Cousins from Texas: Julia & Jocelyn

" Ring Around the Rosy" Jocelyn is really getting into this game!

When it's time to go...they are finally warming up to each other!

Stairs: such a hit!

Lunch time

Brad's cousins from Texas (Tim and his wife Melanie) were here to visit for Christmas and they have beautiful twin girls that will be two years old in February named Julia and Jocelyn. We went over to visit them for a "play date". We hadn't seen them since they were 12 weeks old, so it was exciting to get all the girls together again when they actually realized that the others existed. Ava was her usual shy self at first, but gradually warmed up to them. They all seemed to like the doll toys and played together pretty nicely. Ava struggles in the sharing department, but Julia and Jocelyn were pretty patient with her. It was amazing that the twins were nearly the same size as Ava. They actually looked like cousins with similar coloring and features. It was a very fun time for Ava and myself and so fun to visit with Tim and Melanie, sharing our toddler horror stories ;) Ava still is asking "where's Julia?" and "where's Jocelyn?". I'm sure this will go on for a while as she really enjoyed playing with little girls her age. Hopefully, we will get to see them again soon.

The VanMeeteren Christmas at the Farm...

Addison opening gifts

Sam opening gifts

Addie-3, Ava-2, Sam- 4 1/2

Aunt Shelly & Ava

Grandma Chris & Ava

We finally got to have Christmas with some extended family on December 27th. With the aid of 4-wheel drive, we made it to and from Mom & Dad's house safely. Mom made some wonderful chicken noodle soup and sandwiches and then we opened gifts. Ava was much more into gift opening than she was at our house on Christmas eve. I'm not sure if it was that Sam and Addie were so excited or the fact that she had just done it a couple days prior, but she was all about tearing the paper and checking out the gifts. Ava got a new overnight bag which she called her purse, and carried it around for quite a while. She also liked her little tikes pet shop with all the animals. Overall, the gift opening gets to be more eventful each year as all the kids get older and more animated. There is never a dull moment!

Day 3 of the Blizzard...

Daddy & Ava

The snow pile gets bigger!

After three days of being snowed in, Brad was digging us out once again. Each day he would go out to try to keep the snow depth to a minimum on the driveway. He thought if he waited until the blizzard was over, it would be too deep for the skidloader to go through (also he was bored stiff and had cabin fever!). We were never so thrilled to go somewhere after all the time stuck in the house!