Almost forgot...we went to St.Louis;)

It's been about three weeks or so but the whole family went to St. Louis to see my brother.  Trust me I would not forget visiting with family and enjoying my children in almost 70 degree weather in the middle of winter.  We had a lot of fun.

Funny conversations, cousins running from one end of the house to the other, dance parties in the kitchen, girl time, home cooked meals, some fun at the hotel pool, a new puppy.......the list goes on and on.....

Jayne is a wizard of oz lovin' type of kid...She would sit and listen to Georgia read it to her all day long if she could...

afternoon snooze...

 boys will be boys...

 playing with mirrors i guess and yes with my shades on....
(sidenote...Adam and Georgia just bought a house that they've been working really hard on....they knocked down walls....remodeled a kitchen...all new flooring...however, the pink/peach bathrooms will probably be next;)  I say it gives it some character for now...

 a little lunch break between play...

back to the hotel to swim...

 Sailor wanted nothing to do with swimming...so she sat and had just as much fun watching the other kids...

this is a little bit of that dance party we had....i believe we rocked out to 'Gangnam Style' - they had the video up on the laptop copying the moves - it was hilarious....

And Aunt Amy also surprised Livy with a puppy...this was part of her Christmas present but they were not able to pick it up until now....it was also close to where Adam and Georgia live so it worked out pretty good....the kids were in love...

 

Livy named her 'Chanel'....i love it....and yes that's Chanel as in  the ultimate luxury brand for fashion accessories...;)  Although whenever I see her I go as far as to call her "chanel gucci prada" haha!

 My mom still does my hair every once in a while:)

 After a nice big healthy breakfast at the hotel we called it a weekend...

 Always fun in St. Louis...

Sailor says PEACE OUT!

Happy New Year...Cheers to 2012!

We headed South for the New Year and landed at my brother Adams house!  They were not home for Christmas so we had another 'show' of opening presesnts with Jayne girl...

Saturday morning we stayed in the comfort of our jammies and watched the kids run around...

a nice morning cup of joe is always a good sign...

And dognuts (especially the ones with sprinkles) are also always good to start your morning off right.  The kids crowded the table with giggles

inspecting their dognuts closely

and inspecting Papa Mikes necklace as well...

There was lots of fun in that kitchen Saturday morning along with some cousinly love to go around

all while Papa Mike fed the littlest babe...Sails will be in the huddle soon enough...

and then came the live entertainment...I believe it was a little bit of Twinkle Twinkle, Mary Had a Little Lamb, but we ALL really rocked out when the Hokey Pokey came on...you should have seen it...there was a whole lot of 'shakin' it around let me tell you

Live entertainment also included fitting the whole top of the mic inside 'ones' mouth...

and this lil' entertainer was a bit on the serious side while performing

but he did very good;)

and Jayne was there to help in case he needed it

and this lil' Miss was all ready for her day to begin...which at this point it was off for her morning nap

and while Sailor and Papa Mike napped, we took the kids to feed the ducks

We brought a whole lot of food for the ducks...I think they liked us;)

It was a beautiful day outside so we soaked it up as much as we could

A day of winter weather like this...pretty perfect for January...Now Nate on the other hand is wishing to do some ice fishing so he needs it to get cold...

When we got back we put the kids to bed and the women started preparing for New Years Eve...Georgia made these DELICIOUS pies...

i must admit that we had fun licking the bowl

and more fun with some picture taking with those pies

and no I don't wear glasses but I wanted to wear them anyway...I like to play too and the bloody mary's Georgia made were delish but I'll leave the 'pickles' out of it - right Georgia?!  lol!

When the kids woke up we opened the presents from grammy ANn and Papa Mike...

Sailor was so good just taking everything in...

 The table was set and garnished with some pretty flowers thanks to Costco...by the way, we need one of those around here...

 Papa Mike treated us to lobster tails and steaks

so we headed outside where Uncle Adam did the grilling...

and these two hung out in this...

while Sailor was still here...

and before dinner...we toasted of course...

And once again that weather was calling our names on Sunday so we headed to the park...where everyone took full advantage of the fresh air.

and there is always room for another hug

and Sunday night we spent relaxing and just some good ol' family time

We even managed to squeeze in some songs...I think each of us one by one took the stage Sunday night and sang the National Anthem...Needless to say we had some good laughs...

Happy New Year!  Let's make it a good one!