Christmas 2013

We had a fantastic day today. We didn't get out of our PJs, we enjoyed each present that was opened (a process that lasted until 3 pm), and we are finishing the day with a great meal.

Below are some pictures from the gift opening process. I find it very difficult to enjoy a moment and simultaneously record it with a camera. Therefore, I chose to forgo an excessive number of shots and instead snap a few at the beginning and then sit back with my cup of coffee and enjoy.

I hope all of you (all four of you) that are reading this had a great holiday. We certainly did!

Checking out the Barbie "Glam Jet" that Santa left for her

Thanks, Santa! We now have every Barbie accessory known to man.

Putting together her Lego sets

Attempting to lose as many pieces as possible
while I try to put together her Lego set

I want to squeeze her cheeks in this picture!
She thanked me tonight for giving her the best
Christmas ever. She got me with that one ... she
should have asked for a pony right after. I
probably would have said yes!

Merry Christmas!

We're ready for Santa!

Annapolis Revisited

When we headed down to Annapolis for Thanksgiving, the kids had a chance to go swimming with a local instructor. They all had a great time, including Caroline who put her head under water for the first time. This is quite an accomplishment, and she kept saying, "I was so brave." It certainly helped that the instructor was basically dunking her head :-)

Snow Day!

Today we had a snow day and it was good for everyone. It was certainly good for me mentally - I spent all weekend at an away tournament, Steve was away all week at a conference, and the entire family wasn't really together until Monday evening. It was a long and stressful 8 or so days, and I admittedly was not handling it well. I was cranky and tired.

But enough about me. We woke up to no snow but a cancelation of school given the impending "storm." I use quotes here because it was only 4 inches, but around here that is a BIG DEAL.

Anyway, we headed out at 7 am to get breakfast supplies and to buy a tree. Then we came home, ate, watched some Christmas shows, played in the snow, decorated the tree, played in the snow again, and now we are all by the fire and relaxing. Here's to going back to work tomorrow refreshed!

Throwing snowballs at the snowman ... and eventually each other.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving Day we got on the train and headed to the Air and Space Museum in DC. A great time was had by all, and we finished the trip with lunch at McDonalds. The Soden ladies were certainly excited about this :-)

Waiting for food

Cousin Cate

Goose

Sweet Caroline

The whole crew on their way out the door. Interesting to compare it to last year ...

One Day

They will be very annoyed with us one day for the pictures we took of them in the tub, but come on, how precious is this?