The Reese Crew: 2015

Friday, December 25, 2015

Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas! We couldn't wait for Dexton to wake up and we figured he wouldn't mind if we started without him....

We didn't have to wait for long for him. He must have known he was missing out!

Dexton didn't have a ton of presents this year but this beanie was one of our favorites. He looks so stinkin' cute.

And what about those pj bottoms? He might as well head to the North Pole.....

The big gift this year was from Santa. And boy did he hit a homerun! Nothing says joy like seeing how high you can jump! (Kyson - this is your mother speaking: Please return to earth.")

We headed up to Angels Camp after we dragged the kids off the tramp. We met up with all the cousins and kept the celebration going!

One of Shayli's favorite gifts came from Grandma Reese. Fur and sparkles just about sums up Shayli in a nutshell.

We decided Dexton should just stay festive in his cute pjs. He was nice enough to let grandma Reese snuggle with him.....for about 2 seconds.

The family kept busy working on the Giant's stadium jigsaw puzzle all weekend. We didn't finish it but we got a good start on it! Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 21, 2015

Nativity 2015

We did our live Nativity this year in Redbridge and it turned out great as usual. A big thanks to Lynne who always heads it up!

If you look closely, you might recognize a shepherd (Kendri), Mary (Lexi) and baby Jesus (our own little Dexton).

Kyson was an angel for the first time ever.....er, I mean for the production. And Shayli shined bright as she led the shepherds to the our baby Jesus.

Lexi finally had her big debut as Mary. She has been waiting for this moment for the last 3 years. Being big sister to Baby Jesus really helped her lock in the part.

And is it just me, or has baby Jesus never looked sweeter?

Thursday, December 10, 2015

It Ain't Christmas Without the Polar Express

First off, let's admire this white and gold tree that belongs to Gamie. We had a our annual dec-a-thon (I just now named it! Our holiday decorating party happened and this year I helped with this flocked tree upstairs.) Anyhoo, that's all. It's lovely.

I felt a little like I was cheating on my traditional red and gold tree by loving this white tree so much, so I posted a picture of it too. It's also lovely.

And one more thing before we get to the polar express......Dexton started eating solids! Here's pic of his first taste rice cereal. He didn't love it or hate it. He just was so-so about it......

Our little Dexton is also starting to scoot. He made his way over to all the glory and luckily couldn't inflict too much damage due to his height restraints. Stay tuned for next year.....eek!

And as always, the Polar Express was fantastic! We ate at a quaint little restaurant right across the street from the train station and then walked over.

Everyone enjoyed their hot chocolate and story time. We were a little disappointed that the unlimited cookies and hot chocolate wasn't available this time around. One per person. #cheap-o

I have to tell you. This picture was totally planned and staged. I felt like I needed to be documented so I instructed Ryan to take a picture of me pretend reading to my children. And Dexton wasn't interested in reading. He made it quite challenging to look natural....

Shayli loves this baby so much it hurts. She's always wanting to shower him with kisses.

Here is Gamie and Pa with all the grandkids. It was fun to have everyone there this year (minus Reese who was in Hawaii for school).

Overall, another successful trip to the North Pole! HO HO HO!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Gamie Camp 2015 - Pinecrest

This year Gamie Camp took place up in the forests of Pinecrest. We stayed in a cabin and spent our time partying!

Aunt Liz was a big hit again as always! She always has lots of fun crafts for the kids.

All the kids loved the paddle boards and rafts again this year. I dare say we all got our work out in by paddling out to the middle of the lake and back.

This was Dexton's first Gamie Camp and he loved it. Obviously. We spent most of our time together and looking something like this.....

All the girl cousins! We couldn't ask for a cuter group. The lake was pretty busy as usual. We were hoping for less of crowd considering it was mid week. We were out of luck.

Carson and Kyson teamed up with some neighboring boys and managed to build a few rivers and waterfalls. They spent a great deal of time planning their "blueprints".

Say cheese!

Here are few of the crafts that the kids worked on. These are nature decorated masks.....Anyone planning a masquerade party?

Kyson's personal favorite, I'm sure. A rubber band gun that endured several war-fare games.

This game of Twister looks a little too easy if you ask me...

We decided to hike around the lake. We didn't realize it was a 5 mile hike until we were at the half way point. But before we got too pooped out, the kids decided to jump off some rocks and swim. I was nervous about shayli swimming in open waters since she just started swimming this year so Lexi helped keep track of her. She rocked it!

The hike was long but beautiful and we had the perfect weather. Thank goodness, because that's all we had. We managed to pack a couple of waters and some crackers but no where near enough for a 5 hour hike! Dexton came along and I like to think I burned a few baby pounds. But I didn't so it's a good thing there wasn't a scale in the cabin......

The kids were troopers and really no one complained. But they were tired for sure!
And so was I.

Craft time! Bird houses this time.

We started a nice cozy fire.....except that it was so smokey that it actually wasn't nice at all. But we felt obliged to use every available amenity. And don't call us if you ever go camping. We ain't no boy scouts.

One last hurrah before we leave!

We finished Gamie Camp by stopping at a miniature golf course on the way home. Thanks Gamie!! We love you!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Shay-Shay turns 4!

Shayli is 4! And she loves Frozen. You can guess where this is going...

We had a joint bday party at Aunt Jenni's for Uncle Brendan and Shayli. It was quite the swim bash. And Aunt Jenni wasn't even there. They were on vacay.