Birthdays

Some of the Christmas craziness is brought on by four birthdays. At our house we say.... mom, Jesus, Jessica, Anika.  Whew.

This year, we woke up Christmas morning just a bit off. No one felt great, so Jesus' birthday coffee cake waited to be eaten until two days later, but it was still yummy.  Jessica had been sick two days prior, finally moving, talking and being part of the world on Christmas Eve morning. We had a wonderful Christmas day at our friends where the kids were once again spoiled. This year they received new gloves, mittens, facemasks and books.

On Carla's birthday, we went to church and then on to Grand Rapids to celebrate with Aunt Kathy. First some ice skating and then some supper and games.

There is never a dull or quiet moment when Jessica is around. Her eyes sparkle all the fun she brings into a room, often bouncy and singing. She is pretty sure she wants to be a famous singing pop star some day.....  And she quite obviously is still in the 'let's be as silly as possible for pictures' phase. She loves clam chowder and marshmallow brownies. Happy 10th little girl!

Anika is growing up. Its been fun to see her personality and sense of humor develop. She is creative, always seeing the possible beauty in garbage or leftover items. She decorated the lunch room for their Christmas concert this year. She takes pictures of strange views that turn out amazing. She paints for fun. She encourages her dad's jokes (WHY OH WHY). She loves to play the flute and can't wait to get her braces off. She likes baked potatoes and candy cane pie, although Aldi changed the recipe this year, and we ended up throwing it away, it was that gross! Happy 14th birthday!