Christmas in Wisconsin

We arrived in Wisconsin on Dec 27 and stayed until the 31st.  We had such a nice time visiting with Jon's parents, as well as his sister and her family who traveled in from California.  Her little boys are 3 and 1, so the house was always buzzing :).  The big hit of the trip was the snow sledding.  Jon's dad built a little hill for the kids to sled down, and Olivia LOVED it!  She never wanted to come in, and I left her out there with Jon most times because I was too cold! Ha!

1st time out, just before dark:

Eating lollipops with cousins:

With Jake, ready to sled:

The best picture we could get of all 3 of them:

Ready to go:

With Grandpa:

Ready again:

Back inside, Olivia wanted to wear her Cinderella dress that Jenny and the boys gave her.  It is the cutest dress I've ever seen!

It wasn't long until we were back outside sledding:

"Oops!"

Jon's dad getting in on the fun: (He'll probably kill me for posting this! :))

Resting:

1st snow angel:

Taking a turn on a different sled:

Helping Grandpa shovel:

Olivia had SO much fun playing outside!  She loves the snow this year and can't get enough of it!!  We really enjoyed our stay and hated to see it end.  We're already looking forward to next time!

Future Fighting Irish?

On our way to Wisconsin, we stopped in South Bend, IN to walk around Jon's alma mater, Notre Dame.  He had been wanting to visit the campus for a while, and we decided this might be our last chance for a while.  It was neat to show Olivia where Jon went to school, and she hasn't stopped talking about the Irish since.  She loves singing the fight song, and she says she is going to school there when she grows up.  It was her first college campus visit, so we'll see....

Snow Day

We were supposed to drive to Wisconsin today for Christmas with Jon's family.  However, Mother Nature had other plans.  We have a blizzard warning and are expecting 6-12 inches of snow with high winds.  So, we decided to stay home another day and leave tomorrow.

Olivia was excited to play in the snow.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to build a snowman because the snow wouldn't stick together.  (She is obsessed with Frosty and sings it 20+ times per day... I'll try to get a video soon.)  That didn't stop her from playing in it and insisting that she wasn't cold and didn't need to go inside!

Eating a snowball:

With her buddies:

Merry Christmas!!!

Olivia was excited when she woke up on Christmas morning.  However, she wanted me to hold her hand going downstairs.  I think she was a little worried about the man in the red suit being down there.  Once she realized he wasn't there, she was eager to see what he left!

A drill!  (The one thing that she repeatedly asked Santa for!):

Wow... A dollhouse!:

Stocking time:

Cinderella's carriage:

After the excitement of presents, we had a breakfast of reindeer pancakes and candy cane fruit:

We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus, and we hope you did as well!