Yee-Haw

It was a cowboy birthday for Nigel's friend, Max today at the Bauer Ranch. Nigel sported his stud-duds and headed to the corral. Sheriff Bauer and his lil' lady threw a real nice party!

American Girl!

In this week of giving and receiving, one gift stood alone in the eyes of a certain 8 year-old girl named Lily. Over the past few years she has spent countless hours pouring over American Girl catalogues. We even went to the massive American Girl Place on Michigan Avenue in Chicago this year and walked out empty-handed. And just at the point when she truly believed that owning her own doll was only a dream, the UPS man arrived with a special package from Lily's great-grandmother Marylea. And......well.....the pictures tell the story better than words.......

Thank you Grandma.

1st Piano Recital

Lily performed in her first piano recital last week. She has only taken lessons for 4 weeks and managed to play 3 pieces beautifully. If she felt nervous, it didn't really show. I have the feeling that Isaac and I will be spending countless hours in auditoriums in the years to come, not warming benches at soccer games. See the video here:

Lily dances her first Nutcracker

Lily's dream of dancing the Nutcracker came true this month. She danced as a young boy in the party scene. She has quite a flare for dancing and theatre arts, so this was a thrill for her. Nigel sported his new holiday suit and went to the ballet too.

Nigel the jumper

Having fun with a Mac and a boy who's part rock star and part jellyfish.