Big Hug

Mariposa

Click here to see Evie and Sophie sing their favorite lullaby, Lisa Loeb's Butterfly (Mariposa).


And click here to see Lisa Loeb sing it.

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas

Jingle Bells Misadventures

Enjoy my unsuccessful attempts to get the girls to sing "Jingle Bells" for your holiday pleasure.

Ready for the spelling bees

Welcome, Emma!

Hooray! Libby's baby sister Emma was born today! (After a few false starts...) Emma has excellent timing -- she chose to show up on lucky Aunt Joanna's birthday. Nicely done, Emma.

Emma is adorable, of course, as you can tell from the pics over at Libby's blog (looks like Libby has to share a whole lot of things now!). I, of course, forgot to bring the camera with me tonight, but I can assure you she's even more adorable in person.

And I totally knew she was going to be a girl.

(Here's the one camera phone pic I took of Emma. It doesn't really do her justice.)

Wheaton Christmas

We celebrated Christmas in Wheaton at Uncle Jon and Aunt Sarah's house tonight, along with David, Uncle Steve, Aunt Kim, Allison, Hilary, Lizzy, Laura, Katie, Grandpa Paul, and Grandma Barbara. A great time was had by all, and while the falling snow didn't help driving conditions, it added nicely to the seasonal spirit. (We forgot our camera, so many thanks to Aunt Kim for these great pictures!)

Laura, Katie, Allison with Evie, Lizzy, and Hilary with Sophie

Hilary, Lizzy, Allison with Evie, Grandpa Paul, Grandma Barbara, Laura, Airan with Sophie, and Katie

Prima Ballerina

Evie is the star of the show.

Sleeping Beauty

Cold + bad night of sleep + no nap =

Tuckered Out

Proof that Evie still needs her nap.

More Snow!

Organists Extraordinaire

Yet another music video from Evie and Sophie. Click here to check out how these little Mozarts instantly mastered Great-Grandpa Ed's organ (with a little help from Great-Grandpa).

Christmas Festivities in the Western 'Burbs

We had a busy day on Sunday! First, we met up with Great-Grandpa Ed and Carla in Wheaton for lunch at Old Country Buffet. Then we headed back to Great-Grandpa Ed's house, where we helped him decorate his Christmas tree and had a grand time playing his organ and dancing like ballerinas.

And speaking of ballerinas, our next stop was Aurora West High School, where we watched cousin Hilary dance in a wonderful production of The Nutcracker. The girls were entranced for nearly the entire two hours of dancing -- I think we have a couple of budding prima ballerinas on our hands.

Pony Ride

Our Favorite Things

More music from Evie and Sophie. Watch and listen as the girls jam and sing about their favorite things.

First Snow

Galumph. Galumph. Galumph.

Virtuoso

Click here to see Miss Sophia Mae's rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star."

(And to see just how far Sophie's "Twinkle" skills have progressed, check out this video from September 2006.)

Great-Grandma Mildred's 90th Birthday Bash

We spent Saturday afternoon at (Great-)Grandma Mildred's 90th birthday party in Rifle, Colorado. What a party! The family went all out, pulling together a simply amazing celebration of Grandma Mildred's life. And just the sheer number of family members in attendance could tell you what a fruitful life Grandma Mildred has had. I can't even count how many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren she has. (I tried, just now, but I got all confused and gave up.)

Airan, Sophie, Grandma Mildred, Evie, and Kelly


Uncle Dan with Sophie and Evie.


Sophie plays peek-a-boo with Uncle David


Evie and Sophie dance with Grandpa Rich.


Grandma with her kids: Betty, Rich, Skip, and Bobbie.


Serious girls.


Evie is kind of a momma's girl.


Evie and Sophie help themselves to the cookies.


Sophie and Emily attempt (not so successfully) to not disturb sleepy baby Stanley.


Girls, girls, girls! Sophie, Evie, Emily, and Mackenzie.

Good Times Out West

We're home from our adventure to Grandma and Grandpa Cron's house for Thanksgiving. Did we ever have fun! The trip was too short, to be sure, but we pack a lot into our visit.

Chasing bubbles from Roger's awesome bubble machine.


Ponies!


Mackenzie, Evie, and Uncle Mike get a good look at Opie.


Dad and Sophie consider Opie from a distance.


Evie holds baby Stanley, who's about as big as she is.


Hanging with the Bug clan.


Driving home -- Sophie is a little punchy by now.


Evie just wants out of her car seat.