Winter Fun with Finley

During our Christmas weekend, Finley and the fam had tons of outdoor fun. Our backyard is a winter wonderland due to the 2 plus feet of snow so we passed the time sledding and snowshoeing. Finley took a couple spills on the sledding hill, so we're not sure if she'll be willing to try that again this year, but she felt pretty cool snowshoeing with the big kids in her "little bears". Not only are they highly functional, they are maybe the most adorable things we've ever seen!

Christmas with Grandma Julie

Christmas came to its finale when Grandma Julie and Jimmy came. Finley had to show off the ixl she got from Grandma and Grandpa Bernhardt, one of her favorite gifts. It teaches her to write, holds digital pictures and mp3s, reads books, and she can draw pictures on it. It's almost as good as the iPhone she wanted! She also thoroughly enjoyed the gift Grandma Julie brought - no, it wasn't garbage - everyone got snow shoes! Finley felt pretty cool hanging with the big kids in the backyard, "floating" on the snow. We will get lots of good use out of them this year, for sure!

Thanks everyone for a very blessed Christmas! We love you all!

Peterson Christmas

Finley's Christmas' continued on Friday when Grandma Belva and Grandpa Tim came,

followed by Josh and Jill and Luke and Annie. Finley spent most of the day in bed with the stomach flu, but she did manage to open some presents and draw a picture for Santa to leave with the milk and cookies. Luke and Annie brought lots of fun stuff from Spain and Ireland and Josh and Jill's Lite Brite was as much a hit with Auntie Annie as it was with Finners! We all enjoyed some relaxing downtime before the rest of the Petersons came. We had 27 people at our house for Christmas dinner. We ate a 35 pound turkey and some of the most beautiful dishes and desserts ever, thanks to Belva and the Aunts. And, thanks to Mother Nature, we had some great outdoor activities. Our hill in the backyard turned out to be one awesome sledding hill and it left some sore legs and backs on the old "kids" who spent a couple of hours trekking up and down it. Finley went down it once with Auntie Jill but she got snow sprayed in her face so she spent most of the time watching. The Petersons sure know how to party, though, and we all stayed up too late and drank too many bottles of wine. It was a very Merry way to spend our first Christmas in our home.

Christmas at Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Kevin's

Finley's Christmas adventures began on Thursday when she drove with her mom and sister to Waseca. Daddy had to work so he came later for dinner and gifts (after he dropped his brand new iPhone in the toilet). Grandma Brenda had the most BEAUTIFUL tree we had ever seen and the girls had a great time organizing the presents before getting in trouble for doing so. Finley wasn't feeling well, although we didn't know it until the next day when she threw up several times, so she wasn't all that happy - until she opened her TWINKLE TOES! All night long, she kept waking up and saying, "I can't believe Santa knew I wanted Twinkle Toes," and "How did Santa know to bring me Twinkle Toes here?" She has barely taken them off since getting them!

Happy Birthday, Sadie!

Sadie turns 7 on December 9th and she celebrated her birthday last Saturday just as she celebrated her 6th birthday - at Shana's Dance Studio! This was a real treat for Finley since she takes dance from Miss Shana and absolutely LOVES it. Finley was younger than everyone by 3 years, but she certainly held her own doing the crafts and the dance. And, not to brag, but Miss Shana said Finley has talent! Of course, I never had any doubt ;)

Finley's Advent "Puzzle"

Last year, Grandma Brenda gave Finley an Advent calendar and we kept forgetting it at her house in Waseca so we never got to use it. This year, we broke it out well in advance of December 1st so we would be sure to put it to good use. It's a really cool advent calendar because instead of opening a door and finding something behind it every day, you take a mini book out and hang it on the tree as an ornament. Each of the books are different sizes and fit in a different place inside the bigger book so Finley thought it was a puzzle. Every day, Finley looks forward to finding her puzzle piece and hanging it on her very own tree. Merry Christmas!