Christmas morning

 Christmas cookies for Santa!

Look who arrived...

Tradition of waiting on the stairs of the BVR!  Carter was the first awake!

Charlie in his Tonka truck from Santa...holding on tight to his Sophia doll he asked for from Santa!

Trewet Christmas Highlights

Trewet After Dinner Drinks...GREAT FUN!

TREWET BOYS!

Lots of laughter..perfect Christmas gift!

JOY--the whole weekend--Cate and Charlie posing at the Christmas tree.

Chance and Carter--watch out!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters!

SANTA!

 Cate and Charlie went to see Santa and loved him!  Charlie asked for a "Sophia the First Doll" and Cate asked for more barbies. We were really surprised that Charlie wasn't scared of him but he hopped right up there!

There was a pretend grinch at the store as well that Sophia and Cate wanted to pose with.  We had a really fun night with the Digmann family going out for pizza and then doing the Holiday in Lights at Waterworks Park.  We had a blast!

Christmas tree

Decorating the Christmas tree is a fabulous family tradition.  Carter always has to put up Spider Man and the animal bells get more and more special every year.  Cate is holding a special airplane to remember Uncle Mitch that she put on the tree.

 

 

An all-time favorite photo of my 3 C's at Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Cate!

 (Pardon me...way behind on the blog...trying to get caught up!)

Cate had a really fun 5th birthday!  Here she is with her Just Like Me American Girl Doll!  She later got the name "Cupcake" 

For Cate's birthday she got to invite 5 friends to the beauty salon to get their hair, makeup and nails done.

Alyese, Cate, Sophia, Emerson and Isabell

Grandma Jane joined us for the party!

Birthday girls!!!

Beautiful baby doll all grown up at 5!

READ WITH LOVE

We just returned from Broadlawns where we donated books as a gift to remember Mamaw.  The books are amazing and the kids got to be part of the photo opportunity to honor her.  Each of the children visiting Broadlawns Family Health Center (which provides care to underserved population) will get one of these fabulous books.  The message on each of them is below.  Cate and Charlie had a blast and our hearts were truly touched and warmed by being able to give this gift in Betty's honor.  She read to each of her children and grandchildren with such a special love.  We hope to pass a bit of her love to others.  

Soccer Girl!

It about doesn't get any cuter than this! 

This is Cate's best friend Alyese.  They were adorable all season long.

I had to wait until later in the year to take pictures.  Let's just say that Cate significantly improved throughout the year from where she started!  Here is proof that she was able to kick the ball. 

 Started getting cold by the end of the season!

Cate got a "WAY TO GO!" award one of the final weekends.  She was VERY excited and I was VERY proud of her!  No colleges calling for a scholarship yet...next up...LITTLE DUNKERS...Cate has convinced her mom to coach.

Fall fun on the farm

We have already celebrated Thanksgiving with the Becker family.  We enjoyed a fun weekend with all the cousins joining in the fall harvest. 

Josiah, Charlie, Colton, Spencer, Avonell, Cate, Craig Alan

 

After the weekend was over, Cate and Charlie stayed with Grandma Jane and Papa while I worked in Nebraska.  Cate told me that she was going to ride in the combine "UNTIL MIDNIGHT" with Papa.  They both loved being with Papa in the combine, playing "famr" inside and Grandma Jane's movie nights.  

Night Eyes at the Zoo

We had lots of fun at the zoo with the Weeks family!

Charlie refused to put on his costume, but he still made a pretty cute "red man" 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Trick or Treat!

 

It looks like this mermaid has a crush on this fighter pilot!  Anthony (fighter pilot) and his sister Lauren took Cate to a Trunk or Treat at their school (where she will be going next year) to start off the Halloween fun.

NEIGHBORS: Kennedi, Cate, Anthony, Reagan

Riley, Lauren, Alex

It poured rain all day so we went and bought a pinata for all the kids.  Everyone had a blast!

Turned out that the rain stopped and it was a beautiful night to trick or treat.  Charlie wanted nothing to do with his costume (rocketship) the entire Halloween but these sweet neighbor boys convinced him to go with them for a little bit towards the end of the night.  He thought he was BIG stuff!

Happy Halloween!

 

What a fun week!  More pictures to come but wanted to post a few pumpkin photos! 

 (Cate picked this outfit out herself)

A day at the Omaha Zoo

Matt's company had their company outing and picnic today the Omaha Zoo!  The kids had a blast! 

Some of our favorite moments shared with Daddy were...

the polar bear...all the monkeys and gorillas...eating lunch with the sea lions...a real TRAIN...giraffes (always!)...awesome penguins...and lots of fish and sharks!

LOTS OF SMILES ALL DAY LONG!

Cate's first race!

I am not sure why I can't post vertical pictures tonight but wanted to post a couple posts from the Diva Dash.  Aunt Jodi, Mommy and Cate all ran!  Aunt Jodi had an AMAZING race and finished in WAY under 30 minutes getting 3rd in her age group!  Cate got 2nd in the Princess Dash and had lots of fun!