Family (December 29 to January 4)

It was a week full of family.  First, an unexpected trip to be with my family.  Then, lots of days of just hanging out as a family with no school or work to take us away from each other.  Lots of sweet moments and memories to finish out the year and start a new one.

December 29:  It was a much colder day in Minnesota, so we spent a lot more time inside.  In cute sweaters.

Seriously cute sweaters.  Although Brenna wasn't feeling too great, so she was a bit of a sad puss.

Liam, on the other hand, was an awesome traveler who had a great time hanging out with family.

December 30:  The funeral for my grandfather took place in the morning, followed by supper in the church basement.  The menu included:  one "hot dish", buttered rolls, a cheese plate, some cookies, and 16 jello "salads.  Liam and Brenna ate a lot of red jello and the lunch I brought along for them.

Brenna was feeling a lot better and had a great time.

There was a lot of running and chasing.

After the meal, a bunch of relatives gathered at my great aunt and uncle's house, including my parents, Aunt Ann, and my mom's cousin Jan and her husband, Tom.

My whole immediate family was there, so we got a rare family picture and a sibling picture, too.

After everyone separated for the night, we stayed at Aunt Joyce and Uncle Burton's house.  Liam and Aunt Joyce played a card game.  They were too cute.

Brenna was back to feeling not great, so she opted for a snuggle instead.

December 31:  It was another cold day, but we headed back into the warm California sun.  It was great to be with extended family, but also great to go home.

January 1:  It was New Year's Day and most of the city was closed, but not the playground.  We were all pretty happy to be in the warm sunshine.

Liam has gotten more adventurous on the playground recently.

They both like to climb and slide.

And since they both weigh about the same, the seesaw is a pretty good piece of equipment to share.

This year, I decided I wouldn't force myself to take pictures and post about every day.  It feels a little strained some days.  And not so much changes day to day now that we have to toddlers, instead of babies.  And then in copying my photos from my laptop to our network storage, I accidentally and permanently deleted two days of photos - January 2 and 3.  So, I guess I'll start not posting about every day this week!

January 4:  I took the kids to the playground by myself for the firs time in a while.  Turns out, they're at this new magical age where you don't have to hover over both or either of them.  Brenna can climb up the stairs and slide down the slide alone.  And she loves it.

Liam can climb up to the top of this pole and slide all the way down all on his own, too.

I can usually convince them to come play on the same part of the playground, too.

We had a great morning together, the three of us.

And the weather was pretty nice, too.