christmas fun!

Merry Christmas! what a great christmas it was for us as a family! it is crazy to think back to last christmas and kinley was not born yet. we feel so blessed to have 2 amazing, beautiful girls! God has given us 2 girls that bring us more joy then we ever thought possible.

this year was the first year that kya really got the concept of christmas. it has been such a fun season of talking with her about christ's birth! she loved to sing christmas songs and see all the lights up around town. the first thing she does every morning is turn on all the christmas lights around the house! it is going to be a sad day when we take down all out christmas decorations :(

we also talked to kya this year about santa. we told her that santa brings presents for our stockings to celebrate baby jesus birth! we put cookies and milk out for santa and then sat together as a family and read a book about the real meaning of christmas.....JESUS!!

here are some pictures from our christmas day!

the girls on christmas morning!! so fun :)

this year mark and i decided to take on a tradition a lot of people at church are doing. giving 3 gifts on chrismas. a want gift, a need gift and a spiritual gift ! we thought this is yet another reminder to us and to our girls to what christmas is about. just like the wisemen brought 3 gifts. we are very excited to continue this tradition for years to come!

kya's new baby bed :)

kinley and mommy christmas morning

2 of my greatest joys!

merry christmas!!

my baby girl!

kya was so excited for christmas!

kinley was excited too :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

pre christmas :)

this past weekend we started our "prechristmas" parties. marks sister kerry flew in for the weekend to celebrate christmas with the girls. kya always gets so excited to have kerry here! she is always excited to play, read ...we do anything with kerry! poor kerry had some major jet lag and had to deal with a 3- 1/2 year old! kya doesn't really understand the concept of personal space :) it is always a highlight for kya to spend time with kerry!

kerry got the girls these ADORABLE vests from london! she always gets the greatest things for them! i couldn't wait to get these vests on the girls! they actually wore them for the vaneps christmas party on sunday! kya also got some great new books, games, clothes and her first webkinz from the michigan guikemas :) what a spoiled little girl!!

on sunday we had the big vaneps christmas party. it is always a great time to get the entire family together and reconnect with all the fam! kya LOVES these big get togethers. she loves to run and hug and greet each new person that walks through the door. my grand parents flew back from arizona for the party. poor gram came down with the flu during the party, but joined the party for a little while in the evening. we had a great day! today we are laying low resting up for the rest of the parties the rest of the week! here are some pictures from the parties this weekend :)

pics from the christmas program

take 2

here is the 2nd part of kya's song..oops... :)

i was so proud!

last night was kya's first christmas program. she was so excited to get up on stage and sing her little song she had learned. she practiced everyday! the entire family was there to see her and her cousin dylan! i tried to get some video but kept forgetting to look at the camera so it is not the best :) oh well you guys can get the idea! i cannot believe that my baby girl is old enough to be in school!

my beautiful girls!

today i took the girls to get their pictures done. it is always something i so look forward to and dread at the same time! today was nothing different :) this morning kinley did not want to nap, kya tights got a hole in them, my car started acting up on the way to the studio, and kinley decided she was scared of the photographer :) but when it came time to pick our pictures i was so i love with them!! kya is a rock star at posing for pictures and the photographer was awesome at getting some good pictures of kinley despite her fear of the camera. i am so excited to put up the new pictures around the house. now it is time to start getting the envelopes labeled for the christmas cards i ordered today!

so many things to be thankful for...

what a year! i truly feel so blessed! i am married to an AMAZING man, have 2 BEAUTIFUL daughters, and have a WONDERFUL family! i could have never imagined in my greatest dreams to be where i am right now!

we had such a wonderful thanksgiving day! we started the day at home with the girls and then headed to my mom and dad's house for a big vaneps family party! we had so much fun! we love the whole big family scene.... the loud conversations, kids running everywhere, and lots and lots of laughter! we left at the end of a great day and just felt like our hearts were full with joy!

i know i don't take the time out very often to tell people how thankful i am for them. so if you are reading this please know that i love you all and want to thank each of you for being a part of our life! no matter what kind of relationship we have with you. close by or far, if we get to see you often or just keep in touch over the blog :)....thank you! i hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving!

they melt my heart!

i love this time of year! i love the decorations, the parties, the family get togethers, everything! today kya had her thanksgiving party at preschool. she had so much fun! she made a list of the things she was thankful for...dad, mom, sister, friends, and dog. it has been fun talking with her about all the blessings God has given her and us as a family. just in the last week, kya and kinley have really been able to "play" together! since kinley is creeping all over, she can get to where kya is and play with her. it has been so fun to watch the two of them interact. they both love eachother so much. no one can make kinley laugh harder then kya, and for the most part, kya is very sweet and caring with kinley. as a mom, i am so overwhelmed with my love for these girls! no one could have prepared me for what a mothers love would be like! i know so many hard times will come and go...but today was just one of those great days! i just had to snap some pictures of the girls today..they were both so happy and just enjoying life!

big girl sitting in the rocking chair
what a doll!

two of my greatest joys!

she is so grown up!

her hat she made today with the things she is thankful for

are you sure it is november??

i am sitting here with my front and back door open trying to convince myself it is really november! i love colorado!! i cannot believe it is really almost thanksgiving. our life, like everyone else, is so busy and crazy that days, weeks and months seem to fly by! but i feel like i need to work on stopping and taking those moments to cherish today!

well today is a great day! i love the mornings we don't "have" to go anywhere. were i get to lay in bed and feed kinley while kya gets to watch cartoons without any rush! i love taking time in the morning to slowly sip my coffee and enjoy it. unlike so many mornings were i just chug the entire cup in one drink :) kya got to pick out her outfit because i knew we were not going anywhere. she of course picked matching dresses for her and kinley. the problem with kya's dress is that is barely covers her butt :) my little miss whose legs are a mile long has now grown out of her 4t dresses! oh well we threw on some tights and she was good to go :) today is yet another gorgeous colorado day. we opened all the blinds and the doors and have been enjoying this day! i feel so thankful for my life, for having a God that loves me so much that he blesses me all the time!

she's mobile!!

today was a quite a day !! kinley has shown little interest in crawling. she is usually very content to sit on the floor playing with toys. this afternoon she decided she was ready to move :) she made her first attempts at army crawling! by the end of the day she was starting to tuck her legs under her...i have a feeling it is going to be a matter of time before she is into everything!!

9 months!

where did the time go! 9 months!!

kinley i cannot imagine my life without you! you bring so much joy and happiness to our family! i love how you are your own individual...so different from your sister! i would have NEVER guessed how different you two would be. i guess i just assumed that coming from the same mommy and daddy i would just be getting another kya! i love that God made you both so unique! i am amazed at how blessed i am! thanks you for an amazing 9 months i love you baby girl! thank you for

*your beautiful big blue eyes

*your deep voice that makes me laugh coming from such a little body

* the way you love your hands and look at them so intensely

*your huge giggle

*the way your eyes close when you know i am going to tickle you

*for your enormous appetite :)

* the way you look at your sister like she is the best thing ever

*your petite frame...makes me feel like you are still a baby

* the comic entertainment when we are in the car at night and how that makes you soooo angry :)

* not being mobile yet...i think you know mommy is not ready :)

* being so easy going and happy to just sit and play on the floor

*the way your legs never stop kicking

*for being just who you are

WE LOVE YOU KINLEY HUDSON GUIKEMA!!

wow...we are in trouble !

kya is now into the disney "big girl" movies. her cousins have influenced her to start on the track to being a lover of high school musical and now camp rock. auntie dana made us a cd with the camp rock song on it and kya has been listening to it and loving it. mark brought home camp rock last night and kya LOVED IT! last night she as performing in full force to the movie. mark and were laughing and also scared as she was shaking her bootie to the songs. at one point she rolled up her yoga paints to be SHORT bootie shorts, put on her high heel princess shoes and was moving her hips like a pro. mark and i looked at each other and just said "OH NO". we kind of wish we could freeze her! those teenage years are going to be SCARY!! well here is a taste of her and her "moves" :) enjoy....

fall festival with friends

our church had a hoe-down fall festival last night. we invited mandy, tommy and kate to come along for the fun night ( jake was working ). it is so nice because tommy and kya are 1 week apart and kate and kinley are about a month apart, so they all have so much fun together! kya was so excited that tommy was going to get to come along. they get along great and had such a great time together! the kids got balloon swords, got their face painted, did some country dancing, bobbed for apples, jumped in the jump house, went on a hayride, did a ton of games, and ended the night getting a lot of candy...what fun!

getting ready to go inside for the party
kinley and kate all ready to roll in :)
the girls playing with each other

the cute couple
on the hayride

mama's and the babies on the hayride

the girls started drawing a crowd...they were so cute :)

tommy and kya fishing...tommy LOVED this game!

the adorable girls hanging out in the balls!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

we had such a great day. kya started off the day heading to a friends house for a halloween playdate! she got to make cupcakes, do crafts, jump in a bounce house and over all just have a great time with her little "girlfriends" :) kya could not wait to put on her costume, but i didn't want it to get all dirty before the fall festival...so i let her pick out a dress up outfit from her toy box. she was so excited she got to dress up 2 times for halloween ! kinley was a pink octopus...she loved playing with all her legs and trying to stuff them into her mouth! so fun !!