Brand New...Scars?

Rebecca, Felicia, and Karina joked that a Buffington family reunion isn't complete until we leave with physical AND emotional scars.

I don't know if anyone left with emotional scars, but my nephew Caleb might have a few physical ones after the nasty fall he took on his bike. When it comes to physical scrapes, I *think* I may have come in second at this reunion. While chasing Lily (who happened to be caked in poo after soiling her swimmer), I ran smack into the door frame and gave myself a good scrape (yes, my grace defies all logic - my mother really should get a refund on all those years of ballet lessons) - bad enough that everyone the next few days kept asking, "What happened to your face?" There was poo, there were tears, it was a great motherhood moment.

Mostly, it was just good to spend time with family and see everyone again. I had such a good time watching my girls run around and remembering all the camping trips we spent up at Tony Grove Lake. It was fun to see my girls making memories of their own.

At one point, we took the kids to the community pool. I was watching Ally and Lily play in the kiddy section and just gazing at my Lily's profile as she played. I am overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood most days, but I live for little moments like that where I can just appreciate how beautiful, unique and capable she is.

Ally had a great time chasing the iguanas, who she all named "Buddy." She made me laugh when we first got to the campsite, though. I had told her that we were going to see Grandma and Grandpa, but I think she is used to seeing my parents (on Skype). After a 3 hour plane ride, spending the night at Aunt Amy's, a 6ish hour drive to Cottonwood, AZ we finally arrived and I said, "There's Grandpa, go give him a hug." She got scared, ran behind the car and exclaimed, "He looks different!!" I guess so.

I explained that she has two grandpas and I think we got it sorted it out now :)


Singing on long the car ride:


Finally! Both girls in the water:



Popsicle at Aunt Amy's:





On a side note:

Thank-you to Aunt Amy for letting us stay at your house. Thank-you Aunt Peggy for the cabins. Thank-you Grandma Debby and Grandpa Tom for the wonderful reunion. Thank-you to Sandy and Steve and Rhonda and Dan and everyone who gave us food. And thinking back to all the fun trips I took as a kid, thank-you to my mom and dad for driving us to Utah faithfully each summer and giving us such wonderful vacations and memories. And for not killing us on the 24+ hour drive.

Memorial Day - Success

1 trip to the beach
1 picnic lunch
1 slip n' slide
1 sun burnt mom
1 hard working dad
2 exotic flavors of brats (cranberry and chicken cordon bleu)
4 piggy tails
5 snowcones
Jello!

For the Grandparents

COLD

What do you do when the weather man provides you with a no-digit forcast - "Hey, It's Just COLD."



You make home-made pizza:



and TRY to protect your ever eagerly climbing 18-month old:



Eventually, you give in and let the girls (and Matt) play in the snow for a bit:






And when the girls get sick, you make afghans to stay warm. It's tiring work:

Little Fingers

Although, I'm not one to enjoy waking up early, there's something sweet about being awakened by the pit-pat-pit of little fingertips on my shoulder. Even if it is at 5:30 in the morning. I love you, Ally Joy.

Christmas Progression

Wow.

What a weekend.

I had an official "Mom" moment while traveling this weekend when I had to remind Ally to "quit touching your sister!" To recap, this year, we decided not to fly anywhere for Christmas. We had initially planned to spend Christmas at home with just the four of us, but Nathan and Natalie invited us to spend Christmas with her family, so we made the four hour drive to Iowa. Their family celebrates with a non-traditional seafood dinner Christmas eve which was delicious, and an interactive Nativity play for the kids. I managed to keep away from work for an entire weekend, play a little Killer Bunnies & Qwirkle. Santa found us (phew) and the girls were very happy with their presents. A little picture recap:

Snow Bunnies - (we made snow angels, but we still haven't made the snow family that Ally wants to make yet. She wants to make a Snow Mommy and Daddy and Ally and Lily. That seems like a lot of work with not a lot of pay-off. We'll see...they sure are cute in their snow-duds though).







Mary and Jack the Donkey




A Shepherd and His Sheep -



Little Sheep -





New Sleeping Bags (where Ally snuggled in and insisted all following presents be brought to her in).





Stocking Loot -




One of Lily's New Outfits -

Merry Christmas

I have failed!!!

Two years ago I sent out our very first Christmas letter. Oh the anticipation and pressure at living up to the level of excellence set by father many Christmases before me! But I tried. I even sent out a second one last year as well. I don't remember if they were funny, or clever, or even interesting, but I sent out love and well wishes to family and friends.

This year I started a letter and ordered pictures to continue the tradition. Maybe not well in advance, but with some time to spare. However, when Matt picked up the pictures from Costco today and to my horror, we all looked a little like demons. I forgot to remove the red eye!!



So now I'm faced with a moral dilemma...do I send out these embarrassing photos just to show that I care? Order more with no guarantee that they'll reach you all in time for Christmas? Or cop out with the latest stamp-free trend and just blog my letter? Well, clearly you know by know that I'm going with option 3. I'm lame. And cheap. So sue me.

Matt:
Was recently accepted to the UW-Platteville and will be starting in January in the Construction Management program. We are relieved/scared to be starting this next chapter...it will be quite the adventure! Still works with the youth group at church and plays basketball once a week.

Sarah:
Still working at Epic full-time. Recently referred her brother Nathan to work there as well, so Nat-Nat (and bun-in-oven) will be moving to Wisconsin soon. Can't wait to play. In her spare time, she reads and stresses and pretends to be crafty.

Ally:
Mom just registered this little gal for Kindergarten. She attends pre-school three days a week, likes to do crafts with mom, loves "Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer" and all things "Christmas Time." She also likes secrets and talking to herself at night.

Lily:
Is crazy. She climbs onto and into everything and also enjoys unloading toyboxes. She loves to snuggle and read stories and give hugs.

Both girls love to Skype and miss their Grandmas and Grandpas.

And we all send our love to friends far and near, we're grateful for your friendship and for the sacrifice of our Lord. Merry Christmas!