Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We were so happy to have you here for your first Christmas Eve. We had so much that we wanted to share with you! Taking you to church on Christmas Eve was wonderful!

Here you are helping Gigi open one of her gifts.

Here are all the lovely ladies after church. Look how pretty you look in that cute dress!
Here you are posing with Mallory and Grunkle!

Gigi always buys everyone new pajamas for Christmas Eve. Here you all are modeling the new PJ's

This is the traditional archway picture. Your Great Grandpa Ken started this tradition when Grunkle and I were little. He would take a picture of us entering the living room and seeing the Christmas gifts under the tree for the first time. Grandpa and I always took a picture of your mama and Aunt Alissa in the doorway, too each Christmas morning. The tradition continues...

Here you are posing with Uncle Chedda who is wearing the scarf from Ethiopia and Aunt Alissa. We said he looked a bit like Mary with that scarf on his head.

Here you are helping Aunt Alissa and Mallory make the yummy doughnut holes for our annual Christmas Day brunch. You loved these doughnut holes just as much as the rest of us do.

Here you are being very silly. You are wearing on of the shirts I gave you on your head! The other one you are wearing is from me, tooHere you are in the new dress that Grandpa and I got you for Christmas. It had a cute little fur collar, but you didn't like to wear that!

It was a very fun Christmas!
There is something special about having a little one at Christmas!

Celebrating Mallory's sweet 16 and your 2nd Birthdays - December 12 - 14, 2008

Happy Birthday to these two lovely ladies! We had a weekend long celebration for both of them!

This picture was taken at your first Basketball game at Watertown High School where you went to watch Mallory cheer.

Here you are opening one of your birthday gifts. You love to tear into the paper! Inside this big box was the gift from us, Gigi, Mal, and Grunkle. It was the Fischer Price Nativity Set along with the Bethlehem scene and the Wise Men scene. I hope that each Christmas when your mama and papa get this set out for you, you will remember all of us who gave it to you and you will also remember the best Christmas gift ever-Jesus!

Here you are practicing for your birthday party. You learned very quickly how to blow the horns and you enjoyed your Elmo hat, too.

Here you are with Gigi sitting on the toilet, brushing your teeth. You love to brush your teeth with Gigi because she lets you use a lot of water!

Grandpa and I bought you this new sled so you could enjoy the winter snow. You had so much fun going down the little hill in our backyard. You are wearing Alissa's snowsuit from all those years ago.

This is the little blue car that we bought for Alissa when she turned three. We bought you the little lawn chair and are looking forward to summer days when we can sit with you in our lawnchairs and enjoy one another's company.

Grandpa, you, and Mimi are sharing a birthday dance. You have danced many times with your grandpa and always seem to enjoy yourself.

Here you are helping Mallory open her present-a new wii! I think you were both pretty excited!
You spent a lot of time sitting with Grandpa and me at the bar. You will spend lots of time in our basement in the years to come. It was one of your great grandpa Ken's favorite spots in the house and we enjoy being down there, too.

Happy Birthday to our precious little Tizita! Here is your special little cake! It was a very fun weekend and we all enjoyed celebrating you and Mallory! We look forward to many more happy birthday parties!

A Thanksgiving Visit to Oshkosh - November 28 - 29, 2008

We were not able to spend actual Thanksgiving Day with you, but we headed up to Oshkosh on Friday and stayed until Saturday. It was another fantastic weekend. We just love watching you learn so many new things. You are truly an amazing little girl and we just love you so much!

Here is Grandma in one of the tubes that we set up to crawl through. It was tough for me to get through the tubes, but you had not trouble at all.

See how easy it was for you!

Here we are in our little tent that we made in your playroom. I remember your mama and Aunt Alissa had so much fun in the tents that I made for them.
I asked you mama to put your cute little Grandpa's sweetheart outfit on you for one last time. It was amazing how much you had grown since we first met you!

Here is Aunt Alissa joining you in your tent.

This is the jumper that Aunt Alissa wore for Christmas one year. Your mama had the same jumper but it was too big for you. You are playing with a little spice bottle I brought along for you. It was your favorite toy of the weekend. You and Aunt Alissa are putting cashews in the little bottle right now.

Your mama made some yummy bars for us that day and here you are licking the batter, yummy! You are just like your grandma. I love to lick the batter, too. I bought you all of your cute tights, too.

Here you are sitting in your mimi's stroller while I give you a ride. Silly girl!

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Even though we didn't get to share your first Thanksgiving turkey with you we still had another fun filled two days!

The Hurtgen twins and Meghan visit Tizita - Nov. 22, 2008

This is Aunt Alissa's snowsuit which is 28 years old and looks so good on you.

Here I am giving you a flying ride. You were laughing so hard!

You, Jacob, and Calvin had so much fun on the bed in the guestroom. You had just thrown a book off the bed and you all thought it was just so funny! Goofy kids!
It was fun to be able to introduce you to my friends Lynne and Melissa and to watch you interact with Jacob, Calvin, and Meghan.
I know we will have lots more good times with them in the future.

And she finally visits us in Watertown - November 14-16, 2008

We were just so excited to have you visiting us in Watertown for the first time. I had moved many of your toys up to the middle room and you enjoyed playing with all of them. It was such a great weekend. We were very proud to take you to church with us, too!

You had so much fun with Gigi in the bathroom. You especially liked the toilet paper and brushing your teeth with Gigi.

I bought you a little booster seat so you could eat with us at the table. I also bought you a little Dora dish, spoon, fork, and sippy cup. We had KFC and you really enjoyed it. Like mother, like daughter, like grandma-we all love KFC!

Here you are just chillin' on our pull out couch which is where Grandpa and I sleep when you come to visit. We let you and your mama and papa sleep in our big king sized bed.

You had so much fun with Grandpa and your washing machine. He would make it dance all around and you thought that was so much funny. You would keep saying "Again."

You really enjoyed looking over the top of the shower in both of our bathrooms.
We know this is just the first of many visits to Watertown for you. We have so many things to share with you here!

Gigi's 80th birthday and we are celebrating - Novermber 2-3, 2008

You always enjoy looking through Gigi's purse. Here you are checking out some of her treasures.

We brought you this little birthday cake that plays Happy Birthday. You have had so much fun playing that little tune for everyone's birthdays.

Happy Birthday Gigi!

At the motel you had so much fun pulling all the tissues out of the tissue holder by the sink. You didn't quit until they were all out and on the floor.
You had a lot of fun swimming in the hotel pool with mama, Aunt Alissa, and Mallory.

At Vitale's Restaurant celebrating Gigi's birthday.

Here we are at the restaurant having some fun!

Helping Gigi open her goodie box.
You enjoyed tearing the paper off the goodie box. I guess Uncle Chedda and Aunt Alissa didn't realize you are not supposed to tear the paper off the box!

Here you are modeling your new dress from Mallory, Grunkle, and Pam. Such a pretty girl!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating Gigi's 80th birthday. We came up on Saturday and stayed overnight in a nice motel that had a indoor pool where you swam. We all went out to eat at Vitale's, had cake, opened the goody box, played guitar hero, and sang happy birthday.
You helped to make Gigi's birthday very special for her.

Old friends and a fun visit - October 25, 2008

We are having one of many tea parties at your little table. Notice how I hardly fit on the little chair! I am looking forward to many, many more tea parties with you.

This was a very special time for me because you actually would sit on my lap and were very comfortable doing it.

Here are the happy grandparents!

Grandpa and I had so much fun at the park with you again. Here you are riding on your favorite teeter totter.
This was a very special day for us. Connie has been my friend since Kindergarten. We have been through lots of good and bad times together. Someday you will have a friend like that and you will know how nice it is. Our family spent lots of weekends in Wausau with the Dobbratz family. Courtney and Alissa always had fun with Sarah and Nathan so it makes my heart happy to know that Sarah and Courtney have reconnected and now we are on our third generation as you and Aidan get to know one another, too.