Weekend Update 1-23

Our last couple weeks have been packed full!  We were out of school last Monday so we spent the day at Granny Conner's house harassing Patrick, playing Pie Face with Granny, Aunt Ruthie, and Levi, and playing under the table in the kitchen with our cousins!  It was the first Monday we've all been together for a while, so it was a blast!!  The icing on the cake was when Granny and Aunt Ruthie got "PIE FACED!"  We laughed so hard!!
Much of the week was also spent getting ready for Lynley's first Science Fair at school!  She really wanted to be a part of the science fair, so Grandpa Joe helped her think of a good question.  What Color Candle Burns Faster?  Lynley hypothesized that white candles would burn faster because they don't have the colored dyes in them.  So she did three experiments and discovered that white candles DO burn faster!!  Maybe it has something to do with the dyes.  She made her board and a journal, and the Science Fair was Thursday night at school.
Lynley had quite the cheering section that night!  Grandpa Joe, Grammy, Grandma Dee, Grandma Donna and Grandpa Dave, Uncle Adam, Aunt Christy and Isaac ALL came to check out her project!  She was so happy to see everyone there and to show her work.  She won an Honorable Mention, complete with ribbon, and was really pleased!!  We celebrated with Dairy Queen when it was all finished!
Thursday was also the 100th day of school!  Myla had a celebration at school and she said it was fabulous!  She made a celebration hat and they did all kinds of 100 activities!  Her favorite was the 100 day snack...she picked out 100 things to snack on!
Friday Lynley went to her first birthday party with friends that mommy or daddy didn't stay to be a part of.  It was tough on mommy, but Lynley was bouncing off the walls she was so excited.  It was a Cosmic Bowl party and she had a blast!  Myla went to a movie night at school (again, without mommy or daddy).  Both girls had big social calendars that night, and daddy and mommy weren't quite sure how to handle it!
Saturday both girls decided to get hair cuts.  They've gone much shorter, but both picked out exactly what they wanted and really like the end results!!  And of course, this editor thinks they look adorable!
Today was another wonderful day!  We spent the morning at church and then headed to Marion to spend the afternoon with Grandma Donna and Grandpa Dave.  We had a yummy lunch!  It was so pretty outside that Grandpa was able to grill!!  Myla and Lynley were both there to assist with the spray bottle!  After lunch Grandpa and Grandma played Pie Face with the girls and then Grandma and Myla played a serious game of Sorry while the football game was on.
It has been a really fun couple of weeks!  We are enjoying 2017 as much as possible and looking forward to another crazy week ahead!

Back to the Grind and First Weekend of 2017

It was hard to go back to school and work this week!   We worked and schooled a couple of days and then enjoyed a couple of p.j. days because this first full weekend of 2017 was very cold!! Because we wanted to stay in and stay warm, we decided to play some games, sing some karaoke, and check out our new Disney game for the xbox.  We did venture out for church and to the grocery, but it was so nice just to play most of our weekend away!!

A Few Extra 2016 Pictures

We found a few other good pictures from 2016 that were too good not to share!

Christmas 2016

We say it every year, but it is always true!  We are so blessed!!  Our Christmas was an amazing time filled with family and celebrating the birth of Jesus.  We were able to spread our holiday out over a few days in order to spend more time with everyone and it worked out well.  We kicked off our holiday by hosting a Christmas Carol night at our house.  It was really fun!  Everyone who was able came over to enjoy some snacks and sing Christmas carols with Grandma at the piano.  It really put us in the Christmas mood!!
 We started our family visits by going to see Grandpa Joe, Grammy and G.G. Mary.  We had a great time catching up with them.  Lynley was super excited about the rocks and minerals collection that Grandpa Joe made for her.  That is right up her alley!  It was also good to talk with G.G. Mary.  She as having a good day.  It is always nice to hear what Grandpa Joe and Grammy are up to now that they are both retired!
That night we had dinner with Uncle Lawrence and his family and Grandma at our house.  We had a good meal and then opened presents and played.  It was different this year, but we sure did enjoy our time together.  We cousins know how to play and have a great time!!
Christmas Eve we had dinner at Granny's house for our Conner Christmas.  Each year brings new cousins to play with and it is amazing that no matter how big the family gets, Granny's house has plenty of room for us all to fit AND for the cousins to get a game of hide and seek in!  This year was also super special because our WHOLE family got to be there at the same time for a while.  That hasn't been able to happen for a long time...but we all made it this year!  We even got to meet our newest cousin, Ethan.
Christmas Day we woke up to see what Santa brought and to open presents.  This was the first year Lynley got up without having mommy and daddy get her.  Myla still had to be coaxed out of bed, but she was bright eyed in no time!  We had breakfast together after presents and then headed to church.  Later in the afternoon we went to Uncle Greg and Aunt Debbie's house for our Sorrell Christmas.  We were so excited to play with Isaac AND to see Roni!!  This was Roni's first Christmas and we were so glad we got to see her!  We had a fabulous time playing, opening gifts and eating a wonderful dinner!!
Christmas evening we went to visit with Grandpa Max, Grandma Doris and Uncle Jimmy.  There were desserts to be had and we were very glad Grandpa Max was feeling up to the visit!  He had been sick and in the hospital just a few days prior.  We always like talking to Uncle Jimmy and Grandma about rock collections and Grandma's many bunnies.  We helped feed the cats and filled everyone in on all the things we'd been doing over the last couple of weeks.  We had such a nice visit and it was a relaxing way to end an eventful day!
The next morning we got up and headed to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Donna's house.  We had some of our favorite things for breakfast, all made by grandma...breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls!!  Once our bellies were full we got to open stockings and presents!  It is always crazy how Santa knows to leave stockings for all of us in Marion!!  It is also crazy that after several days of being on the go, the Douglas Darlings and Isaac had enough energy to play the afternoon away!!!  Our Christmas visits ended with another mouthwatering meal made by Grandma Donna and lots of hugs!
So see, when we say we are blessed it is easy to see what we mean!