and didn't seem to have any fear!  Makayla got very brave and kept going down a water slide that was about 2 stories high, all by herself!  :)

This is a photo in the wave pool in the Wild Waterdome park.  You can see Chad and Makayla in a tube in the front, left.  Also pictured are Tim, Rheann, Eric, Ryan, Addison, and Isabel.

This is another photo of the wave pool.   The waves turn on about every 12 minutes or so!

Me and Lydia

Lydia was pretty tired on Sunday morning.  She just snuggled on the luggage cart as I packed up!

Odds and Ends

These photos didn't really fit in my other posts, so I thought I'd throw them all together in their own post!

This is a photo of an amazing sunrise that I noticed one morning when I happened to wake up and enjoy a cup of coffee before anyone else got up!  :)  How beautiful and peaceful before the chaos of 2 toddlers!  :)

Makayla insists on dressing herself lately!  Some of the outfits are rather crazy, but I rarely fight with her to pick something else!  This is what she wore to church one day...she picked it out herself!  Nothing quite matched and that blue coat is a rain coat that is Lydia's size!

Here's a photo of Makayla one day when we got home from daycare.  Much to my dismay, she is slowly and painfully trying to transition away from afternoon naps.  In this photo, Makayla didn't nap at school, so she fell asleep on the way home.  Chad tried to wake her, but she was out cold, so he laid her on the floor.  Lydia decided to lie next to her and rub her back (like they do at school when the kids are going to sleep).  Also, note in this photo that Makayla is wearing her PJ's.  I mentioned that she likes to dress herself...well, some days she also refuses to get dressed!  This was one of those days, so I let her wear her PJ's to school. Her lack of naps causes her to be extra crabby, especially the mornings, and that perpetuates the orneriness when Makayla is supposed to be getting dressed.  Thank goodness the other kids her class appear to have similar issues!  LOL!

The girls had fun painting with water colors one night.  Makayla keeps asking for paints, but I am very leery to allow them to paint in my house for fear of a mess!  Although I know they are getting as easel for Christmas, so it might be time to brave the paint!

Snack time fun!  The girls are really starting to enjoy each other's company and look out for each other...most of the time!  Here they are enjoying a snack together!

The girls shared a chair while they enjoyed their suckers.  Apparently they also traded suckers back and forth as well!  Eww...

Decorating for Christmas

I guess we had a pretty busy Thanksgiving weekend, because along with all of my other posts, we also decorated the tree and the house for Christmas!  It really didn't feel all that busy because everything was fun and there were lots of hands to help!  Chad put the lights outside and even climbed on the roof to hang my icicle lights!  The girls love the inflatable Mickey Mouse that is out in the yard!

Makayla enjoyed putting ornaments on the tree!  Lydia was napping through most of the tree decorating!

"Wow, neat stockings!"

Cute pic!  Thanks Lauren for taking many of the Thanksgiving weekend pix!

Grandma and Lydia

Sweet Fun

We made Christmas cookies over Thanksgiving weekend too!  I cheated and purchased pre-cut frozen sugar cookie dough, so it was much quicker to get right to decorating...and eating!

Makayla did an awesome job putting sprinkles on the cookies!

Makayla definitely enjoyed eating her cookie too!

Lydia is our sweets-eater and she couldn't wait to get a hold of a cookie!  :)

Tamale Time

Jeff and Monica brought the supplies to make tamales on the Friday after Thanksgiving!  We've talked many times about making tamales, so it was very exciting to actually get around to doing it!  Eating tamales used to be a tradition on my Dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve, but my great Aunt who used to make them hasn't made them in several years!  Maybe this can become a new tradition with our family!

Makayla got right into the action helping Jeff and Monica mix the masa.

She had a great time!

She liked burying her hands in the dough!

Here's Pat demonstrating his completed tamale!

Here's Makayla putting some meat filling into her tamale!

Yummm...the completed tamales!

Here's our table...it was a delicious Mexican themed meal!

Thanksgiving Fun

We hosted Thanksgiving Day at our house this year!  My parents, brother Jeff, sister-in-law Monica, brother Pat, and Pat's girlfriend Lauren stayed for the long weekend!  Chad's parents also joined us for Thanksgiving lunch!

Here we are ready to eat our turkey dinner!  Yum, yum!

Makayla didn't want any pie, just cool whip and a spoon!

Here's Grandpa and Makayla!

Here's everyone chillin' in the basement!  From left to right:  My mom, Monica, Jeff, Lauren, Pat, and Makayla!  Makayla and Lydia tended to provide good entertainment!

Makayla and Lydia loved playing with Auntie Monica!  Here the girls are playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie!

Makayla even got Grandma, Grandpa, Pat, Lauren, and Jeff in on the Ring-Around-the-Rosie action!  :)

Gotcha!

Makayla got some new flannel sheets one day and I put them on her bed for her.  She and Lydia climbed right in and snuggled up so nicely next to each other, so I ran for the camera!  Of course, I missed the cutest shots!  Here's what I got...

This is the best photo of the girls snuggling next to each other!

Whoops, Lydia is picking her nose in this one!

Ick, Lydia is wiping her booger on Makayla!  Gotcha Makayla!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

The Evers Family Cousins took Nana and Papa (Chad's Parents) on a hayride for part of their Christmas present!  We went to Rock K Ranch and road a wagon through the woods, stopped for a camp fire, enjoyed a pot-luck supper, and checked out the animals in the barn!

Here are the horses that pulled our wagon!

Here we are, all loaded up!

Nana and Papa were all decked out in their cowboy and cowgirl gear!  They are sitting at the front of the wagon!

We managed to get all the grand kids to sit with Nana and Papa for a photo!

Here we are roasting some marshmallows!

Makayla and Addison had fun balancing on the logs!

Enjoying our potluck dinner!

Here's the barn!

Makayla enjoyed sitting on the saddle!

Lydia had to get in on the action!

Of course, we needed a photo of the outhouse!  :)