NYE 2014

New Years Eve we spent the evening together as a family having a "party" in our basement.  We brought in the New Year with our favorite people, what could be better?

our smorgasbord of every one's favorite snacks.  

Time to start the party! 

Things got crazy with lots of board games... the girls LOVE board games. 

they even get Daddy to play!

keeping them FOREVER.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Girl time

Lindsay and Peighton had some errands to do in Peoria, so we road along too, just to spend some time together.  Then, because Lindsay and I are suckers, the girls talked us into ice cream and manicures...  Sometimes those girls really know how to work us....

This was Ainsley's first time of getting her nails done and as you can guess, she loved it!

our fancy little girls <3 td="">

Christmas Night

Christmas Night at Grandma Sharon and Papa's. 

Good time, good food, good company, and a lot more spoiling going on!

The crazy grand kids!

Grandma Sharon, Papa and all the grand kids.

giving Grandma and Papa their gift.

I love watching these 2 :)

YAY! Ain got a life-like baby too! She named him Graham.

;) he's always up for a good time ;)

Chillin in her new bungee chair.  

Christmas Morning

This Christmas I tried something different with gifts. Each year I feel like I start buying in October and keep buying until Christmas eve, because I feel like I didn't buy enough, so I saw this idea on pinterest, and I thought it was great! The girls got 4 gifts: something they wanted, something they needed, something to read and something to wear.  It ended up working out really well & I think I'll keep this tradition up.

Holy Moly--Santa came!

Ains got a my-size Elsa!

Addysen's something to read - 3 new books.

Poor Ains... she doesn't need much because she gets all of Addysen's hand-me-downs. So her something she needs was Ovaltine - for our little chocolate milk lover!

Addysen's something to wear

Ainsley's something she wants - a frozen bed tent.

and their BIG gift! --  The girls were VERY surprised and shocked by this news.  Ainsley was not too happy when we first told her about it and wouldn't talk about it and would just change the subject. But once we told the girls that they were going to be sharing a room and getting bunk beds, they were both so excited! It took a little bit of time, but I think Ainsley is finally excited about being a big sister. 

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we hosted the Olson Christmas before church.  We ate yummy food, laughed, snuggled and had a good time:) And as always, Grandma K spoiled everyone!

The reveal of the first gift... a Barbie house for Ains!

Beados for Addysen

A piggy purse and piggy wallet for Ains.

A stuffie for Ains

Addysen got a new life-like baby.  She named her Charlotte.

it took 2 years, but I finally found a cute cookie jar for Mom.

I win daughter of the year for this gift:)

The new doll house, Ainsley LOVES it!

Tammy modeling our matching jammies

Morgy... She's the gifted one.

Christmas Eve service with matching outfits for their dolls.

Well, she made it though the service, but crashed on the way home.

When we got home the girls opened up their Christmas jammies and then it was lights out before Santa came.

Gingerbread Houses with the Higgy's

Friends that play together, craft together;)  I think the kids just love being together. Which works out pretty good for Lindsay and I, because it gives us a chance to hang out too.  Love that our kiddos are such good friends.

working hard to make the perfect house.

decorating and snacking

The finished product... They were so proud of their work!

Johnson Family Christmas

This year we had the Johnson family Christmas at the Lott house.  It was a full house of craziness and fun!

Addison after the silly string fight. I think she got hit...

Aunt Tammy giving out snuggles, as Lexi waits her turn;)

Lexi's turn for a snuggle.

This picture says a lot of different things.

nice!

The Johnson Sisters.

The sweet little kiddos.

best lady's gift!

Evan and Ains playing barbies after the presents are all open... love to watch them play!

Link Family Christmas Tree

We had another fun filled family day of shopping for a Christmas tree.  I think we walked about 20 miles looking for the perfect tree (that we did not find), but we found a tree that Addysen finally approved of. It may not have been the prettiest tree or a tee that I would have picked, but it was a fun day of family bonding.

tree hunting.

We found it!

you picked it Addysen, you haul it up the hill:)

draggin in our kill of the day... The closest we'll get to hunting:)

Ainsley got to put the star on.

Addysen said she needed to fix it:)