Christmas with the Van Dam's

This year we celebrated Christmas with the Van Dams at the Drenthe Community Building. We had a wonderful pot luck. This year Aunt Mary was in charge of planning and she had some fun ideas for the evening. The table clothes were white paper so the kids could color on them during dinner or after. Here is Alysha trying to trace Papa's hand. She was having a lot of fun coloring. Heidi and Jayce Aunt Dawn, Holly, and CaseyAlysha and Skylar received cute remote control puppies from Grandma and Papa. They had so much fun dragging them around and playing with them all night long. Alysha with her cousin BradenAfter all the gifts were open Mary had planned a friendly, family competition. We were split into teams and each team had to decorate the team captain as an angel. Each team was given a bag filled with the following supplies: garland, toilet paper, tinsel, tin foil, and a crown.

Here is Grandpa Van Dam: Here is Wayne: Here is Denny: Here is Paul: Here is Marc:
Who would you have picked for the winner??? The judges were Jill and Grandma Van Dam and they picked Paul as the winner of this competition. The guys were all good sports and everyone had fun being creative!

Fun at the Mall

After we visited Santa we let the girls walk around the toys by the carousal. Here they are sitting my their favorite character at this time.....Mickey Mouse!Then we took them for their first ride on the carousel. Skylar HATED it and wanted nothing to do with it. Alysha on the other hand LOVED it. She is my animal lover.

Visiting Santa

With the help of my Dad and my sister, the girls were able to visit Santa this morning. Unfortunately, it did not go as good as last year. Skylar cried right away! Alysha saw Skylar crying and did not want her to be alone so she started bawling as well. The cool thing is, I think this is the same Santa that they visited last year. Maybe next year will go a little bit smoother.

Christmas with the DeVree's

Our Christmas Party was a bit different this year without my Grandpa. However, we all know that he is having the BEST Christmas party of his lifetime in Heaven!! Alysha and Skylar had a great time playing with their second cousins and playing with their new toys they received from their Great Grandma. My sister, Amber, and her daughter, Gwen. Me and my cousin, Jennifer David and Amber Heather with her daughter, Addalyn

First Time Playing in the Snow

Do you have any idea how long it took me to get two, 2 year olds ready to go outside??? FOREVER!!! They really didn't know what to think of the snow pants and getting them to wear boots for the first time was a challenge. But when they were finally dressed they looked so CUTE!! When we finally got outside the girls had a great time. We did not last long, but it was fun watching them discover snow!!

Alysha enjoying the snow! Skylar was a little more hesitant about checking out the snow.

Christmas Tea for Three

Skylar and Alysha has their first official tea party with Grandma Van Dam this morning. It was their first Christmas tea! Grandma showed up in a pretty green velvet dress with her pretty jewelry. The girls wore their pretty white Christmas outfits. The girls did not last long for the tea party, but they had a really good time! Grandma surprised them with a pretty charm bracelet. The first charm for their bracelet is a tea pot. Grandma hopes to keep adding to the charm bracelet each year for them. What a great tradition for the girls to enjoy!! And what a fun memory this will be for them in the years to come!

Daddy's Big Buck

I don't know who was more excited about the 16 point buck, the twins or Scot??
It will be interesting to see if Scot will be able to get a bigger buck than this one. And if so, how old the girls will be then.