A Very Busy Christmas Eve

Our Finished Tree
Decorating Our Gingerbread House

Prepping for The New Swing Set "Helping" Daddy

Having a Blast (In the Playground Bark)

"Helping" With her Own Hammer

Enjoying the Mini Picnic Table

Having a Picnic with Jeff

Setting Cookies our for Santa

Pouring Milk for Santa

Saying Bye to Elf Steve...until Next Year!

Zoe had a very busy day today. We started by finishing up our gingerbread house. She even caught a mistake she made...she was lining up candies on the roof, then realized two were not in line with the rest, so she moved those two down to make them in line with the others.

Then Daddy and Jeff decided today would be the day to start setting up the swing set that Papa, YiaYia, Nana, and Uncle Todd got her for Christmas. She did not quite understand until they began unloading playground bark into the space for her swing set. That started the super excitement...Zoe "helped" spread the bark out, then put the clubhouse portion together with her hammer. She had a small picnic with Jeff and even climbed to the top before it was all put together. It is sturdy enough for her to do that, but she is always so hesitant that I didn't think she would even think about it. Well, I was definitely wrong. She climbed to the top with no problem and hung out at the top...she even took her baby up there to check it out. Hopefully, she will have a full set to play on in the next couple of days.

We had a small get together at Jeff and Wendy's tonight to exchange gifts with our neighbors. Zoe was able to open a few gifts and play. She got a very cute doll with jammies on and matching jammies for herself and a Mrs. Potato Head.

After that Zoe put the cookies and milk out for Santa, said good-bye to Elf Steve (Hopefully we will see Steve again next year :) ) and went to bed. She was very tired, but really wanted to fight it. Sleep won!!! It wasn't hard and now we are excited that Santa has visited. Zoe has a HUGE stocking and it is filled to the brim. We are very excited to see her reaction in the morning.

Zoe's Sister's Name...

So Shaun and I didn't really talk about names much, but one all of a sudden stuck. Her name will be....................................KYLEE MAE!!! Shaun surprised me with the spelling tonight, so I could not wait to share! Now the count down begins...less than 4 months to go and all the fun begins!

Another Unsuccessful Trip to Santa

Well...Zoe would not go anywhere near Santa even though she was so excited to leave the house to go see him. We tried every bribe in the book...candy, Barbies, toys, etc. It didn't work! Oh well! Maybe next year.

Anyways, the only way she would take a picture anywhere near Santa was to sit on Mommy's lap. Soooooooo to say the least, Mommy wasn't too thrilled to get dragged into Zoe's Santa pic. To all of you that get a copy of the pic, I guess you just have to deal with my smiling face in the pic too. Sorry! As we rounded the corner, she started to freak out a bit. We calmed her down, but she definitely understood that it was her turn next and wasn't having it. She cried a lot, so her silly little smile in the pics says it all. The poor thing was trying so hard not to cry and to smile because she had a lot on the line. It will be added to our classic stories of Santa visits.

Cutting Down our Christmas Tree

Cheese face...All decked out!


Hagle Tree Farm

"Are there any presents under this one?" "Nope."

Wheel Barrel Fun

Hide'N'Seek

Zoe was excited to pick out a tree this year and cut it down. It was so neat to the changes in her behavior toward the whole process between this year and last. She looked under plenty of trees for presents and kept moving because none of the darn trees had presents under them. She rode in the wheel barrel again this year and loved bumping around while she held on TIGHT. This year is was really chilly when we got our tree, so she got to wear her hat. Ever since our trip to Montana, she doesn't mind wearing her hat when it is cold. We found our tree and Zoe watched as Daddy cut it down.

Elf Steve

Elf Steve
Zoe's Advent Calendar

Elf Steve is such a great elf of Santa! We met Elf Steve on November 30th this year. Zoe was able to name him and he is going to be part of our Christmas traditions from now until forever...hopefully he can be passed down to Zoe's family, or her little sister's. Here is a little about Elf Steve...he is Santa's little helper that hangs out at our house during the day, then he goes back to the North Pole to help Santa and report back to him about Zoe's behavior at night. If she has been nice, he comes back the next morning and we find him in a new spot of our house. No matter where he is in the house, he is always on the lookout for Santa and he has great ears, so he hears conversations from very far away. We even have him on "speed dial" on our phones. Each morning, he brings Zoe another little present in her advent calendar, if she was good the day before. He has brought her so many neat things...finger puppets, princess figurines, princess polish, and princess tattoos. She is so happy to see him every morning and she makes sure to tell him "thank you" for her little gifts. She has even had a few conversations with him...it is pretty cute. She tells him to tell Santa she wants Barbies, Lalaloopsy dolls, and pink truck keys. I am sure Santa will pull through for her ;).

Thanksgiving in Montana

Papa, Great Aunt Linda, Daddy, and Zoe
YiaYia, Papa, and Zoe

Papa, Nona, Daddy, and Zoe

Nona and Zoe

First Time in the Snow

We have traveled so much this year. Although our trip to Montana for Thanksgiving was unplanned, it was such a great time with family. Shaun flew up on the Friday before Thanksgiving and Zoe and I flew up on Monday. Shaun took all of our luggage, so I just had Zoe and her backpack full of tricks for the airplane. The flight was about 2 hours, so not too bad. Now that I have had some time to wrap my preggo brain around that trip, she wasn't half bad. She was pretty good, then we flew home Friday and Shaun was with us. Zoe and I surprised Nona. She didn't know we were coming :). It was chilly, but not bad by the time Zoe and I got there. It had snowed right before we got there, so Zoe was able to play in the snow. She absolutely loved it! The cold did not bother her a bit! She would have played for hours if we would have let her. We had a great Thanksgiving and TONS of food!

A Tribute to Great Papa on Veteran's Day 2011

Dear Great Papa,

You were a great story teller and my Daddy loved to listen to all of your stories over the summers when he stayed with you. He thought you were Superman. Some of the best memories he had was riding around Havre on the bikes that you restored for him and his cousins. The stories about the family and things that you accomplished were the best every time he heard them. I really loved visiting with you when I came up to Montana. I'm very little still, but I am sure that your stories will live forever through my daddy. I love saying, "See you in the funny papers," as I go to bed. You will be missed, but ALWAYS remembered.

Love,
Zoe