Pre-school pictures

Addie has had a wonderful year at Little Lights Early Christian Learning Center .
She has loves every day there and comes home singing & quoting Bible verses! Here are her school pictures to remember this fun year! Her best friends have been Savannah, Haylee & Katerina.

Back in the game

Winter is over, it's beautiful out and soccer has begun!

ready to play!

break time

Addie was very excited to start soccer again. We could see that she felt much more confident this session and was more comfortable in the game. When it was over, she pouted and exclaimed that she only got ONE goal! 

Cali Grandparents Visit

The turn of the year is slightly chaotic for the Mercers with the holidays, then Addie's birthday just after Christmas. About a week after that Kassie and Addie flew to Minnesota for the weekend.  A week after that it was Brian's birthday, and then a week after that he had (another) knee surgery putting him on the sidelines for about 2 weeks.  Thankfully a week after his surgery his parents flew out to help entertain the kids and give Kassie a chance to catch a breather.

Unfortunately Snowmageddon 2012 also arrived the same night, and the whole family was snowed in for the duration of their visit.  But we made the best of it, getting out in the snow when we could handle the cold temps and even hitting up the Denver Aquarium during the Superbowl (and it was awesome!).  It was Mason's first trip to the Aquarium and since everyone was watching the Superbowl we didn't have to battle crowds at all.

It was a great extended weekend and the kids (and grandparents) had a blast.

yes, the aquarium also has tigers!

Addie's "Taylor Swift Stage"

So one day I was talking with Addie about what she wanted to do that afternoon; color, watch a movie, ride her scooter? She replied "Will you build me a stage like Taylor Swift, with a big red curtain so I can get ready behind it and then come and sing?"

uh...

I was doubtful but with Kassie's encouragement I decided to take on the task (not that afternoon but as a Christmas present).

It was a pretty simple task; take one wooden pallet, cover it with plywood, then take some wood laminate flooring and cover the whole thing.  We also decided to build a curtain setup with some PVC and curtains. Kassie found some cool microphone/speaker combos on Woot.com and BAM! we have the setup (a little less grand than Taylor Swift).

So here it is, the Addie Mercer Stage:







Mason Dance Moves

First MN visit of 2012

Recently, Addie has started asking why she doesn't get to see her grandparents very often. She doesn't understand why other kids in her school can see theirs anytime they want. Of course, this broke our hearts. Though unable to visit over the holidays, Addie & Kassie arranged a quick weekend getaway to MN in early January. Addie was SO excited. She especially couldn't wait to see her cousins, Henri & Stella...and their toys.

this is her new look for the camera. I call it the "mona lisa"

coloring with grandma

Addie & Grandma

Addie & Great-grandma

more mona lisa...

bundled up for MN in January!

fun at the trampoline park...

dance party!

you'd never guess that Addie is actually the older cousin! (by only a couple months)

showing Henri how to use her camera-it's was a hit! Here are a few of the snapshots they took:

again, look how tall he is!

couldn't get enough of Stella's dollhouse...still talks about it!

fell alseep on the way to the airport

who can sleep like this?!

sporting her new Hello Kitty gear