Happy New Year!

Trust us, this year we are trying to make it to midnight, although we've been busted more than once now for yawning. After an afternoon of shopping we are pretty tired, but Mom broke out the horns and popcorn so there is no way we are going to bed yet! We hope all of you had a wonderful 2010, and here is to an even better 2011! Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas Day continued...We headed up to Green Bay after breakfast, and celebrated at Grandma Jackie's house, and boy did we celebrate. By the end of the night I was break dancing and Lily was still twirling away in her pretty black dress. We started the afternoon by working our way through a mountain of gifts. We all got some really great stuff, but my Dance Star Mickey provided lots of entertainment, and Lily stayed busy with her new suitcase and Sleeping Beauty doll. We all got new snuggies too which will help us stay warm during these cold Wisconsin winters. We ended the night by singing Happy Birthday to Grandma Jackie, and I blew super hard to blow out the candles to make sure she didn't have any boyfriends. All of that sugar led to an eventful attempt to get all six grandkids to pose for a picture. We managed to capture the moment though and now it's time to put another Christmas Day in the books. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Morning

Christmas is here! We woke up early this morning to ask Mom if Santa had come. We were too scared to go downstairs because we thought we might run into him. We made Mom go peek and once the coast was clear we made a beeline for the family room. Santa managed to get us everything we asked for including my orange seal. I was a little bummed it wasn't a soft orange seal, but all the tricks he can do make up for that. After we helped everyone (even Wrigley) open their gifts it was time for the party to begin. We've been busy all morning trying everything out. While Lily was putting princess stickers on her new boom box, Dad was helping me ride my new bike around the dining room table. Then it was time to load up the Gator with all of our presents, and then we decided to take our new puppets to the beach. The fun never ends here in our world!

P.S. Santa apparently likes both white and chocolate milk!

Christmas Eve

1 day until Christmas...and today was a busy day. We helped Mom out around the house for most of the day, and then headed to church in the afternoon. We ran into our friends, Jack and Peter, while there, and then rushed home after church to celebrate with our friend, Baby Jayden. After a yummy dinner, the Eugene family surprised us with gifts, and you'll never believe what we got...more pillow pets! After the fun, it was time to get to work and prepare the house for Santa. We made our reindeer food and sprinkled it on the front sidewalk so that Santa and his reindeer will be able to see our house. Then we left cookies and milk for Santa, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that Santa doesn't mind that Jayden took a bite out of one of the cookies. We also decided that after pouring a glass of white milk, Santa might like chocolate milk better so we made sure to leave him some of both. That should make up for the half eaten cookie. Before we hit the sack, we checked the computer to see where Santa was, and he was headed for Rio so he's right on schedule. We better get to bed because last we heard Santa knows when you are sleeping, but not before we remind Mom and Dad to not light a fire in our fireplace because we don't want Santa to burn his behind. Even chocolate milk won't fix that here in our world!

Candy Cane Lane

2 days until Christmas...In Arizona, Lily and I used to pile in our wagon, and we'd walk around our neighborhood looking at all of the Christmas lights. In Wisconsin, things are done a bit differently, and piling in cars is the preferred method for looking at Christmas lights. We could have piled in our wagon, walking is allowed, but who in their right mind would want to walk when it is 24 degrees outside?!? Tonight we headed to Candy Cane Lane in West Allis to check out nearly 300 homes decked out for the holidays. There were all sorts of colorful lights, inflatables, and one house even had a dinosaur. On 95th Street we ran into who else, but Santa Claus. Lily finally talked to him (without tears), probably because she was strapped into her car seat and he came to my window. Nonetheless, she told him what she wants for Christmas, and she will sleep a happy little girl tonight (at least we hope since she still has a cold and can't breathe very well). Guess the third time is the charm when it comes to her visiting Santa this year. We were mesmerized by all of the decorations, and wanted to find more houses to look at, but with all of the excitement to come in the days ahead, we thought it best to head home and rest. Wishing you the merriest Christmas ever from our decorated world!

Bah, Humbug!

3 days until Christmas...Mom gave up and decided we needed to visit the doctor tonight. We aren't sure whether to wish him Merry Christmas or say Bah, Humbug! After a relatively healthy year, the germs have settled in for a long winter's nap. Lily has been sick since early last week, and I've been sick since this weekend. Mom thought we just had bad colds, but Lily has been getting worse and sleep has not existed at night for the past few days here in our world. With Christmas right around the corner, Mom wanted to make sure it wasn't something more serious so she bundled us up and took us to see Dr. Hagerman. Turns out Mom's initial thoughts were right...we just have nasty colds. I didn't quite understand the diagnosis though, and was yelling for Dr. Hagerman to come back after he left since he didn't get rid of my cough. It looks like we are in for a few more restless nights. Hopefully we're better in time for Friday night...we heard Santa won't come unless we're sleeping.

The Williams' Christmas

6 days until Christmas...another year, another Williams' Christmas at Grandpa Jimmy's house. Both Lily and I are a bit under the weather, but that didn't stop us from having fun with our cousins. Only 9 of the 16 great-grandchildren made it to the celebration this year, but we still managed a picture, and we even got to take a picture with Grandpa. We loved helping everyone open their presents, and we especially loved opening our presents. We've been asking Mom for a Pillow Pet for quite a few months now, and Grandpa delivered today! Another year at Grandpa Jimmy's is in the books and now it is time to rest up for the weekend ahead.

Visiting Santa - Take 2

12 days until Christmas...We had a little issue last time Ryan and I went to visit Santa, and I kind of forgot to tell Santa what I wanted for Christmas. I didn't really care at first, and told Mommy and Daddy that I didn't want anything for Christmas, but after all my tears dried up I was kind of bummed that I forgot. Mommy and Grandma came up with two options for me, write Santa a letter or try visiting him again. I chose to give it one more try so today we headed to Fox River Mall on the way to Grandma's house. Ryan of course was so excited to see Santa again, and he and Santa had yet another great conversation about everything he wanted for Christmas. I on the other hand didn't fair so well again. This time Santa held onto me for dear life while I screamed for Mommy, and Grandma told him what I wanted. After a lot of tears and some lunch, I finally settled down enough to appreciate that at least Santa now knows what I want, and I don't have to see him again...until next year!

Pink and Orange Christmas Trees

14 days until Christmas...Lily has wanted a pink Christmas tree for her room since we first started talking about Christmas this year so I decided an orange tree for my room would be nice as well. Today, Gigi and Pop Pop surprised us, and delivered little Christmas trees for each of us with what else but pink and orange ornaments. There was also an assortment of character ornaments, and Lily fell in love with the Cogsworth ornament from Beauty and the Beast. She loves it so much that she is sleeping with it. She also loves her new Christmas tiara Gigi brought, and we both love the candy we discovered in the stocking ornaments on our trees. The end result, once we were done decorating, turned out to be two pretty cool Christmas trees that we love looking at. Christmas just keeps getting better and better here in our world!