Thanksgiving

Due to some crazy stuff going on in a suburb of St. Louis, we ended up only going for a night to see Midge and fam.  We drove up Thanksgiving day and met Midge, Ridge, and Kyle at our hotel.  We had a great room with a view of the arch, which was pretty entertaining for the girls.

The hotel phones are also a great source of entertainment.

Midge checked in to the hotel earlier in the day, and Kyle was equally fascinated.  I love this amazing pic she took of him!  I adore his little face.  He is the sweetest.

All set to see Kyle...

 ...and then he's here!

squeeze...where's Kyle?!

We had adjoining rooms, which worked out great for our belated birthday celebration for Midge!

HBD, Midge!

We met them at The Magic House children's museum the next morning on our way out of town.  

so many cool exhibits...Mills liked this veterinarian room

need this stairway in my house ;)

Three Amigos!

It was so wonderful to see them; definitely worth the drive.  Thankful they shared their St. Louis time with us!

Saturday, Aunt Coco and the boys drove out to see us, since we didn't get to see everyone else in St. Louis (very sad we missed the chance to see Aunt Kathy, Nick, Jack, and Beth).   We are always so so thankful they come to us, and we always enjoy our time with them.  Dan and Luc are very patient with the girls.  Millie has really taken a liking to Dan and wants his attention all the time.  He's a good sport about it. ;)

Her very first gingerbread house!  Millie had a good time putting it together with Daddy & Aunt Coco's help.  

Luc did a great job on his too!  He's very good with the details.  I failed to get a pic of Dan, but he also decorated one...in a very minimalist way.

<3

We always play card games when the girls go to bed.  It's so fun and pretty awesome that Dan and Luc want to hang out with us.  And yes, Buddy is still alive.

And now, it's time for Christmas!  A couple of weeks ago, Millie mailed off her letter to Santa.  She asks for a kitchen (even though she already has one) and a microphone (girl loves to sing) and a reindeer for her little sister (awwww).

Last week, we received a reply from the big guy, himself!

He points out that he loans out a reindeer to the Fayetteville Square every year, in lieu of giving one directly to Syd Pid.  It's a pretty great letter!

Millie has been watching the Elf on the Shelf movie quite a bit lately.  Our elf, Jasper, came last year, but we were surprised to find an additional girl elf this year.  You have to name them quickly for their magic to kick in, and we've had a hard time convincing Millie that her name shouldn't be Snowflake like the girl elf in the movie.  We finally landed on Juniper.  So Jasper and Juniper will be with us this holiday season to ensure the girls are on their best behavior!