Christmas Eve Tea Party

With the whole Foote side of the family in Ames for Christmas, we needed to plan a few things outside of my parents 3 bedroom townhouse! We took the girl cousins over to our good friend, Diane's house for a special Christmas Eve tea party, complete with hot chocolate with LOTS of whipped cream. Diane had a room and table all decorated up (as she does best) for the event. The girls all got dressed in their Christmas dresses and sat at the little girl table and ate cookies and drank hot chocolate to their heart's content. They all absolutely loved it. It was a very cute site to see.

Papa's Surprise Visit

Craig's dad called us and asked how far it was from St. Cloud, MN to Ames. Craig said about 4 1/2 or 5 hours. So...in 4 1/2 or 5 hours we had a visit from him. Just a few days before Christmas, in time to deliver the Christmas presents in person. He got to our house at 9:30pm, went to a movie with Craig that night, spent the night, went sledding with Annika, hit up Hickory Park for lunch and then left by 1pm to drive the 7 hour drive back home. Short trip, but everyone loved it.

A Live Nativity

Our church had an event at our new facility the weekend before Christmas which included a live nativity. It was pretty cool to get a little taste (and smell) of what it possibly was like when Christ was born...then add about 1,000 other people. Kiersten really loved the animals, especially these tiny goats. Annika was really nervous, but every time we left the tent, she wanted to go back in. A total side note: Kiersten is wearing a hat that my grandma knit for me when I was her age. I love seeing her in it! I wish my grandma could see her.

Kiersten Turned 1

I can't believe that Kiersten is now 1! She really has been the smiliest baby I've seen (I may be biased, but it really could be true). She has been such a fun addition to our family. Annika LOVES being a big sister to her and most of the time is only frustrated because Kiersten can't yet do everything that Annika wants her to do. Her first word was "Hi" around 10 1/2 months and she loves saying it. How funny that Annika's first word was "Hello" and Kiersten's was "Hi"...social girls, I guess!

We had a Ice cream cone cupcakes for Kiersten with all of Craig's side of the family the weekend before her birthday when we were up in Minnesota for Thanksgiving. She loved the frosting!

We had a birthday breakfast for Kiersten along with my dad, as they both have December 3rd birthdays. We first opened presents and then we had our birthday tradition of Monkeybread on our red plates and it was gooey and delicious!

We then had a litte party the day after Kiersten's birthday with some friends. Kiersten totally knew the party was for her. She was loving the attention. We celebrated with more pink cake. Funny how I tried to be all healthy with Annika's 1st birthday and make a healthy banana cake and then my second child comes along and gets Funfetti cake with lots of frosting and extra sprinkles not once, but twice for her birthday! Oh well!