First Stop: Austin

 We couldn't miss the Swank family Christmas!  As soon as we got off the plane, we picked up our car and headed for A-town.  The kids were THRILLED to be reunited with their cousins!

 Santa always makes a stop to deliver one last gift for the kids (I think he stops for that adult beverage he so deserves after such a long night!)

 Bea got a new purse from Santa full of baby doll bottles!

 The next day was the Mullenbach family Christmas!  Grandma continued the pj photo withe kids.  We sure do know how to make cute kiddos in my family!

 Henry and Nolan are best buds when they get together!  Henry is holding his special bear all the kids got for Christmas- it's made out of Grandpa Dale's golf shirts!

 That afternoon the whole Swank family reconvenes at the Holiday Inn for some pizza, beverages, and swimming!  SO FUN!  Uncle Dylan took one for the team and swam with all the kids :)

 Henry had a blast, of course!

 Bea wasn't sure what to think of all the extra attention from all her great aunts and uncles!  My uncle Mike sure tried hard to get her to like him :)

 A trip to MN wouldn't be complete without playing in the snow!  We were SO HAPPY when it snowed the next day so the boys could get out and PLAY!

 Good helpers shoveled off Grandma's patio!

Minnesota here we come!

 We were beyond excited to get up early Christmas morning and head to the airport!  This would be our first trip home after the big move.  I was equal parts excited and dreading the trip- a week away from home during the craziness of Christmas had me a bit nervous!  It proved to be a wonderful trip home!!

Dad entertaining Beatrice with his phone on the plane.

Christmas afternoon and evening

Because our Christmas was really Christmas Eve, we had such a fun family day!  While the girls took their afternoon nap I pack up all the Christmas stuff (didn't want to come home from MN to a house full of Christmas!) and the boys played outside.

 They decided they should chop down our Christmas trees!

 Hard working boys!

 They look like trees from a Dr. Seuss book :)

 After naps, we went on a family hike- our favorite thing to do!

 Such a different Christmas Eve than we were used to but SO FUN!

 We stopped to feed the ducks, of course!

 The girls even got to get out of the backpacks and walk a bit themselves.

 Proud Bea

Proud Lou

Christmas Morning 2014

 Santa was good to our kids!  Christmas morning was full of delight :)

 Space suits for the boys

 Charlie wanted a football helmet, race car helmet, and space helmet from Santa ;)

 Bea was excited about her tea set for the bath tub

 As was Louise!

Boys playing with their new car transporter (another request from Santa!)

Wrestling . . .

All four kids:  a BIG fan! :)

Christmas Eve Eve 2014

I don't like change.  Moving to Atlanta brought a lot of change and I was worried that this Christmas would be ho-hum because it would be different from the years past.  I was so wrong!  We had the best Christmas EVER!  

We started of our festivities with our own family Christmas on Christmas Eve Eve (we left for MN on Christmas morning so to save our sanity, we bumped everything up a day).

 After the girls napped on Christmas Eve Eve, it was time to open presents!

 A happy Charlie with some match box cars with numbers on them (a must, apparently, when racing cars!).

 Beautiful Beatrice

 Smiley Louise with her new baby doll (for the bath tub) and diaper bag 

 Happy guy Henry

 Boys favorite gift:  a box of wood, nails, screws, washers, etc. for them to build with!

 Girls LOVED their new babies and accessories (sitting on their new chairs from us!)

 We always have a "snacky dinner" in front of the tree on Christmas Eve- Henry reminded us of this and was SO excited about it :)  He loves tradition too!

My family :)

This was such a special day!  In MN, we were always rushing from one spot to the next (that would come in the next couple of days!).  This year, we were able to savor our time as a family and really enjoy the day at a slow pace.  LOVED IT!

Remember us?!

Our kids have grown just a tad since my last post!  ;)

New Year's Resolution:  update blog on a regular basis.  

For two reasons. 1)  This is the only record I keep of what's happening (happened!) in our lives, including all the kids' stats.

2) We've moved across the country and our family and friends need updates!

I'm going to start with current "news" and hopefully find time to have some "flashback" posts to what happened in 2014 . . . not that I remember much but I'll try! :)