AAAAAAAAALVIN!

My girls LOVED this movie! Although I think the booty-shakin' dancing was a little grown-up for kids, it's cartoon chipmunks, so it makes it pretty cute... We went with my mom, my sister and her family, and by the end of the movie all 3 of the girls were up dancing! After the movie Kenna couldn't wait to get her picture taken with the chipmunks out front! The little girls aren't big on posing for the camera, but I though it was cute I caught them each with a chipmunk!

Kenna liked Alvin the best!

We LOVE our Wii!

So for Christmas we decided our family gift would be a Wii system - Joel was such a good sport to give up his Playstation (and I don't think he has regretted it) and we got hooked up with lots off accessories and games from the family so we have so much to play! I think our Smith family favorite at this point is bowling, well maybe with the exception of Adelyn who really likes the penguin game!

One of the funniest parts has been setting up "Miis" for everyone, and since you can customize your Wii, we tried to capture the essence of all family members in their little Mii! Even my mom and Dad got their own Mii when they were up for New Year's Eve (aka Christmas #2 this year!). And the girls, especially Kenna, LOVE to play games and see GrAnne and Grandad's Miis in the background (or driving the boat if we are playing the wakeboarding game!)

Our own personal Wii's ready to bowl!

Big Mama!

And Kenna pretty much just takes over her turn and needs no assistance now - it's great!

She has learned bowling terminology and loves to cheer on the turkey!

Kenna probably loves the 100-pin bowling the most - yes, 100 pins, although it takes much longer and it's so much harder to get a strike, so we typically opt for the regular game! Who needs stinky shoes and smoky lanes when you can bowl with your pajamas on? :)

The Grinch ICE Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan!

What a night! Finally decided to go see the exhibit with my sister and her family, and it was...

good and bad! The wait - bad; the company - good; the ticket price - bad; the exhibit - good!

The cousins had a lot of fun playing together before we made it in (had about a 1 hour wait in the halls of the Gaylord!), and thankfully we had no big meltdowns! Not sure if there is a 'not busy" time to go do this, but overall, I'm glad we went - the girls LOVED it!

Adelyn and Peyton checking out the cool trees!
Ready to go! Her parka fit pretty good...
but Adelyn's was huge! She certainly waddled like a penguin in that thing, so Joel carried her a good bit of the time!

Meredith, cousin Peyton, and Everett!
By the time I got a picture with all of them looking

in my direction I think Joel was done! :)

The slide room!
Kenna on her way down! she sort of got stuck...

I don't think I gave her a good enough push to start! She wanted to go again, but was a good

sport when I told her we only got to go once... wonder how long that will work! :)
Adelyn!

This was probably my favorite room... in December one of my lessons at school was about "wants vs. needs" and we ended the week watching the Grinch! We talked about what the Grinch was doing and how it didn't matter to the Who's, and then how they "fixed" his heart on Christmas morning. They all asked where the star was coming from, and although I'm sure it's not the best answer, I told them "from the love they have for each other."

Hope this new year finds you loving those you are with, remembering what is really important, and taking the time to do some fun things, even if it is a little crazy in the end...

Our snowman!

Yes he's there... can you see him? That's as much snow as we could get to stay stuck together!

Let's go ahead and add some eyes, nose, arms, and maybe a hat...

much better... isn't he cute? All 8 inches of him?

poor guy didn't even last a day... we tried to make him in the shade but he was a pile of mush by the afternoon. Kenna still had fun trying to make him though! :)

Christmas Snow!

I swear before Kenna started opening presents she had already asked several times if they could go out and play in the snow! We had quite and accumulation after Christmas Eve's storm, and I had a hard time saying no... having thought for several years we might take a ski trip, we have acquired snow attire for both girls, so we were ready to go!

yum!!!

Snow angel anyone!

Kenna was determined to hit me with a snow ball, but lucky for me the snow was so powdery none of the snowballs would stay together! She had fun trying though...

and then she went for her sister!