Neela: Dance Star of the Week

When you follow the alphabet, Neela comes after Kylie -- and it was Neela's turn to be the "Dance Star of the Week" the week after Kylie!  Neela was a bit more shy than Kylie, but managed to get in just as many fun dance moves as Kylie, and did not miss out on spinning, either! 

Of course, Kylie was front and center during Neela's dance, just like Neela was for Kylie... and Aunt Angie came to watch again :-)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Can we blow out your candles AND eat your cake??

Mommy... why don't you put 39 candles in Daddy's cake?  He's not 9!!

The Black Friday Shrine Circus

Daddy did a little Black Friday shopping, and some online shopping... We played outside in the snow in the morning.  In the afternoon, Mommy took us to the Shrine Circus with Papa, Grandma, Uncle Cory, Aunt Heidi and our cousins.

Mommy had the 3 year olds and the 5 year olds in her car with Grandma, and we beat everyone else to the show.  (Kylie and Neela pointed out this "sorting" and "pattern" using the 3 year olds and the 5 year olds...)We could not WAIT to walk in, but we had to...

We found our first clown while we were waiting... 

...and the second a few minutes after we walked in the door...

Once we found a place to sit, we watched people riding ponies and elephants on the arena floor... Kylie could not get enough of it, and really wanted to go for a ride herself.  It was pretty hard to draw our attention away from the floor for pictures - even for a few seconds... even "monkey faces" did not seem to work!

Even with encouragement, we still did not want to smile!!

Papa promised us a "treat"... he found cotton candy!  We also had popcorn :-)

Our favorite parts of the circus...

Kylie: The Dancing Ladies, the man juggling fire and the Human Cannon Ball!

Brooke: the Human Cannon Ball

Neela: The baby horses and the Human Cannon Ball

(Do you see a theme???)

After the circus, we went to Aunt Angie's house for pizza, milk and play time!  Mommy brought ALL the kids home, and almost everyone was alseep before we got there :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It's Thanksgiving Day!  A Berger tradition has always been the "Turkey Trot".  Mommy really wanted to try a 5K in 2012, and convinced Aunt Angie to join her... then Grandma Banana and Aunt Heidi thought it would be fun, too!  So, the "Turkey Trot" got a new spin - a 5K charity walk around Lake Como - with the option to join other Berger's later in the morning!

Here they are ready to walk...

...and crossing the finish line!  Aunt Angie actually crossed twice - once running, and once walking :-)

After crossing the finish line, they found Uncle Tony.  Then, they walked back to "Big" Grandma and "Big" Papa Berger's bench overlooking the lake... the race photographer came over and took a few great pictures...  

After the Turkey Trot, it was time to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner!  Everyone got dressed in their Thanksgiving outfits, then headed over to Aunt Carol and Uncle Mark's for the "Big Berger" meal!  Each family was asked to bring "something" to serve 40!!  We brought mashed sweet potatoes and wine :-)  Yummy!

Mommy sat at the "grown-up" kids table, Daddy sat at a "mixed" table, and we sat at the "little kids" table.  Brooke came to find Mommy, sat on Uncle Tony's lap, and spilled a glass of milk all over Mommy!  So much for dress pants and dress clothes for Mommy and Brooke!

The day started to get chillier, but we did manage to snap a few pictures on the deck before it got dark and super cold!  Everyone looked so nice in their dress clothes...

Uncle Tony, Mommy, Aunt Angie, & Aunt Heidi

Having a little fun posing!

Most of Mommy's Berger Cousins:
Aunt Angie, Kristine, Mike, Aunt Heidi, Ashley, Katy, Patrick, Mommy, Uncle Tony & Sean
Only Brian and Eric were missing!!

We had not seen Uncle Tony in a while - and we had a lot of fun playing with him!!

...and helping with his beer!

Aunt Angie had to bring 6 pies... Grandma was cutting them, and Papa showed Brooke the best way to taste test... put your hand in the pie!

Daddy and the boys enjoyed watching football in the basement, and we found a few toys in the laundry room, too!

Kylie & Daddy

Mommy & Neela

When it was time for the hot dog roast (another tradition, mostly a Guggisberg tradition that is now a Berger tradition), Uncle Mark and Papa started the fire.  Most of the kids got their "cold" gear on, and headed outside - and several of the "big kids" ventured out, too.  We were so excited to see it started SNOWING while we were inside today!  The snow was heavy and wet - perfect for snowballs and snowmen!  Uncle Tony and Uncle Cory helped us with throwing snowballs, and even threw Mommy in the snow!!

After we finished with snow, we made snow angels!!  Then, we roasted hot dogs - and Neela ate 10 marshmallows!!  That's what happens when Papa is in charge by the fire!  Mommy did the "hot dog run" back and forth for the grown-ups in the house who did not want to venture out...

Then, it was time to put on our matching Christmas PJs (green this year!), and head home. 

Giving thanks for our aunts, uncles, cousins, family and friends... Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thankful Turkeys

Families were invited to school to help their kids make "thankful turkeys."  Unfortunately, Kylie had a pretty bad cold, and stayed home.  Mom went to help Neela put her turkey together, and brought home all the instructions to help Kylie make her's!

Neela was thankful for Brooke, Daddy, Mommy, Kylie, Addison and Dominique.

Kylie was thankful for Emma, Neela, Bonnie, Dad, Brooke, Cy, Mom, Addison, Kaitlynn, Grandma, Chuckie, Layna, and Mrs. Hjemeland.

While at school, Mommy also found the family portraits...

Neela's Family Portrait

Kylie's Family Portrait

They are growing up so fast!!

Kylie: Dance Star of the Week

Each week at dance class, one of the students is selected as the "star" and gets to lead the class in a dance.  This week, it was Kylie's turn.  Kylie selected the Cinderella song, and proceeded to lead everyone in several dance moves with LOTS of spins mixed in!

Mommy, Daddy and Aunt Angie all made it to watch Kylie's debut performance! 



Taking Santa for a Ride!

Daddy brought the ladder truck to Woodbury Lakes, and we met him at the bank.  The truck looked all shiny, and was lit up with emergency lights.  We ran over to take a family picture, and climbed in the back to get warm.  Mommy told us we got to ride on the fire truck in a little parade.

But... Daddy must be really good friends with Santa Claus!  We saw him drive up, and then he walked right over to the fire truck.  We tripped over each other trying to get out and see him... we were so excited!

It got even better... Santa got in the front seat of the fire truck with Daddy!  We got to talk to him.  He showed us his baby clothes, and his teddy bear (with a pierced ear!).  Brooke told Santa she loved him, and Santa told Brooke he loved her.  Daddy drove the truck down the seat, Santa said, "Ho, ho, ho - Happy Holidays"... we waved at everyone outside.  We delivered Santa to his house - and other kids got to see Santa then.

After we climbed out of the truck, we sat on the front of the truck with all the other kids who were riding with us.

Then... FIREWORKS!  No one told us about fireworks!

It's time for the holidays!