Sweet & Sunny Images

My friend Jenny is starting out as a professional photographer.  We had her take some photos of the girls and us for our Christmas card at the end of November.  Here are my favorites that we ordered from her at Sweet & Sunny Images.  I love them all!

Natalie and the Nutcracker

 

While visiting Oma and Opa, we took Natalie to see Oma's production of the Nutcracker.  She is the Director of Continental Ballet Company.  Natalie loves to dance and is always dancing around the house, pretending she is a princess or ballerina.  Oma told her the story of the Nutcracker and Natalie couldn't wait to meet "Clara".  She loved watching the ballet but kept asking when she was going to get to dance with Clara.  After the production, we went back stage to meet Yuki Tokuda, the Principal dancer who danced as Clara.  Natalie was shy about getting her photo taken with all the dancers but couldn't wait to perform.  She held up her dress, kicked her legs around and even went down on one knee while dancing with "Clara".  She even closed her eyes to add a dramatic flare to her dancing.  She was in heaven!  It was absolutely wonderful watching her.  I think one of her first dreams as a little girl came true that day. 

Oma has a lot of ballet costumes at her house from all her productions.  Oma and Natalie spent an afternoon dressing up as princesses, tiara and all.

Family Time in MN

In addition to celebrating Claire's first birthday in Minnesota, we spent a lot of time hanging out with family.  The girls enjoyed all their time playing with Oma and Opa at home while it was freezing cold outside.

My family came in town for Claire's party.  They also came over to Oma and Opa's house the following day so that we could all exchange Christmas gifts since we were not going to see them over the holiday.  Nana, Grandpa, Auntie Kendra, Hayden, Uncle Paul and Sharron all came.  They gave the girls, and us, wonderful presents.  The girls have been playing a lot with the toys since.  I think Natalie's favorite is the princess castle that Nana and Grandpa got her.  Claire loves her activity block.

We also got to celebrate Sint Nicolaas while at Oma and Opa's.