Late Christmas

We celebrated Christmas at our house a little later than usual since we were in Montana on the 25th.

In awe.

New shovel. Old broom.

4 years, 2 months & 1 year, 11 months

Dad almost forgot to take monthly pictures today, so we apologize to our readers who were expecting a monthly update this morning!

The first shot Dad took was almost perfect, but Keillor was goofing around.

Keillor still not paying attention.

By the time Keillor was ready to go, John was done.

We got home late last night from our Christmas trip to Montana! John and I were both great travelers. We had some turbulence upon landing last night and I really enjoyed that. Of course that's when Johnny decided to fall asleep!

We mentioned the possibility last month and we can now confirm it. John will be getting tubes in his ears just like his big sister. His surgery is scheduled for January 10th. He's experiencing about a 30% hearing loss in both ears due to fluid that just won't drain out of either ear. While he's under anesthesia, the doctor will also do a more thorough hearing screening that requires a person to hold very still. 

Dad took John to his pre-op appointment this afternoon and since it's only a month until his 2-year birthday, they also did his 2-year checkup. He's a healthy and happy kid and the nurse was super impressed with his ability to listen and follow instructions.

We're currently on break from school and it's been action packed. My vacation started with my first ever sleepover. Mom dropped me off at Gael's house last Wednesday and picked me up on Thursday morning! I had a blast. I did wake up briefly in the middle of the night, but Gael's Mom was super nice and helped me get back to sleep. 

From Saturday through Wednesday, we were at Grandpa Rick and Grandma Candy's house in Montana. Brian, Allison, Emmy, Ben and Baby Oliver were there, too. Super fun, especially with record amounts of snow. 

And tomorrow Grandma Linda arrives! She plans on staying until John's ear tube surgery on the 10th. 

We made our annual trip the the Nutcracker a couple weeks ago. This was our third year in a row and the first year that we stayed for the entire show. 

The other big news is that tonight is my first night in a big bed. For months I'd been asking Santa to bring a big bed for Christmas and it was waiting at the house when we got home last night! As in past years, gift opening took all day because we wanted to play with things as we opened them!

Dad is posting this after we're already in bed, so I don't get to answer my silly monthly questions this month!

Say cheese

Posing for pictures in Grandpa and Grandma's living room.

Airplane

We woke up early on Saturday morning for our flight to Montana! We were very good travelers and the only issue we encountered was a bit of snow when we arrived in Hamilton. In fact, Grandpa and Grandma's neighbor had to help our rental car up the snowy hill with his ATV!

Testing headphones the night before the trip.

Watching our plane get ready.

On the plane. 

It was a smaller plane with only two seats on each side of the aisle, so Mom and Dad switched seats at the halfway point.

Goofing around with selfies on the plane.

Presents

Opening presents at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Lots of Star Wars stuff this year.

Cars and trucks for this one.

Cousins!

Christmas morning in Montana

Christmas pageant

Shepherd, Angel and Wise Man.

Potato peel

"What's that?"

"Do you see that, Sis?"

"Johnny, it's just a bit of potato peel. It's fine."

"Tess! I think it's a piece of potato peel. It's probably fine."

Lefse

John joined in on the fun for this year's lefse making party with Erin! He even got dibs on the apron, but still earned a bath after the whole process. I was focused and would have kept on going if bedtime hadn't got in the way.

Flouring the rolling board.

Flouring the rolling pin.

Rolling!

Focused on the technique.

Someone got too close to John.

Enjoying the results!

Bath time.

Winterfest portraits

A couple more shots from our Winterfest family night last week.

Winterfest

Last Thursday was our annual Winterfest family night at school. Regular family nights are always fun, but this one was extra special with five stations of winter-related activities!

John with his former teacher, Yuliya.

Favorite Christmas song

Brushing

Dad started both of us brushing our teeth the other morning, then walked away to the other room. Typically, I stand on the step stool and John sits outside the bathroom to brush teeth. But on this particular morning, Dad heard, "What's that? You want to sit on the rug? Sure, I'll sit on the rug with you."

Then Dad came back to find two tooth-brushing buddies:

Keeping busy

Proud of his work!
 

Tipping!