Christmas Tree and Gingerbread House

The second weekend of December, we went out to Prince Tree Farms with my parents for our annual Christmas tree trip.  We found them pretty fast this year, and were back home by lunch.  Will did pretty good with the cold and snow.  Kate and Liv loved it - they would've walked around and played in the snow all day.

our family of 5

Kate and daddy with our tree

Liv and Grandma

snow angels!

Later that day, we broke out the gingerbread house kit, and the girls worked together to put it together and decorate it.  Kate was all about decorating the house.  Liv just wanted to eat all the candy.  With a little help from daddy, it turned out beautiful:)

This is how you decorate the Christmas tree when you're 5 and you can't reach any higher...

And this is how you decorate the tree when you're 2 and you find a good branch...

FMG with friends

We met the Johnson's at Frederik Meijer Gardens one Tuesday morning.  Everything was decorated for Christmas, and it was so fun for the kids to play together in the Japanese Play Room.  Yay for friends!

Christmas Cookies!

We made Christmas cookies while Matt was working a long weekend.  It was quite a mess, as you can see, but super fun!

Will 8 Months!

Kate's 5th Rainbow Birthday Party

Kate picked a rainbow theme for her birthday party this year.  We had a lot of fun with food and decorations, and even more fun spending time with family.  

FIVE!

I really can't believe Kate turned five in November.  All the birthdays have been bittersweet, but five just seems so old! 

Kate got to go to school on her birthday (it was a Monday), and she gave all of her friends a bouncy ball.  After school, we met up with Grandma Kadzban, Uncle Bryan, and Aunt Lisa (they were still in town from my grandpa's funeral) for lunch at Jimmy Johns - Kate's choice:) She opened her gifts from us after dinner.  We had a really fun day.

At five years old...

• Kate is almost 45 inches tall, and oh, so skinny.  
• She loves school and enjoys learning.  
• She can be very thoughtful and sweet, and also very wild and crazy at times.  
• She's sensitive and inquisitive, always wanting to understand why things work the way they do and how things work.  
• She's a lover, and she's bossy.  
• She loves to organize things and create things.  
• She likes reading and she loves hidden pictures and playing games.  
• When she grows up, she wants to be an artist.  
• Her favorite foods are steak and edamame, but she's a really good eater - she eats fruits and vegetables that most other 5 year olds would not touch - and she eats most meat, too.  She also loves sweets.  Pretty sure she gets that from me:)
• Her current favorite movie is Tangled.
• She loves playing outside, usually with friends, but sometimes with Olivia.
• She really likes coloring, and is getting very good at it!

November 2016

A lot happened in November, but if feels like it was such a long time ago now, and I really can't remember it all.  Here are the highlights - in pictures, of course:)

A morning tea party with Liv while Kate was at school and Will was napping.

We got to visit Maddie in the hospital at U of M after her heart surgery.  She was such a champ through surgery and recovery and is a super strong little lady.  She's going to be another tough Pridgeon:)

Uncle Andy was in Holland for a preaching festival, and we snagged him for lunch at Donkey Taqueria.  So yummy!

This isn't really a highlight, but my grandpa passed away on November 4.  He was at home, with my grandma, and died peacefully.  His service was fairly private and small, but very meaningful.  The photos are from his funeral and luncheon.

The only good thing was that we got extra time with family while they were home for the funeral

snuggles for Aunt Sam

Silly Olivia with her owl mask.

The girls collected flowers (actually weeds) out back on one of our last nice days of the fall.  Can't believe they were wearing short sleeves in November!

These two were 100% ready for the snow.  They got all their stuff on as soon as it started coming down and went out to catch - and eat - as many snowflakes as they could:)

do you like my glasses?

Will is practicing for a future in farming:)

glow stick dance party!

We spent Thanksgiving at the farm this year.  Will was a hit with Gracie and also got to meet Great Grandma Gloria for the first time.  

Our washing machine broke just before Thanksgiving, and our new one was delivered the weekend after.  Kate and Liv (and uncle Adam) made the box into a sweet rocket ship.

painting Christmas ornaments