Branch Christmas Party

So we did end up going to our Christmas party at church tonight. There was actually quite a few people there in spite of the weather. Charlotte was feeling a little bit better so we decided to go ahead and take her. Brooke was very excited to see Santa and went right up to him. Charlotte liked looking at him from afar, but wasn't too sure. She did end up sitting on his lap, thanks to some bribery.

Here is a picture of Charlotte with her friends

The primary also sang a couple songs that Brooke has been practicing at home as well. I don't know why this is such a bad picture.

Well, I better get back to packing so we can leave tomorrow!

Surprise, Surprise

So it snowed again. Are you surprised? Brooke's last day of school was today and so they didn't have their Holiday Party. Her teacher said if they didn't have school today that they were have their party when they got back. So far we have gotten 5-6 inches and it's supposed to snow more all weekend starting tomorrow afternoon. We are supposed to be driving to Indiana in the morning, hopefully we can get out before more snow comes.



It's Charlotte's turn to be sick. She started getting a fever last night and has had one all day. Here she is napping on our bed with Nathan and all our clothes that I'm trying to pack!! I don't know what it is about sick kids and my bed.

We finally hung pictures on our wall. Here is the picture I made at Enrichment. Don't look too closely or you'll see where I messed up. Did I mention I'm not crafty whatsoever? I'm not sure how much I like this picture here. Let me clarify. I like the picture, just not so sure of the location. We really don't have much wall space. The light switch and thermostat are right there so it looks kinda crowded. The wall in our dining room is where we are going to hang our family pictures once we get matching frames. So not until after Christmas.

We're supposed to have our Branch Christmas Party tonight too but I don't know if it's going to happen with the weather. One of us would have to stay home with Charlotte anyway.

Hopefully we'll be able to travel safely tomorrow. It's Nathan's birthday tomorrow also. Not a fun birthday present to travel on your birthday but that's when he wanted to go. So anyway, probably no more pictures until after we get back! Merry Christmas!!

Napping kids

I thought this was so cute today. Brooke is home sick from school today and decided to curl up in my bed and take a nap. Charlotte isn't much of a napper anymore but after she ate her lunch she decided to lay down next to her. At first I thought she was going to bother her, so I tried to keep her away from her but then I realized she wanted to take a nap too! So here they are both curled up in my bed with all the blankets and pillows imaginable. Then when Brooke woke up and got up, Charlotte woke up too and wanted to get up too. They are becoming quite good friends. Except of course when they are getting on each other's nerves, which is the other half of the time.
And here are some cute pictures of Charlotte modeling yet another one of her Christmas dresses. She just looked so darn cute. I think I'll have her wear this to the Ward Christmas Party on Friday.

Photo Shoot

So I tried to take the girl's picture today with pretty Christmas dresses on but I couldn't get them both to smile and be serious at the same time. I know it's not Christmas yet, but seriously, Charlotte has about 6 Christmas dresses that fit her this year. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, except that people have given me dresses and that she wears all of Brooke's hand me downs. The dress Brooke is wearing is also a hand me down, but I can't remember who gave it to us. It's a little big, especially in the sleeves, but it still works. Charlotte has been wearing Christmas dresses since the end of November so she can wear them all by Christmas. I don't know, is it ok to wear Christmas dresses after Christmas? I'll try and take more pictures next week.

Pictures with Santa

When we were home at Thanksgiving, Grandma Asay took my kids and my sister's kids to the Indiana State Museum to ride the train to see Santa. I think they had a good time, but I don't think Charlotte liked Santa or Mrs. Claus much, as you can see from her face in the picture.

Random pictures from the week

Brooke and Charlotte painting beautiful masterpieces.
Brooke's gift to Charlotte from the Santa Shop at school. Highlighters! They're writing on little post-it notes. I should mention Brooke had another gift for Charlotte but apparently a little girl on the bus wanted to trade. The little girl traded Brooke a Christmas mug for stickers Brooke was going to give Charlotte. When Brooke told me this I knew I needed to do something. Stickers and a mug aren't exactly a fair trade. But mostly, I was worried that someone in the little girl's family wasn't going to get a present. Brooke and I talked about it and she decided to take the mug back to the little girl. I didn't care about the stickers really, and Brooke didn't either. I was so proud of her for making the right decision. I put the mug in her backpack with a note for her teacher (she was also in her class). When Brooke came home she said the little girl had gotten in trouble for giving her the mug. Brooke knew that she had made a good choice. She also mentioned Santa would come see her because she was good but the little girl wasn't so he wouldn't come see her. I thought that was funny.
My present from Brooke: a snowman bowl. It's a bad picture but Brooke took it. I was quite impressed with her choice. I think it is very cute.
Brooke and Charlotte watching a Christmas movie with Dad. That's one of their favorite holiday traditions. Unfortunately Brooke stays up too late and doesn't want to get up in the morning for school.

Lots and lots of snow

Playing in a big mountain of snow
Jumping from picnic table to pile of snow.
Making snow angels
Needless to say, I didn't leave my house for two days.
When I posted before about so much snow, apparently I spoke to soon. It started snowing Monday night and didn't stop until about Wednesday afternoon. And has still been snowing off and on. Total, I think we got about 2 feet on top of the 3-4 inches that we already had. So school was canceled Tuesday and Wednesday and we ventured out in the snow Tuesday afternoon. It was so deep! It took the maintenance people FOREVER to come plow. I guess they were working hard on campus. Charlotte kept getting stuck in it. I don't think she liked it so much.

So, I guess I'll have to get used to this snow. It's only just the beginning and I don't think we'll be able to see grass until April. It is pretty to look at. Don't you think?

In Memory of my Brown Boots

It's time to put my brown boots to rest. I've had my trusty brown boots since 1998. Yes, that's right, 10 years. My parents bought them for me at Galyan's when I left for college. I needed something sturdy and warm to wear in the snow. They lasted a long time. But, sadly, in the last couple of weeks they have been falling apart. It's very sad. I just hate to shop. I never find anything I like or can afford. But, with this Michigan snow, I need to find something. So, let's talk about this snow. It's never-ending!! It has been snowing for 3 days straight, without stopping. Saturday alone we're supposed to get 6-10 inches of the 3-5 we already have. I don't know if I can take it. I like snow, once, and then I'm over it. Let's play in it, go sledding, make a snowman, take cute pictures, and be done. No more snow! Nathan says I better get used to it because the worst of it comes in Jan/Feb. I told him to find a job someplace warm. Getting the kids dressed and ready in boots, coats, gloves, hats, etc. is for the birds. If I could just live somewhere where it was always 70 degrees, that would be nice.

Sorry for my ramblings. It's just been on my mind and this does serve as my journal as well.

Family Pictures

So we had Cazee family pictures taken at the end of the summer. Laura, at Nice Shot Photography, took them. If anyone is in the Indy area and needs pictures taken, she does a great job. Anyway, I just got around to ordering them. These were some of my favorites.

Snow Day

Brooke's school was canceled today. Gee, I wonder why?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I know we did!! We left Big Rapids Wednesday morning and arrived in Indianapolis that afternoon. Wednesday evening I saw Twilight with Lauren and Robin (see post below). Thursday morning was the Turkey Bowl (again, see post below)and immediately following we left for the 1 hour drive to Bloomington to have dinner with Nathan's family. Brooke and Charlotte had lots of fun playing with their aunts. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show of our dinner or time in Bloomington. Friday, Grandma Asay agreed to watch our kids so we could go to the Temple. Grandma decided to take the girls, plus Robin's boys, Spenser, Cade, and Ty to the Indiana State Museum to ride the train and see Santa Claus. They had lots of fun and Grandma has some cute pictures. Hopefully she can figure out how to email them to us so we can put them on our blog. Friday night, Brooke went with her Aunt Jennifer to the lighting of the Christmas tree downtown and then back to her house to spend the night. She had a great time but I'm not so sure she got much sleep. Saturday morning we visited with family we hadn't seen yet like Grandma Benjamin and Derek, Jenny, Regan, and Brett who we missed on Thursday. We had a great time! Brooke is now ready to put up the Christmas decorations so we better get going!

Turkey Bowl

It has been a tradition for the last couple years, for my parents to host a Turkey Bowl in their backyard on Thanksgiving Day. A lot of guys from the ward come and bring friends. We've always thought they should do something with their backyard, like a trampoline or swimming pool, but then they wouldn't be able to have the Turkey Bowl! A great time was had by all. Nathan apparently designated himself MVP because he intercepted 3 passes. Sorry, I couldn't get pictures of that. It happened too fast!




Here's part of the cheering section: Taralee (who got engaged later that day. yay Taralee!!), Lauren, and Ellen.
Charlotte and Brooke enjoying some hot chocolate afterwards. The missionaries are in the background throwing the football around.

Sledding

We have had quite a bit of snow here in Big Rapids. And there is still more to come. We have a nice, big hill at our apartments to go sledding. I went with Brooke and our neighbor Landen last week to take some pictures. Some other kids had set up the ramp, which Landen loved! Brooke did not want to try, but loved going down the hill.