Special visit!

Fortunately Mary Lou happened to be visiting in Chicagoland while we were there.  We met up at Cheesecake Factory with Lala and her children.  Marco unfortunately wasn't able to come too.  Amazing how much the children have grown up!

The three munchkins

WOW! I am thrilled to see how the girls love playing together, happy to simply bask in each others' company.

Happy game (not sure what?!)

Awwww....

Group hug with Halabuhgee

Photo essay on how to hug...

Chil'axen

Minzie's creativity

Lion wearing a girls' coat

Water, water everywhere

While Lucia Sora and I flew to Chicago, Troy drove home,   The next day we were planning to meet up with her cousins at a water park, and Troy discovered a leaking water tank.  So, some of us played and others of us worked.  Boo... not fair to Troy.  Little girl at first was skeptical and scared of the big, giant "bathtub" but soon forgot her fears and thoroughly enjoyed the water slide and pool. She even ran along the water edge with Halmoni trying to keep up with her and jumped into the 1 ft 6 inch area all by herself. Quite bold! The best part of the afternoon simply was observing the bond between the girls.  Lucia's cousins are definitely special!!

And here's a video of the water slide that all the girls (yep, that includes Halmoni!) enjoyed!

Final pix from Ohio

The first ones show Lucia's fancy up-do that her daddy created for her.  The latter photos of a girl trying to escape the male-dominated sofa!

More special times with Family

Our Sunday was extra special because we got to see Uncle Verle.  The children posed with him after meeting.

When we got home, the grandchildren took a photo with Grandma and Grandpa.

And for the rest of Sunday, we simply played and savored our time together!

Gifts Galore

Of course one of the most exciting parts of the holiday is the gift exchange.  We especially enjoyed the children opening their gifts on Christmas Eve, and then we all dug into our own baskets yesterday.

Eggs!

Playing with Grandma

Playing with the piano on daddy's lap

Grandpa's stack

My family is soooo fun!

Our little girl has been ecstatic these past few days with cousins as play mates, Grandma and Grandpa's house to explore, different toys (even cars, trains and balls!!) with which to play, tractors to ride, cookies to decorate, etc. We love watching her take in all the joy of family!

"Everybody... dance, dance, dance"