Gigi's Visit

Angie was here to visit and to celebrate an early Thanksgiving and Christmas (Thanksmas). Olivia and Ethan just adore Angie and loved having an entire week to spend with her. Angie made sure to see the kids every day and they ate up all of the attention. Here is some of the excitement they showed upon her arrival and opening of some early Disney presents. At one point Ethan started doing a crazy jungle dance...












We had a nice dinner at Turk's with Grandpa, Grandma, Great grandpa & grandma Laug, Gigi, Chris and Marianne. It was great to see a locally owned establishment so busy on a week day night!











Olivia enjoyed having Gigi come with us to drop her off at school and show her the classroom. We were so excited to see Flat Olivia up on the wall with all of the pictures of her with Disney characters. Thanks Gigi! It really was wonderful to have Olivia and Ethan's favorite aunt participating in our little life, attending Story Time, picking Olivia up from school, going to Mars Hill, etc. We had a great time visiting with Karen and her two beautiful children, Kyle and Ella. The kids played so well together and it's always nice to have the kids grow closer with family.
Olivia at Story Time with some of her gifts from Gigi...












Four little monkeys jumping on the bed, until Mommy walked in...









Kissing cousins? Not if Ella has anything to say about it.











Nana took us for our now traditional dinner to Fricano's on the lake and Sweet Temptations in Grand Haven for ice cream. Yummy.










An early Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas celebration at Aunt Deb's has visions of sugar plums dancing in our children's heads! They are very anxious for Christmas, in fact, Ethan sees snow and calls it Christmas. What a fun time we had visiting with family! Olivia and Ethan got two new books from Great grandpa and grandma Weeber and a family gift card to Logan's (Ethan loves making a mess there). Grandpa Nave gave them money, always a fan favorite. Ethan loved playing with the new pool table and Olivia was enjoying it too (me three).











On Gigi's last night home we enjoyed a night in watching Tinker Bell, our new favorite movie.










We had such a wonderful time. The kids were exhausted from a busy week and sad to see Gigi leave. We can't wait to see her in Spring!

Trick or Treat!

Halloween week was filled with excitement. We had our weekly trip to Story Time at the library and Olivia dressed up for that...










Olivia's Preschool class had a Halloween party, which I took Ethan to. It was fun to stay with Olivia and help her with the crafts and centers. Ethan loved checking out the trucks and phones in the kitchen area. There were 4 Ariels in her class - Olivia's favorite princess right now.












Then, of course, was the actual day. We made our traditional rounds to Papa and Grammy's, Nana's, and Great-grandma Laug's. Grandma Mary and Marianne stopped by with a TON of goodies too!










We just could not believe the beautiful weather on Halloween night -or this, the following week. The kids were so excited on Halloween they were running up to doors and down the sidewalk. Ethan tripped a number of times, spilling his bucket - poor buddy. Sure never saw him pick up so quickly before. If only the toys all around our house were candy. Olivia was so sweet, after going up one side of the street and down the other (that took about an hour) she was ready to go home. Thank goodness, we have enough candy to last us until next year - if Mommy stays out of it.