Holiday Visitors

Once Christmas was past, the girls could not wait for Aunt Angie and their cousins to arrive. I found Evie eagerly watching out the window a day early!

Once the Hovey girls were here, they all wasted no time to start playing and hanging out together. 

We just love having family come!

Evie really wanted to bake cupcakes with her cousins. She was constantly on me until I got them started. 

We had fun playing games every night. 

A bunch of beautiful bakers.

Angie and I had fun taking the girls to Six Flags. My brother Nic came to visit too, but was whisked away by Ben to go to the Chiefs game in KC. I was slightly annoyed he agreed to go so fast. He didn't even take a second to think about it. 

It was a tiny bit chilly, but really not too bad for the end of December. 

It was a great girls' day.

Love these ladies!

More games, of course. We must play as many games as possible. 

I can't really describe, the warm, happy, laughing, joyful evening. You had to be there. 

We were icing some gingerbread cookies for our New Year's Eve party when Ben and Nic came home. Some of them turned out perfectly festive. 

Some went a little off the tracks. 

But fun was had, and artistic skills were expressed, so it was a true success. 

Here is my famous Grandma cookie. I didn't realize I was making my mom in cookie form until one of the girls pointed it out. 

Warning! Warning! Christmas Morning!

Our Christmas mornings are becoming less full of dolls and toys, and more full of big kid gifts. The girls were so happy to come down to find out what Santa left for them this year. 

Evie still has a strong toy game, and this year she wanted a Shopkins airplane. I love to see her playing. 

Kiersten needed a new big girl bike. She's pretty stylish riding down the street these days. 

Kara wanted nothing other than Nintendo gift cards. Santa also found her a cool Zelda case for her 3DS. 

They try to act tired at the top of the stairs, as if we haven't heard them giggling and whispering in the hallway for at least an hour. 

My favorite thing about Christmas morning is that they never fight. 

Ready to hit the streets. 

The stockings are always full of tiny, fun surprises. 

The happy faces are the reason I try so hard to find the perfect gifts. Nothing beats a face like that. 

The commotion can be a little overwhelming for some of us. 

Ben always sits back, calm and cool, overseeing the whole operation while I try to maintain order within the chaos. 

I eventually give up and let the crazy happen. 

Kara always loves her gifts from Kiersten and Evie. I have them shop directly from her Amazon wish list. 

My side of the family always has the kids draw names for which cousin they will give a gift to. This year, Kara picked out Nintendo socks for her cousin Afton, and his sister, Addy got her the same socks. That was a funny surprise on Christmas morning. 

As I mentioned, she loves getting inside of a nice box.

Kara ended the day a pretty happy girl. 

Kiersten always wants the cat to join in on her excitement. 

Happy little Evie, even happier on Christmas. 

This was the girls' gift for Ben. It was annoying ordering it, because they disagreed on which pictures to use and where to put them. They each wanted to make an equal number of appearances. It turned out cute in the end and I think he likes it. 

The girls all got these bouncy balls from Aunt Nancy, and have gone crazy with them in the basement.