Eyes!

Both kids had eye appointments and so far, their vision is great.
I love watching Kingston's exam because it's more like playing games and he gets to wear fun glasses.

 Julienna, actually went to see an ophthalmologist about her clogged tear duct.  The one on the left just never opened and she always has a tear or eye crusties in it.  I didn't know what to expect when we went in.  I thought they would assess her and then we would schedule a time for surgery since she would have to be sedated.  Ironically, that morning her eye was extra goopy so I knew that it was evident she had a problem (it probably helped that her appt was at 7:15 and I had to get her up at 6:30). So, the doctor looked her over and then gave me some options: we could wait it out and try massage or other homeopathic remedies (I felt like I had already tried this option and it wasn't working), we could schedule surgery, or he could attempt the procedure in office today.  Julienna was right at his 14 month cut-off for the in office procedure, but it meant she wouldn't have to be sedated (which was a concern of mine).  The only drawback was that he would only do as much as she would tolerate which may or may not fix it.  But, I thought it was worth it because best-case-scenerio, it works! And worst-case is she has the surgery which I was planning on anyway.
Luckily, I had been around the medical stuff and wasn't at all worried when they strapped her down to the papoose board.  She was velcroed in tight!  And to my surprise, she didn't cry.  Not even when they put the drops in or did the first probe. She did cry at the end when the doctor was able to break through whatever was clogged, but then one more eye drop and they unstrapped her and handed her to me and she was fine.  She did have a bit of a bloody nose that day, but so far it has worked and her eye looks so much better!  We had to put eye drops in for the first week and Kingston got pretty good a helping hold her down...I think he really enjoyed it!

McCall 3

January 22-24-
Big Highlight...Little Miss Julienna is walking!!!  She just took a couple steps and thought "yeah, I can do this" and she hasn't looked back since.  She leads with her right foot so it almost looks like a slide walk.  And what a girl, she grabbed her purse right away!

Brylee's 9th Birthday

January 20-
We spent the evening celebrating Brylee turning 9!  She has overcome so much this last couple years and we are so grateful to get to celebrate another cancer-free birthday!

Friend's Dinner

January 13-
It was our turn to host and it was crazy!!! (but in the best way)  Kids had fun and are pretty great at self-entertaining which means us adults get to chat more! 

 

 

McCall 2

January 8-10-
Kingston's friend, Reese, joined us for the weekend, along with his parents. It worked out perfectly because the guys could go skiing (and play nerf guns) while Rachel and I stayed behind with the little ones.

 

 

 

 

New Year's

Jan 1-3-
New Year's in McCall!
Highlights....
Playing with our new toys:

 Relaxing:

 

 Tinkering:

 Sledding (while the boys skiied):

 

 

Being together:

 

Christmas in McCall

December 24-28-
It was definitely a white Christmas this year!

We headed up Christmas Eve morning.  Julienna managed to stay awake the whole time, while Kingston slept.

Grandma and Grandpa met us up there.  I made clam chowder for dinner and then we all get ready for church.  Julienna looked so cute in Brylee's old dress!

After church, we set out some cookies and orange juice for Santa before opening a present.  Kingston got a chalkboard alphabet book and he had fun playing teacher.

Christmas morning, Kingston was so excited to see if Santa came! And he did!  The stockings were overflowing with goodies!  I think he brought everyone a nerf gun to battle with!

 

Joel, Lindsay, and Nora got there in the afternoon and we just had a cozy day at the cabin.

We opened presents and the kids had so much fun.  Kingston's alphabots from Aunt Joyce were the big hit and they couldn't get enough of them!  Also, the empty tub was pretty entertaining for the girls! 

 

After the kids went to bed, we did our white elephant gift exchange.  I got a selfie stick and made good use of it the rest of the weekend!

Saturday, we went skiing. It was kind of chaotic getting out of the house, but we finally made it to the mountain, only to discover that I didn't have my skis!  Luckily Jonathan had two pair and we made it work.  The trees were so pretty covered in snow!

We stayed for a winter celebration at Brundage and mom and dad brought the kids up to us.  We met up Jonathan's family to watch the fireworks and they were spectacular!

After a full day at the mountain we finally made our way back to the cabin. Mom and dad had gone out to watch the Nebraska game, so we played a game...and tried out my selfie stick before calling it a day.

Sunday morning was more cabin time.  Joel and Kingston built a foam gingerbread house and more selfies!

After breakfast, we bundled up and headed outside for some sledding fun!  Julienna loves being pulled on the sled! And we all had fun sledding down the road, although it's a workout getting back up!

Joel started in on a snow fort and better sledding hill.  Looks like grandma had fun!

After all the fun it was time for grandma and grandpa to head back home.  Kingston wanted me to take a picture of him and grandma and send it to her so she would remember how much fun they had.

Monday morning, we went over to Nana and Papa's to celebrate with them.  The kids had fun opening more presents and playing.

Then we packed up and headed to Brundage to do some skiing on the bunny slopes.

The kids had fun and they are getting so good!
Then, it was time to pack up and head home.  It was a great holiday and we had so much fun.  We all crashed on the way home!

Here are the kids with some of their Christmas loot....we did leave some at the cabin too!