Christmas Fun!

We have had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas and have done some pretty fun stuff!  We are so busy during the week that we have really gotten to where we protect our weekends for some good family time.  Now we have 2 weeks off and are excited to be together.  A couple of weeks ago, we went to a shopping center that was giving carriage rides with miniature horses.  The girls had a great time and loved seeing the horses.  After the carriage ride, we ate dinner at Pei Wei which is one of our favorites.  Then, we ended the night with a dessert at the Pie Bar.  All in the same shopping center and so much fun!  

 

 

 

 Gabe and Sadie on the carriage. 

 Claire and Me.   

 

 And the Pie Bar.  It is seriously sooooo good. 

 

 

We also attempted Gingerbread houses for the first time. We are not exactly the most patient people when it comes to art projects and we are definitely not engineers or architects so the Gingerbread houses were done...um...Gillespie style. We did get them together and the girls did get candy decorations on them, but they sure didn't last long. Luckily when they fell down, Gabe just said, "You get to eat the candy now!" That quickly took care of any sadness because they fell down and all was well. We're making some Christmas memories!

 

 

 Sadie decorating.

 

 Claire decorating.

 

The final product. 



Claire turns 3!

We now have a 3 year old and a 5 year old at the Gillespie house!  It's hard to believe.  We had Claire's birthday party last weekend at one of her favorite places... where she goes to Gymnastics!  She absolutely loves gymnastics and was super excited to have her birthday party there.  She has a sweet friend, Mia, and they are just a few days apart so we had a combined birthday party.  Both girls had tons of fun and ran around the gym with each other the whole time.  Part of the time they were just running in circles on the big mat in the middle and were loving it! 

 

Claire has grown so much this year and is such a little girl now.  She told me the other day, "Mama, you can't pick me up anymore, I three years old."  That didn't last too long as Claire loves to be held.  She has a way of working her way into laps or climbing up legs so that she is being held.  She also loves playing with Sadie and making sure she is not missing out on anything that her big sister might be doing.  She makes up laugh everyday and sometimes it is very difficult to keep a straight face when a straight face is needed...and there are many times that a straight face is needed.  Claire is definitely our child that will try to get away with things and Sadie is always right there to tell us about it.  We are blessed more than we can say.  We know that God has big plans for Claire and we are thankful.   

 

 

 

 

 Jumping and jumping.

 

 Claire and Mia taking a rest.

 

 Sadie in the pit. 

 Our attempt at a group picture.  What were we thinking?

 

 After Hannah was thrown in the pit. 

 

 Ready for some cupcakes. 

 Blowing out their candles. 

 

 Mia wanted sprinkle donuts so we had cupcakes and donuts.  Yummm.

 

 Finished with the cupcake.   Gotta love pink icing. 

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Headed home.  Claire took a great 2 hour nap.  Turning 3 took a lot of energy!