Leah is 9!

Leah turned 9 yesterday, but we've been celebrating her special day all week!  The festivities began last weekend in Williamsburg, as we concluded Cousins' Christmas weekend with a party for our birthday girl:

Bean and Poppy made adorable beach-themed cupcakes and Leah opened presents from her Winterhoff fans: 

One of Leah's birthday presents was a new bike from Bean & Poppy (they stealthily transported it to our house earlier this fall and it's been hiding in our attic ever since).  Leah couldn't wait to ride it once we returned home this week and declared, "This bike is AWESOME!"

PERFECT for our turquoise-loving girl!

Leah's birthday fell on the last Saturday of Winter Break this year, and we loved being with her on this day filled with her favorite things.  Leah requested a dog theme for her birthday festivities, and woke up to find "party dogs" everywhere!   

  Doesn't she just look older here?!

Our very own Party Dog! 

We had our family party in the morning and the kids had fun playing with Leah's new toys:

Leah's basketball team, the Fireballs, won their game in the afternoon.  We love watching these girls play, and we brought birthday treats to share after the game:

Luke photobombing the team!

In lieu of a big party, Leah requested a "play date" with her three best friends to celebrate her birthday.  After the basketball game, we took these girls to Spare Time for an afternoon of laser tag and arcade:

Leah's dinner choice was Rio Grande, where she was treated to a special dessert, serenaded, and given the giant sombrero to wear:

We continued Leah's birthday weekend fun this afternon with a date to see Frozen 2 with Daddy, followed by birthday cake:

Peanut, 

We love you so much.  You are the easiest child, and you bring so much joy to everyone who knows you.  You are witty, intuitive, intelligent, and compassionate.  You love puppies, school, sports, reading, and your family.  You are extraordinary, and we love watching you grow up.  We can't wait to see what the next year will bring for you and know that there are great things ahead!  

Happy Birthday, precious girl!  

Love, Mommy, Daddy, Luke, and Millie

Happy 2020!

Happy New Year!  Cheers to a new DECADE!

Celebrating with the European countdown (which works better with our early bedtimes!) 

Millie looks thrilled about the outfit requirements for her first NYE!

These precious babies have been donning the same festive NYE accessories for years!

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2020!

Cousins' Christmas 2019

After our Pennsylvania Christmas, we drove to Williamsburg for Cousins' Christmas weekend.  Once upon a time, this was called Brothers Christmas (named after Mark and his brothers), but the name has appropriately evolved (as it truly belongs to the cousins now!) and it is a highly anticipated part of our holiday traditions.  Each year, we join family friends at Sportsmans Grille to catch up and have dinner:

On Friday, the kids opened presents from Bean & Poppy: 

So excited about his new watch!

Teenager in training.

She sits in the same chair every year!

New books!

Please tell my little bookworm to stop growing up, please!

 On Saturday morning, we had the Winterhoff cousins gift exchange:

They still look like twins!

I love the next three pictures.  You can just see how much they laugh and love being together:

The weather was nice and there was time to play outside and with new toys:

Leah perfected her pogo stick skills!

Assembling his new catapult.

Then there was this Doodle.  Millie met her aunts, uncles, and cousins at her first Cousins' Christmas, and is certainly a social butterfly.  She gave so many kisses and affectionate snuggles to everyone, and was an awesome addition to our family celebration:

Millie may have been the most photographed family member of the weekend!

Meeting Aunt Sara.

Kisses for Lauren.

Serious conversation with Gabe.

Doodle hug.

She thinks she is a lap dog!

Our fluffy girl.

On Saturday afternoon, we had the Offutt Family Christmas party at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob's clubhouse.  This game was a special way to keep Great Grammy and Great Granddad's legacy alive and present at the party.  Each envelope contained a scratch off lottery ticket (Great Granddad's favorite!) and money for the kids to buy a Christmas gift (thank you, Great Grammy!).  How happy they must be looking down from heaven at their special great grandchildren, who are ALL such kind, fun kids!  

There was a cousins gift exchange and Talent Show at the family party, as well:

The ladies even had an opportunity to sit and chat while the guys kept the kids busy outside:

On Sunday, we had church at Bean & Poppy's house to celebrate Baby Jesus' birthday and then a party for Leah (in my birthday blog post).  Such great memories with our Winterhoff family celebrating Christmas 2019!