December, part 1

For some reason I can't find my pictures from the end of December (frustrating!!!), but I'll leave you with a few that I found.  I don't remember why we were up in Madison, and maybe this picture was even out of order (from Thanksgiving, maybe?) but it was too cute not to post!  Anni and her beloved Oma.

Auntie Sheila always gets a lot of 'help' from Annika washing dishes.  She got so wet that she had to borrow one of Sheila's shirts to stay warm-ish!

My sister-in-laws and father-in-law convinced me to get my first pair of skinny jeans.  It's taken me a while, but I'm getting used to them!

We made Christmas cookies several times with Auntie Sheila.  Sheila was a cooking-making-machine in 2013!

Finally our trips to the grocery store have become more enjoyable, all thanks to Kroger's fantastic car-carts.  They are a bear to push around, but the girls stay happy for most of the trip!

A trip to Bloomington wouldn't be complete without a visit to Coffee Hound.  

Another Menards tree this year!  We heard that the local tree farm was completely out of trees due to the summer heat, so we decided to go cheap with a hardware store tree.  The girls didn't notice the difference.

My friend, Jessey, and I decided to try our hand at making homemade vanilla.  Vodka, split vanilla beans, and fun thrift store bottles made for great Christmas gifts!

Early in December we celebrated the Beutel birthdays.  Elena begged to have Nora overnight, and who could resist those cuties?!

Elena's big gift from Grandma was a Schleich elf house, complete with many elf and unicorn friends.  The girls love it!

Later on in the month we made Christmas cookies for Elena to take to preschool on her birthday.  She was very proud of her decorating skills.

And Oma was ever so wonderful and drove down to surprise Elena on her birthday!  She showed up to pick up Elena from preschool and gave her the surprise of her life!  

Aunt Mary made Elena the most adorable cake : )

PRESENTS!

And snow... at the time were so delighted.  Now, as I write this blog post in February, I can't wait for it to go away!

Nate and I went on a date to see Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Eastlight Theatre.  We had a really fun time!

And then, I took Elena to see the Nutcracker for the first time!!!  She was thrilled, though a bit confused as to why no one was talking up on stage.  Ha!  

And who else would show up but Aunt Mary and Nora!  The cousins sat together in one chair for the second half.  I just love being girly with my little ladies.  Tea parties and ballet.  Bring it on!