Happy New Year's Eve!

We have been kinda quiet this week on the blogging front.  We had such a marathon of blogging on Christmas that we had to take a break! :)  This week we have been visiting friends, drinking hot cocoa (as shown in the above picture), enjoying the snow and enjoying a mellow work week for Marc.  We can't believe that it is almost 2011!  WOW! 2010 has been an exciting year and we have been very blessed!!!  Check back to see how we bring in the New Year!  Have a wonderful New Year's Eve!!

Christmas part 4...the finale

 We got the kiddos all dressed up for dinner.  Isaac LOVES his sisters!

 He is such a great big brother and is already giving his sisters advice.  They love him too and are always smiling at him. 

 Isabella was needing some love so Isaac and Ava got a little time together.

 Here is our Dining room all ready to go for dinner.  I was trying to get a picture with the candles lit but I am not sure I captured it...I am not the best photographer (Marc says I can blame it on the camera) !

 Isaac knows the computer is for talking to people so he likes to look at it sometimes to see if anyone is there. :)

Isaac did really well smiling at the camera when he was with his sister's but by himself it was a no-go.  This is after the girls went to bed and Marc & Isaac were sitting in front of the fire. 

 We leave you with the last stanza of our favorite Christmas carol:

"Silent night, holy night

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth"

Merry Christmas!

The ballerinas...Christmas part 3

Aunt Brenda got these cutie patootie ballerina outfits for the girls.  They looked soooo cute and I was having a hard time picking pictures so there is a whole bunch of them. Enjoy....  

 Isabella enjoyes the bumbo.  Here she is in her crib. I will have to show pictures soon of their room. 

 Ava hanging out on the floor.

Christmas Part 2

 Here are the kiddos just chillin' out after we unwrapped gifts.

 Isabella and Ava were enjoying playing with the wrapping paper.  Which reminded us of the picture we took on Isaac's 1st Christmas with the wrapping paper.  So here you go...

Here it is!  A little flashback from the past.  Can you believe that this was 2 years ago??!! (Your eyes don't fool you...we even had the some of the same wrapping paper, I guess it was a large roll)

The girls were worn out from all the playing and soon it was time for a little food and then off for naps!  We had a little "dress up" after naps so check back... 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

First of all Merry Christmas!  We hope your day is filled with love & laughter!  We are missing our families today and we want you to know how much we love you and how much we have thought about you today!  We hope you enjoy our Christmas pics and we hope they make you feel part of our day!

Here is part 1 of the pictures.  Here is our Christmas morning...the girls woke up in great moods and were enjoying their playmat.

 Marc made Blena (*a pancake that is a Shafer family tradition) and Isaac was enjoying every bite!  *Almost every day Isaac goes into Marc's closet and grabs a new hat to wear.  He chose a red one today.  

 Marc got this piano when he lived in Germany and it has been in storage the last few years as it didn't fit into either of our Kansas houses.  Isaac has been playing it the last few days and it is fun to hear it make music again...although his "playing" isn't much more than pounding on a few keys but I think he may be a future player. :)

 Isaac was holding Isabella on the couch.

 We tried a few shots in the Christmas PJ's and they were all about like this. :)  Ava is trying to protect her head from Isaac! 

 Opening the first gift.  It was from Uncle Doug, Aunt Victoria, Cameron and Anna and was a super cool bath toy...thank you!

 Isaac was soooo excited about his "gold coin" chocolates from Grandpa & Grandma Shafer....thank you!!

 We got the girls bibs and I think they were digging them!

Isaac in his new dinosaur hat.

More pics to come!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Merry Christmas Eve! This little guy is throwing a snow ball at you! 

 We took our landlords/neighbors a pecan pie and here are the little elfs that came with us to drop it off  (that is snow in front of Marc's mouth & doesn't Isabella look super serious?! ).  Our landlords told us this is the most snow that they have seen in 20 years and our friends tonight told us that it is only the 5th white Christmas in 100 years!

 Here is a happy Isabella.  We did end up going to our friends house tonight and it was fun to get out and see all the snow and to enjoy being around new friends on Christmas eve!

Ava was all smiles all night. I think she loves being around people!!  She woke up when we got home from our friends house but Isaac & Isabella stayed asleep and went right to bed.  Ava is now asleep and we are looking forward to Christmas tomorrow.  Our Christmas gift to you is lots of pictures so check back tomorrow for more fun!

Baby it's cold outside...

It's so cold and snowy that we just found out that the Christmas Eve service at Church is cancelled tonight!!  It is a perfect day to enjoy all the snow, turn on the fire, have some cocoa and eat some of the Christmas baking I have done (which is a feat with a oven that is only 12" wide).  I made Paula Deans Grandmother's Red Velvet cake to share with friends tonight but since we may not be going out it may be tried out this afternoon. :)  Here are a couple of picutes and a little video of Isaac and I throwing snowballs the other day.

Here's a couple of pictures of the girls (or candy canes) chilling out on the floor.

 Don't they look sooo cute with their striped stockings?

Look at those cute legs! 

This a a picture from when we woke up this morning.  I love having all this snow around Christmas!  What fun memories of our first Christmas in the Netherlands. Check back for some Christmas greetings.  We may not be able to go anywhere but we have to show off the kids Christmas outfits.  Well, Marc and Isaac are going to go outside to shovel & play so I will get some more pictures...

Dancer man...

Check out Isaac dancing!  I had put on a Keith Urban CD and the next thing I know Isaac was dancing all over the place...I love it!!  Please excuse the fact that I missed Ava's face...it was hard to tell where I was aiming. :)

Our day...

There are few things that cross cultural divides like McDonalds! I think every country I have been to has one.  There maybe be a few different things on the menu but the fries never change and on a day that you may want a little bit of the familiar then it is off to eat some fries! It was really cold yesterday and not really a great day to be out but we had been home ALL day Monday which is our routine...Marc and I are sharing a car so on Mon. & Fri. he takes the car and then I get it Tues.-Thurs  (he takes the train to work and then I often pick him up) It seems to be working for now.  Isaac's pre-school is out for the next 3 weeks.  It is great that they have a nice long break but he just started 3 weeks ago so we were just getting into a routine.  After spending Monday home and half the day Tues.  it was soooo time to get out of the house...so off we went! :) The McFlurry was calling our name! 

 We did also have some nuggets & juice.  The only pics of Isaac I can get these days is when he is not looking at the camera.

 Ava was "snug as a bug in a rug" in her car seat. 

Oh, it's the little things in life right now...the McD's had sliding doors for it's entry...that is rare here in the Netherlands. My double stroller is like a bus, so I was enjoying not hitting anyone trying to get through the doors!

Isabella was playing with the toys on her car seat.  Those toys have been great...thanks Aunt Jean!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...

So here is a little peek at our tree and some special decorations!    I did the decorations after the kiddos went to bed...I look forward to when they can help but right now it is more fun to surprise Isaac by turning on the lights of the already decorated tree and hear him say "ohhhh".  

The picture above is a gift from my super talented Mom!  She made this wonderful tree quilt for me and also one for my sister!  The beige fabric sparkles and I love having it hung up...Thanks so much Mom!!!

 Another view...it is hung up in our Dining room above our hutch.

 You can turn your head all sorts of ways and you might think it is you but rest assured the tree is a funny looking one!! Before I tell the tale of this tree I have to do a shout out to Grandpa Norm, Grandma June, Uncle Jon & Uncle Erik...nothing will compare to the "tree" we had last year in Jackson...from Marc and Grandpa Norm combing the forest in the freezing cold to the decorations none will compare.:) Back to our tree adventure this year we had about 2 options of trees available that were potted (we wanted to go green this year) and option 1 was "kinda ugly" and option 2 "very ugly"...so we went with "very ugly"... we had to help the poor guy out!  After some trimming and placing some ornaments in very strategic places it turned out pretty "cute ugly." It is a small tree placed up high so little hands can't reach the ornaments.  Funny story about Isaac is that he LOVES to put things away...I love it!  But he puts EVERYTHING away from dirty forks back in the silverware drawer where the forks belong to cups with milk in them back to the cupboard where the cups are.  He is so cute about it but I knew he would take half the ornaments down and put them back in the boxes, in the cupboard where they "belong." :)

Can you find what is missing from this picture?  Check back tomorrow for  pictures of the kiddos and our adventure today...they are as cute as ever!! :) 

Christmas Tree Hunt

This is our backyard and all the snow we got on Sunday!  This post has LOTS of pictures of our tree adventure...
We decided to go Christmas tree shopping after Church yesterday. It started snowing on the way home and it just felt right to be out looking for a tree.  I haven't been that excited to decorate for Christmas (which is sooo unlike me) but I think it is because we JUST moved here and I am still getting the house set up and to decorate for Christmas just seemed like A LOT!  I think the snow helped us all to get into the spirit although it has been snowing off and on for weeks now but yesterday there was a lot of snow so it really felt like a winter wonderland! Our Dutch neighbors told us it usually doesn't snow this much!  

Really, do we have to say anything...  

This was the 1st  Christmas tree lot we checked out!  Anyone say "Griswald Christmas"!?

Check out the castle we saw on our way home...Dorothy, we aren't in Kansas anymore! (I mean we REALLY aren't)

How about some sheep.  Those poor guys were getting covered with the white stuff!

A sweet car moment...Isaac is not much of a cuddler but every once in a while he will do something sweet like grab my hand and hold it!

Here we are at our next tree shop...it had a large indoor area and was warm!  Here is sweet Isabella sitting in the cart...she can sit up so well!   

Here I am coming into the store with Ava. Both the girls had the cutest hats that Uncle Doug & Aunt Victoria got them when they went to San Francisco a couple of months ago....Thank you!

The other part of the cart had a car for Isaac to play in....he was loving it!

Marc and the kiddos in the store with a little tree we picked out.  We picked out a bigger one too but you will have to wait for the big reveal.  Oh, Isaac would not look at the camera!  

Marc and his sweet girls!  Check back for pics of our decorations.  Grandma Nadine you aren't going to want to miss this! :)