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We’ve had a pretty mild winter until the end of January, when we were slammed with over 2 feet of snow. Sledding in the back yard was in full swing with all of the neighbors coming over to enjoy the hill.
Lauren with some neighbors

Snow bed.
Sadly, Lauren ended a day of sledding by slamming right into our swing set. She knocked three teeth loose, but not stitches were needed, thank goodness. 
Dave has also taken Sophie skiing a few times this winter. She’s getting pretty good. They moved from the bunny hill to a green hill during their last trip. 

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 We spent Christmas this year at the Sharp’s in New Jersey. The morning was great with the girls opening the zillion presents they got.

Lauren in her new nightgown and earmuffs 

Sophie’s favorite present was this wallet – probably because it had some money in it from Nana. 
The weather was amazing – in the 60s. We took a mid-day walk to the little beach near the Sharp’s house. Here are the girls in their Christmas outfits. 

Christmas dinner included the whole clan.

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The Nutcracker is becoming a tradition for us. This was the third time that Sophie has seen it, and Lauren’s first. This year we had a special treat and got to go back stage to meet some of the dancers during intermission. I’m not sure who was more excited – me or the girls. 
Before the show

Getting ready for the second half

The dancers were really great. This woman was complimenting Lauren on her dress. 

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 Before Christmas we took a weekend and went to NY.  We did all of the touristy holiday stuff, including Rockefeller Center. 
Revisiting the proposal spot with the girls – almost 13 years to the day later!
And the best part of the trip was meeting new baby Kish, who was born just before Thanksgiving. The girls loved holding him. 

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Today Lauren celebrated her 3rd birthday with her friends from school at Philly InMovement, the same gym we’ve had Sophie’s birthday for the last two years. She had a great time jumping around with her friends. At first Sophie was sad to be the only “big” kid there, but then she realized she could show everyone the ropes.

The Big (almost) 3 year old! 

Lauren & Sophie demonstrating “tree” for the group

The girls showing how a handstand is done. 
She had a second party celebration at school. In her class birthdays are a big deal. She made her own birthday hat and Sophie got to come in a visit during the celebrations. 
The birthday girl

Sister love
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Sophie and Lauren have been taking ballet for about 3 months, and Sophie had the chance to perform in the school’s annual holiday performance of The 12 Days of Christmas. She was a drummer. Although she was super nervous leading up to the big day, she did a great job and had a good time. She even told me afterward that “it was pretty fun.” I’ll consider that a success.

Here’s the little drummer girl

With her friend Rachael

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We were down in Virginia this year for Thanksgiving. It was a big crew, as usual. Doug, Vickie, Quinn, Carley, Nana, our friends Carl, Amanda, Gianna, and Ella from North Carolina, and Aleen and Yvonne were all there.

We deep fried the turkey again this year. It think it might be the 5th or 6th year we’ve done that. It’s always delicious. Doug was the turkey master again. I think he waits all year for this. He was out there for hours getting the oil and the turkey just right. But time worth spent because it was super tasty.

Doug lowering the turkey

The weather was amazing and we got to spend a lot of time outside. We took a few hikes and just enjoyed my parent’s amazing property. It was also an opportunity to try and get a cousin picture. Alas, more failed attempts… Why they can’t all smile and look at the camera at once is beyond me.

Ariana is highly skeptical of her cousins. 
Lauren has clearly had enough. 

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Dave had his annual sales meeting in Florida again, this time in Clearwater, so we made a mini-vacation of it and the whole family went down for 5 days. The weather was beautiful! We had 2 days with the whole family, and then 2 days with just me and the girls while Dave was in his meetings. We hit the pool early and stayed the entire day – it was lovely.

Carl, who works with Dave, brought his wife, Amanda, and their kids, Gianna and Ella. Sophie and Gianna get along famously, which was really nice.

Sophie, Gianna, Ella & Lauren in an chair perfect for 4 friends

We took a boat trip to a little island where the girls found shells (you can see Sophie and Gianna’s skirts are full of them). We also saw dolphins on our way back, and a bunch of cool birds. 

The best shot I was able to get of the girls. Beautiful morning walk on the beach before hitting the pool. 

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