The Holidays!

This Christmas was different for us in many ways...this was Claire's first Christmas with us, but it was also our first Christmas without Grandpa Hart. We miss him everyday. Our new niece, Olivia, was born on December 19th-what a blessing! We didn't travel to Indiana for the holidays, so we really missed spending time with Grandma and the rest of our family there. We hope to go there some time soon because we can't wait to meet Olivia and see everyone again! Even though so many things were different this year, we had a very busy and fun filled holiday season.

Here are Ben and Claire on Christmas Eve before we went to church.

Here's the crew at the Pullen South celebration on Christmas Eve.

"Thanks for the Leapter, Grandma!! I play with it all the time now!"

"I'm starting to get the hang of unwrapping gifts!"

New PJ's on Christmas Eve....that's one of our traditions!

All set for Santa and the reindeer!

Santa came!


Claire loves her new chatter phone!

Check out Dad's tye-dyed shirt and undies that Ben made for him.....maroon and gold for the Minnesota Gophers!

Santa brought Ben the guitar he asked for....must have been a good boy this year!

"Two Gopher ornaments in my stocking!"

Claire loves to push her baby in the stroller she got from Aunt Deb and Mia!

Granny gave all 4 grandkids a set of trainer water skis for the cabin! Ben should be ready to try them out next summer!

Claire wanted to try them out....she'll probably have to wait a while before she can try them out.

Same for Joey.....maybe Summer 2010?!

"Thanks for the "Wild" Jersey, Granny!"

Opening presents is fun!

Family pic!

The weekend after Christmas, we headed up to the cabin to check things out and go sledding. There was a ton of snow up there! Check out the snow fort that Dave built for Ben and Claire!

We spent New Year's Eve at Pullen South where we made homemade pizzas and watched the Gopher Football team lose (big time) to Kansas. Despite the loss, we had a great time!

May 2009 bring you health, happiness and prosperity.

Dave, Christa, Ben and Claire