Second Christmas (SNOW!)

Our second Christmas was in Hudson with SNOW! So. much. beautiful. snow. As much as we love the Virginia mild winters, we do really miss the snow. Every year we hope Cleveland will get a good snow while we're there for Christmas and this year it snowed almost every day!! Big, white, snowy, beautiful flakes. :) Nathan and I loved it. Grace was a bit indifferent. And Evelyn, MUCH to our distress, was slightly terrified of getting snow on her boots! :)
I have 400+ pictures from Ohio (mostly because trying to get a decent picture with either girl is quite tricky ;)), but don't worry, this is just a very small sampling and will be divided up between several posts. ;)
The girls were such good travelers and did so well on the drive to and from Nana's house. Thankfully, as wonderful as the snow was in Ohio, we didn't have to drive through any, we missed both big storms by a day. Highlights included coloring in new coloring books...
and most especially going through PA tunnels. :) Evie wanted to be sure that bitty baby Ruthie and Abby Caddabby didn't miss it! ;)

Snow!
Trina and I attempting to shovel the driveway. By the time we were done there was already another inch on it!

Gracie all bundled up in her pink bear snow suit! :)  
And of course Christmas with my family wouldn't be Christmas with my family without...
cousin bonding (plotting?) time...
 
all kinds of tea parties :)...

sister duets...
and cousin duets...
somewhat wild advents as we attempt it with 15 people, four age three and under... 
super early morning hang out times with Aunt Kate before most people are awake :)...
lots of snuggling time (can you tell that Gracie was in her element??)...   
father/son wrestling matches (UGH - I just don't get it)...
free babysitting so Nathan and I can go on dates and I can eat ALL THIS AMAZING MEXICAN FOOD...

getting to listen to Emily practice the piano...
looking and acting like twins... :)

Playing lots of hilarious and very competitive games (not pictured, it was too competitive to bother with taking a picture! ;)) and just getting to all be together as family!!! (sad that its a little blurry! :()
Quite a wild but quite a fun week for sure! :)

Six Million Lights

Before we get to our white, wintery, Ohio Christmas, I wanted to share a few pictures from our time at Busch Garden's Christmas Town. They used over 6 million lights and 1,500 fresh Christmas trees to decorate the park and it was pretty spectacular!  
Enjoying the rides. I can't believe she is big enough to go on rides by herself!!
Watching Verbolten while we waited for a show to begin. Evie saw the reflection of the Christmas trees in the water and was very concerned that some of the trees had tipped into the water! ;)
She was mesmerized by the ballet show ;)
And the Sesame St. show (quite tired by this point too!)...
and her glow in the dark snowman on a stick. ;)

This tree is one of my favorites. Every branch is completely wrapped in lights. It looks so cool. But it also gives me a headache thinking about being the one to put all those up!!!
Enjoying our train ride around the park.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Mortiers!

Do not worry, you have not been cut this year from our Christmas card list. Christmas cards... didn't quite happen this year, but we loved hear from all of you!!! With only five free evenings all December and that busyness on top of bouts with the flu, colds, and RSV (poor Gracie :(), something had to give, and that ended up being Christmas cards. :(

2012 was quite an eventful year for us though, highlighted by the arrival of Grace Elizabeth in June. We've found the adjustment from 1 to 2 bigger than 0 to 1, but it is good and we are loving our two little girls. Gracie is so sweet and happy. She is even more laid back than Evelyn was and loves to laugh and smile, especially at her sister. She has recently mastered sitting up and just got her first two teeth! Evelyn is an active, talkative, creative, focused two year old who has adjusted well for the most part to the addition of her sister. The vocabulary and perspective on life that comes out every day cracks us up.

Besides the adventure of normal family life, we have enjoyed visits from many of our family and friends, including visits from all six of our grandparents (from Oregon, Mississippi, and Ohio), all of my immediate family on various occasions, and all of Nathan's mom's extended family for a reunion in July. Most of our trips this year have been to Ohio or shorter trips around Virginia and DC. Nathan and I did enjoy a day to ourselves up in Niagara Falls this year. We love our girls, but it's great to get away just us sometimes and not have to worry about naps or feeding schedules.

Nathan continues to enjoy working for Mellette PC. He loves the variety of work, atmosphere, and opportunities for growth and we all are thankful for the hours (most of the time :)) and amount of family time we still enjoy. I still work as the Children's Ministry Director at our church and love the opportunity to serve and to keep extra busy during nap times.

Most of our adventures and fun on are documented on this blog, so feel free to check back throughout the year if you're interested! :)

First Christmas (the non-white one in Virginia)

We got to celebrate Christmas early this year with Grandma, Papa, and Uncle Aaron before they headed to Oregon (go Ducks, btw!!!) and we headed to Ohio (Go Bucks too, but they're not playing in a bowl as I type this year.... :() We had such a great day with them, heading over to their house as soon as the girls woke up and finishing up the day at Busch Garden's Christmas Town. Between feasting, stockings, presents, games, naps, and laughter, it was quite the full day! Can you tell who is excited??

Stockings came first, much to Evie's delight. Surveying the loot before diving in :)
Ohhhh Grandma! These look yummy! (she has since learned that they taste yummy as well :))
Playing with Uncle Aaron and her socking loot :)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand our girls have officially entered the world of American Girl (much to my secret delight ;)).

Evie is quite taken with Baby Ruthie. When Grandma asked if she could hold her, Evie hesitated and told her "maybe when you bigger" (I wonder where she's heard that before ;)). She did eventually let Grandma hold her but said "just two minutes..." and about 2 seconds later asked if she could have her back. ;)
Gracie got a bear (Honey Bear) which she was quite pleased with and continues to love to hug. :)
Thanks for the fun day, Mom and Dad!!!
Christmas Town pics to come later.... :)