yeah for gift cards!

Soph likes her crazy "toe socks". She sometimes uses them as gloves. Thanks, Great Uncle Ted!
This is what Soph picked out at the Disney Store with her gift cards. (she also got a snow white shirt that didn't make it into the photo)
Emma's gift cards were burning a hole in her pocket! She REALLY wanted a Prince Naveen frog to go with her Princess Tiana frog. She also picked out a Tiana nightgown, a plush Sleeping Beauty and was SO sweet to pick something out for me...the firefly, Ray, from the Princess and the frog movie. She chose that for me because she knew he was my favorite character from the movie. When she was scouring the store for what she wanted she started to go over her limit and I told her she needed so put something back. I thought for sure she would put back Ray, but she didn't even think about it. I was so proud of her and thought it was just so sweet of her to "buy" Ray for me. He is expected to sleep in bed with me every night.

Thanks, Great Uncle Ted and Great Uncle Gary for the gift cards!!

Zhu Zhu pet incident

Soph put the her Zhu Zhu pet up to Emma's head and got her hair tangled in the wheels. I had to laugh when I turned it over to try to get her hair out and found the warning. :) Poor Emma. She only lost a few hairs.

Misc. Christmas

Here is a note to Santa, chocolate milk and cookies.
Ready for Santa.
Emma's note to Santa.
The girls making Christmas brownies.
The girls putting out "Reindeer Food" near the chimney.

Christmas at the Capens

Soph latched on to Abby's baby for a while after opening presents.
How fun!
All the grandkiddos
...added to this post. This is what the girls got each other for Christmas. (matching Ariel nightgowns)
I can't believe how old Emma looks!

Christmas Morning

Emma was the most excited we have ever heard her when she came running into our room to say that Santa had been here and left presents! We actually got to sleep until 8:15! She opened her stocking before waking Soph up. Soph was most impressed by the fact that all the cookies and chocolate milk were gone. Emma shared her dress up dresses with Soph so they could be fancy when opening the rest of the presents.
Watching Daddy open his watch from all of us.

The stocking is as tall as she is!
Just too exciting!

Tiny Dancer

Emma had her first dance recital, "The Nutcracker" before Christmas. Her class was the second class to dance on stage and they danced to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Emma wasn't nervous at all. It was so funny to watch them up there because none of them could see their instructor down in the front. They were going off of each other and some just sang. Very cute! I think Emma was more excited to wear real makeup!

Nikki and Abhay's Wedding

We had such a wonderful time in Philly for Nikki and Abhay's wedding. On Wednesday we flew out and went to Abhay's parents house in NJ for the Mehendi (henna) ceremony. It took about 6 hours for all of Nikki's henna to be drawn on. Each of the bridesmaids also got henna tattoos, but only on our palms.

On Thursday we were free for sightseeing. Tim and I grabbed a late breakfast and just walked around the empty streets. We thought the Liberty Bell would be closed, but surprisingly it was open and we got to see that as well as Independence Hall. That evening the "American" guests had dinner at Maggiano's.

9:30 Friday morning was the ceremony. The girls had to be ready at 7:30 to have time to have help putting our saris on. That took some time to get us all dressed.

The ceremony was about 2 hours and in sanskrit. Thank goodness there was an interpreter so we had some idea of what was going on!

After the ceremony, we had lunch and then a bit of downtime. Tim, Brian and Corey made their way to Gino's, the best place in Philly to get a cheesesteak sandwich. They waited in line for 30min. I laid on the bed, not moving in fear of messing up my sari, and dozed off while watching bits of a James Bond marathon.

The reception was at the National Constitution Center and was so much fun! The DJ was awesome, playing a mix of Indian and "American" music. There was a photo booth, too!

Overall, it was a wedding not to be missed!

Brandi, Nik (in her reception outfit) and me. The reception was held at the National Constitution Center. Everything was beautiful! The DJ was awesome, too. We had such a great time.
Nik after getting into her dress for the reception. Her skirt was so heavy from all that beadwork!
The ceremony stage (mandap)

Nikki's dad, Tom, escorting her to her place on the mundap.

This was just an entrance arch into the ceremony room (a ballroom).

Me, Brandi and Michelle (another friend from grade school)
One of the aunties helping me into my sari.
Me and Brandi at Maggiano's for Thanksgiving dinner.

Nikki's Wedding

Tim and I had lunch here because he wanted to try a beer that was made with George Washington's recipe. It was pretty good...as dark at Guiness but not as thick.

"The Signer"
The Liberty Bell
Nikki's henna only partially done. She also had the tops of her forearms and her feet and ankles. It took about 6 hours total to complete....probably why they dedicate a whole ceremony for it!
Nima (Abhay's mom) looking at the work so far.

Trick or Treat!

We had a change of costume plans due to the cold weather. Instead of princesses, Emma and I, while at Walmart, decided that they should be kitties. Emma found kitty ears and a tail so I helped her find warm sweatpants and lot of layers! I made her wear a black snow hat so she actually looked more like a burglar than a cat, especially before her face was painted. We started to call her "Cat Burglar."

Soph could barely fit into an old fleece lion costume we had. So we just needed to paint her face and she was good.
We trick or treated with cousins, Olivia and Abby, and friends, Phoenix and Reagan.
Ariel made the trip trick or treating with us.