Winter or Spring?

The end of January/beginning of February sure didn't feel like winter to us. Do we wear a winter coat or spring jacket? Shoes and socks to work or just slip on shoes for me??

Well anyway, I guess we should just enjoy it while it lasts, huh?

Emersen and I took a walk and went to the playground near our house on Tuesday. Oh, and in the picture above, no matter how many times she climbed up the stairs to slide, she had to hold onto the pinecone and the card she made for me at school. Guess she is more coordinated than me! haha!

Strange weather...even the dandelions were blooming. Of course, Emersen is still intrigued by them and brought a couple of them home with us. :)

Just playing with my new toys....

Here is Emersen "opening" a late Christmas gift....

It's a table/chair set!! Well, really benches and not chairs, but she was so excited!

She loves doing puzzles, coloring, and even snacking at her new table

Sometimes she makes a 'snack' right in her own kitchen :)

Anytime she gets into the oven, she always puts on the oven mitt!

And she loves drawing while Mommy does the dishes :)

Christmas 2011-Part three

And then we headed to Zionsville......

Emersen had a great time opening her stocking....

Playing with her "jewels"...

Logan and Zoe loved their gifts too! For some reason, the slinky was the hit of the visit (and we had to get 2 more while we were out one day so each of the girls had their own)

Oh, and then the girls started a band! Yep, drums, guitar, and violin...that is pretty much all we heard all week :) They had a blast!

We even had a day of snow while we were visiting...but for some reason, I can't find those pictures right now. It was a great trip!

And then we headed home....ahhh!! Thank you to all of our families for the wonderful visits!! We appreciate everything! Love, Emersen, Steph, and Trevor

Christmas 2011-Part two

Off to South Bend we go!! When we arrived in South Bend we all went out to eat at Sunny Italy. Emersen was so hungry that she ate 2 bowls of applesauce, a plate of ravioli, a meatball, and some of my salad! Needless to say, I was too busy holding onto her that we didn't get a single picture of this great feast.

We relaxed at MawMaw's

and spent Christmas Eve at Uncle Mike's & Aunt Janice's where we even got to see Santa Claus!!

We had such a great time on Christmas Eve that I had to wake Emersen up around 9:30am to celebrate Christmas!!

Emersen loved trying out all of her new toys...even if they weren't made for her :)

Yep, that's her trying to sit on one of the Little People chairs....

She wasn't quite sure how to try on Aunt Jen's apron and chef's hat, so we just decided to take off everything and just wear the hat :)

From eating yummy food, going on a family adventure to the grocery store, and opening gifts, we loved spending time with MiMi, Dzia Dzia, and MawMaw and had a great Christmas!

Christmas 2011-Part one

Our first stop along our Christmas excursion was at my Dad's house in Valparaiso. We had a great time relaxing! Emersen loved climbing up and down the stairs and playing with all kinds of toys. She really had fun with the play tent and toy car that Nana (Alice) pulled out for her.

We even got to celebrate our 'Christmas' a little bit early. Emersen got to play with her cousins Morgan, Liam, and Greysen and we all had a fun evening together.

She really got the hang of tearing off the wrapping paper

Here's Grandpa opening her Memory game cards for her

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Santa's Village

Linda and I took Emersen to Santa's Village at UTM before our break started. As you can tell, she wasn't too sure of all the people. It was all set up at the Ag. Pavilion, where the rodeo is held, so it is a huge space. It was filled with tons of lights, rides, a stage, and a petting zoo!

She loved running around the Winter Wonderland once she realized how pretty and fun it was!!

Here she is with Linda in the Winter Wonderland

And then she wanted to ride the Carousel.....again, and again, and again. I was so surprised that she liked it!

What a fun afternoon!! Merry Christmas!