Our little gymnasts

Here are some pictures from Rachel and Lydia's most recent gymnastics class at the local rec. center. They really seem to enjoy gymnastics and have done a great job in the class.

Rachel, Charity, and Lydia play around before class starts

Little monkeys

Lydia walking across the balance beam all by herself

Rachel demonstrating flexibility on the bar

Stretching with the rest of the class

Whirlwind Weekend

I've been meaning to post about a fun weekend we had a few weeks ago but I haven't gotten around to it until now. Kenny and I were able to go see a play in Ford's Theatre. The theatre has been under renovation for awhile and just barely reopened. We saw a play about Abraham Lincoln that was written especially for Lincoln's 200th birthday and the grand reopening of Ford's Theatre. It was a really neat experience.

This is the box seat where Lincoln was shot.

The next day was Engineering Family Day at the National Building Museum in downtown D.C. Being that Kenny is an engineer, he was excited to take the kids to this. There were a lot of great hands-on activities for kids in all different engineering fields. Lydia and Rachel turned out to be little engineers and had a lot of fun.

Rachel and Lydia with a bridge they built

Later that day, my parents came to visit us for a few days. We really enjoyed having them here with us and I appreciated all the help they gave us while they were here (including my mom single-handedly mending every last clothing item in my mountainous mending pile that I had left for months and just couldn't seem to find time to do....thanks Mom!).

All the girls with Grandpa and Grandma

Some fun things we do

What the Reese family has been doing lately for fun....

Holding tea parties

Building flowers, trains, tents, you name it...with Tinker Toys

Looking at amazing artwork (here Kenny stands
beside a Van Gogh original)

Running on the National Mall

And finally (our kids' favorite) playing at parks

Happy 4th Birthday!

It's hard to believe Rachel and Lydia are now four years old. They've grown so much over the last four years. They had a wonderful birthday and loved all the extra attention. Their favorite part of the celebration was a birthday party with their friends a few days before their birthday.

Our family four years ago

Just a couple weeks old- they connected from the start

Lydia taking a whack at the pinata at their party
while Rachel stands ready to catch the candy

Opening presents from their friends

The morning of their birthday- modeling their new
skirts I made for them (thanks to Sarah for the pattern)

Sitting at their new princess table

Playing in the snow- this was the biggest snowstorm
we've had since we've been here (pathetic, I know)
but the girls enjoyed the snow while the entire city
shut down for this "monstrous" couple of inches

Here's Lydia and Rachel by the house cake they
requested that I make for them this year.

Latest excursions

We are having a great time seeing the sights here in the D.C. area. It still is crazy to us that we live within driving distance of all these amazing, historical places. Here are a few pictures from our latest excursions.

Iwo Jima Memorial

Festival of Lights at the Washington D.C. temple

Arlington National Cemetery

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery

Air and Space Museum

Merry Christmas!

Our family has had a wonderful Christmas season. The kids are at fun ages and they've made Christmas extra magical. It's been fun to have them help me bake goodies and I've enjoyed listening to them sing Christmas carols as they play. I love this time of year we have to reflect on our Savior Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us. We enjoyed a relaxing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and loved being together as a family. The only thing missing was snow!

This picture was taken earlier this month at our ward
Christmas party. Obviously, Charity was a little nervous
about the man with the white beard.

Charity checking out her stocking

Rachel opening a present

Santa actually brought this couch for Charity,
but Lydia lounged like this all morning.

Charity is starting to enjoy trying clothes on.
Here she tries on a new pair of pants.

New sunglasses make these girls
look bound for stardom

I made tutus for the girls this year and they seem to like
them (thanks to Anneka for the idea). Even Charity knew to
begin twirling when she put it on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving. We had so much fun hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the first time and having some of our good friends over. Our family has so much to be thankful for and I'm grateful for this time of year that reminds us of how blessed we are.

The kids anxiously awaiting the meal

Chatting after the meal (Kenny is taking the picture)

Sarah brought supplies so the kids could make cookie turkeys