Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

We decided this year would be a quick trip to Spokane so we could have more time at home during break to work on projects around the house.

We drove over on Mark's birthday.  
The roads weren't the greatest, but we made it in time to order pizza and open some presents!  
He got the coolest present!!!  His Mom and Dad made him a photo album that went all the way back to when he was a baby.  It was definitely a labor of love!  The girls and I loved seeing all the memories, too!











On Christmas Eve we went up to Lori and Jeff's for the Cota Christmas celebration!
As always, their house was super festive and beautifully decorated!
We had a great time opening (way too many) presents!











We had a DELICIOUS prime rib dinner and played a HILARIOUS round of the game Speak Out.
It was another great Christmas with family!


Santa found us at Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas morning!
Annalise got a super awesome YELLOW Polaroid camera with the perfect case!


Avery got just what she asked for too--CASH!
Way to go Santa!!!


The rest of the Schneider crew came over and we had a yummy brunch before 
digging in to yet another round of presents!
The cousins are always excited to see each other and catch up!


Bella and Avery spent HOURS coloring, listening to music and chatting!
 

Elsa and Annalise played and played....also planned a magic show for later Christmas night!




Spoiled again with so many presents!










The grown-ups opted for an afternoon card game.
Paul was the big winner.







The post-dinner magic show was a big hit!
These girls really know their stuff!










It was a great Christmas celebration.
And to cap off the night, Elsa played Silent Night for us all.  
She's an amazingly talented little girl!


We headed back home the day after Christmas. We had a great time celebrating with family.
Merry Christmas to all.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Christmas Cookies

We actually had a day to make some Christmas cookies this year!!
Santa will be so happy!



And Grams would be so proud.
We sure miss her.

P.S.  Annalise was in charge of the powdered sugar!



Saturday, December 9, 2017

Ferndale Volleyball Club

Avery has found her passion!
VOLLEYBALL!!!!!!
She made the decision to stop Taekwondo and focus solely on volleyball this year.
She tried out for 2 local select volleyball clubs.  She was selected to play for both and chose to stay in Ferndale and play with FVC.  We are so proud of her.  

We will be traveling to play until May but are really looking forward to seeing 
Avery grow and continue to love this game.



They had their first tournament and WON the whole thing for their age group!!
WooHoo!
Way to go U14 FIRE Champions!!!


 And her biggest fan Ryan was there watching ALL day, too!



 

Annalise the Robot

We were so excited the Missoula Children's Theater was coming back AGAIN!  It's a huge expense for our PTO, but they decided to foot the bill for another fun production!  YAY!
 Annalise was super excited!!!!
 
The show this year.....
 
Gulliver's Travels in Space 
"With his ship wrecked and his trusty computer JCN on the fritz, brave explorer Gulliver
finds himself lost in space with nothing but an Invisible Force to guide him! While
transporting from world to world, under the control of the Maniacal Scientist of Lapunta,Gulliver discovers fighting aliens, arrogant Horse Leaders of the foolish Yahoos, larger-than-life royalty (in more ways than one) and robots–all who need just as much help
from Gulliver as Gulliver needs from them! Tune in as this sci-fi spin of the timeless tale of GULLIVER’S TRAVELS will take you out-of-this world" 
 
Annalise got a part as a robot!
She even had a couple of lines this year.  She practiced her robot voice and after
another looonnnngggg week of rehearsals and they were set to perform!
They had a matinee on Friday for the school.  We knew that Avery had a volleyball tournament on Saturday all day and wouldn't be able to make it to the performance, so she and Mark were able to come for Friday's show!
She was nervous, but ready.
 
 
The show was a hit!
The robots helped the Yahoos gain some knowledge and convinced them that 
"school is cool!"









Annalise and Chantal had a great time as robots!
Here's to hoping they'll get to experience the Missoula Children's Theater 
ONE more year for their last year in elementary school! 








Tuesday, November 28, 2017

More November Fun

Annalise had some fun playing indoor soccer!
She even took a turn at being a goalie!



Not sure that soccer is her sport! Time shall tell!

Girls also had a great time seeing Skyla and Emera!
Love the time we have with the Wards!



Saturday, November 25, 2017

Thanksgiving and Moving In Weekend

What a busy and memorable Thanksgiving weekend we had this year!!!
Gramps' house is finished and we moved him in!!!
YAHOO!!!!!
13 months later and he's finally home.




What a project it was, but we did it!
Actually, we did a lot of it. 
More than we had thought we'd do.
After our contractor couldn't keep his word, we had to fire him and finish things up on our own.
BUT....here we are.  Gramps is all moved in, the house turned out beautiful and he's here with us.

From this....a winery tasting room--






To this....a 2-bedroom HOME--










We have a lot to be thankful for.
I'm so happy we're all here together.