Sledding with Etcheberrys

Our favorite thing to do in the winter.....SLEDDING!!  The Etcheberry's joined us for a day of fun on a WARM, winter afternoon.  What could be better than a day with perfect winter weather, roasted hot dogs and hot chocolate, and good friends?



Rylee liked to sled with Carrie, so Carrie gets her all set...



lets her go....



and she's off!!!



All smiles...the faster, the better!!





Momma's Taking Pictures AGAIN!!!

They are too cute...who can resist taking pictures of them!



It is so warm out that Abbie and Jeremy have taken their coats off and are just in their sweatshirts.

My Silly Family

 

Enough pictures...let's get back to the sledding!!

 

And we ended the day by building a snowman!  What a GREAT day!!

 

1st grade Basketball

Abbie played basketball again this year.  This year she had lots of friends on her team so she really seemed to enjoy herself. 

Trying to run with long-legged Logan down the court



Catching Some Air

Good Defense

In 1st grade EVERYBODY wants the rebound!!

GFH Cheer Camp

 In January Abbie once again wanted to participate in a cheer camp.  The GFH Cheer Camp is run by her kindergarten teacher so she loves to see her and talk to her again.  Sarah Faulk joined Abbie at the camp, although lots of little girls were familiar to us....seems as though many will "cross the river" for Miss Thunstrom?



Performing at Halftime of the Basketball Game

Is this a future senior picture????

The Last Christmas of 2011

Our last celebration of Christmas was with Grandma and Grandpa Murphy.  We went over for lunch on the morning of the 29th.  I had spent so much time working on cleaning and painting the master bedroom and cleaning up from Christmas that this day was a nice just to relax and spend time enjoying the girls.

Grandma and Grandpa spoiled the girls this year with all sorts of gifts.  Abbie had asked for a remote control tarantula and Grandma actually found one.  Abbie was so excited to get it so between the rubber snake and spider she can scare all of us!  She also got some cute cowboy boots and a beautiful dress.

Rylee's gifts were definitely something my dad would have given her if he was here. I appreciate that my grandparents are trying to fill those shoes.  They gave Rylee cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, and a stick horse.  Rylee loves the cowboy boots the most and wants to wear them all the time...with her pants tucked in. (Grandpa Gary is cringing at those words). 

2011 was another great year for the Virts family.  We were blessed this year with fun, health, and many family outings.  The girls are at such amazing ages and are so fun to do things with right now.  I can only hope 2012 will bring a year as great as 2011!



Christmas Day 2011

I snuck downstairs early to get a photo of what Santa had left before the girls got up. It looks like Santa left American Girl Dolls with matching dresses.  Wow!

After the girls came down and saw what Santa had left.

Abbie got several matching outfits with her American Doll, but she says this one is her favorite.























One of Rylee's favorite gifts is her dollhouse that Jeremy and I gave her.  I love that she has spent so much time playing with it.










Rylee is pooped after all of the excitement of present opening.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year because the girls are so much fun to watch play and interact with each other.  It was fun to watch them be so excited about gifts and spend so much time playing with the gifts and with each other.

Christmas Eve 2011

Our annual Christmas Eve festivities were at Tante Lilli's house.  After church we headed to her house for a 'make your own taco bar' (a yummy new idea...hopefully it will be a tradition).  Next we took just a few family photos...

Then we started opening presents.  Yea!

Abbie asked for a rubber snake (not sure exactly) but Uncle Manfred was able to deliver on this present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rylee asked for a blue puppy and Uncle Manfred found that too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the middle of gift opening Rylee decided to climb up on Oma's lap and show her her tights.  They were black with silver sparkles on them and apparently Rylee wanted to make sure Oma got to see them in full effect.

She also tried on Oma's glasses...

and was willing to look up for a great picture of the two of them.

 

 

 

Abbie and Rylee got blankets from Tante Lilli and Uncle Harry.  Abbie's was a bunny and Rylee's was a cat.  The blankets are warm and cuddly and so both girls love them and use them to cuddle on the couch.  What a great idea!

Tante Lilli, thank you for the cuddly gift.  I love it!

Christmas with the Virts

We celebrated Christmas with Jeremy's family on December 23rd this year.  With Jeremy's work schedule and Josh's short time here in town, Jeremy ended up taking a day off of work to fit everything in.  I was still in the process of finishing a bedroom painting project so we didn't spend all day there, but still had a good time.  We ate dinner, opened presents, and stayed to play with all of the presents too.

Abbie and Ashley

Abbie got  a dress-up skirt from Auntie Rosie

Rylee got some Polly Pocket Dolls from Grandma and Grandpa

Abbie loved her new computer from Grandma Nita and Grandpa Jerry.  It is filled with all sorts of learning games and drawing tools.

She's so cute and nerdy.  She wants to open up the computer and start to play with the learning stuff right away.  That's my girl!