Day Three-Hundred and Fifty-Nine: Merry Christmas!

Our morning started at 8:01AM.  One little girl in a pink nightie jumped out of her sleeping bag by the tree and went to make sure all the gifts were still there.  That little girl had not fallen asleep until 3AM making her parents very, very tired.

This was the scene at 8:04AM.  Everybody had taken their places and were ready to start.  One little girl was so excited she crawled back in her sleeping bag and covered her head.

And so it began, the ripping and tearing.  By looking at these pictures you can see our girls take opening their gifts very seriously.  i couldn't get them smiling in any of the pictures.

By 8:38AM it was done and we moved on to preparing breakfast.  On the menu.... American Girl Parfaits!  Natalie helped make them while Kaitlin went up to get ready for church.

A very joyful morning it was.  By 9:30AM we were ready to go to church! My only regret was not taking a picture of the whole family before leaving for church.  But I leave you with with this one of my beautiful big girl.

Tonight we will continue the celebrations with our big Secret Santa Reveal Party.  

Merry Christmas to All!

Day Three-Hundred and Fifty-Eight: Christmas Eve

... all is calm, all is bright?

Not much "calmness" going here tonight. 

The picture above shows the state Natalie was in a little bit before midnight.  She was literally busting at the seams with excitement.  

We had a nice dinner at my sister's house with family and friends.  It was fun and relaxing at the same time.  I wish I could show you pictures of the nice table decorations she set up, or the massive amount of desserts there were, or the fun we had playing Bible Apples to Apples, but I can't, because I left my camera at home. [sigh].

We came back home very late and hurried to open one gift [Christmas PJs] before it turned midnight.  Here is Joel in his overly tired, sugar-stuffed state.

  

These two little girls are growing up so fast! This is the first year their Christmas PJ's don't match.  Kaitlin is now out of most "children" sizes.


Wishing you a Christmas morning full of joy and wishes come true!

Day Three-Huncred and Fifty-Three

Ready to go deliver Christmas Cookies to some of our friends.  We spent a week baking cookies for this.  Lots of work, but very worth it.

Day Three-Hundred and Fifty-Two

Sabbath morning, right before leaving for church.

Day Three-Hundred and Fifty

Natalie performed "Jingle Bells" at her Christmas Piano Recital.

Day Three-Hundred and Forty-Six

Daddy prepared this "fancy" lunch for us after we came back from performing the Christmas Cantata at another church.

Day Three-Hundred and Forty-Five

By our church's Christmas Tree after the Children's Choir Cantata.  This is the first year for the last 9 years that Kaitlin did not participate.  It makes me a little sad.  Hopefully I have some years left with Natalie [grin].

Day Three-Hundred and Forty-Two

These are the mini trees the girls put in their rooms this year.  One girl let mommy help set hers up, the other girl didn't [grin].  Can you guess which was which?

Day Three-Hundred and Forty-One: Deck the Halls

The tree is finally done!  Putting the lights on wasn't my favorite [grin].  I had this "vision" of a silver and red tree, but at the end I decided against buying new ornaments and instead just using the eclectic ones we have accumulated through the years. 

I'm not the sentimental type but here are a few of the ornaments that have more meaning for me.

I love this Willow Tree ornament Joel got us after Natalie was born.  I like seeing a representation of our little family of four.

I also love this Fontanelli a client from work gave me many years ago. 

A couple of years ago I started the tradition to get the girls a new Christmas ornament each year.  They now look forward to it.  Here are Kaitlin's from the last two years.

Natalie loved her first Barbie one so much, I decided to keep the tradition of giving her a Barbie one each year.

This one is a simple one a little boy from my Sabbath School Class gave me several years ago.  I love it because it reminds me that I do have some influence on the little people I minister to in church.  I remember his mom telling me how he chose to give it to me rather than a family member that year. I was surprised because he was one of those "little terrors" that you thought was never paying attention, but he was.

I'm also done with the mantel.  I have gotten mixed reviews on it.  Some people love it, some people think it is too much.  What do you think?

Day Three-Hundred and Thirty-Nine: O' Christmas Tree!

We started the tradition of driving out to the Tree Farm and getting a fresh Christmas tree the year Kaitlin was born. In 2004, after an unfortunate incident with our very naughty puppy, I went out and got our pre-lit tree and never looked back. Earlier this year our basement got flooded and the tree got damaged, so we decided to get a fresh one this year.


Today, off we went to the Christmas Tree Farm.

We decided we wanted a tall and skinny tree this year, so we got a Frasier Fir. It was a relatively pain free experience. [Specially since all I did was take pictures].

It was snowing and cold but that just added to the “magical” feeling. 

 Natalie really enjoyed the experience.

Here, thanks to the "magic" of photoshop is a picture of the four of us.

We got the tree home, trimmed off some branches and set it in place. (I even cut my hand with a knife in the process). It is a lot skinnier than any tree we ever had. Kaitlin came down after the tree was in place and declared it “anorexic”. After examining it for a few seconds Natalie had the following feedback: “Mom, to be honest with you, I liked our fake tree better”.

Personally I like it. Hopefully, once we decorate it the girls will like it better. Stay tuned for the reveal once that is done.
Do you use Artificial or Fresh trees at your home?

Day Three-Hundred and Thirty-One: In the Kitchen with Grandma

While visiting their grandma the girls love to help her in the kitchen.  This time grandma brought out some aprons she had gotten for them.  While preparing Sabbath lunch we decided to take a picture of everyone in their aprons.  Even grandpa got in the action.

And then he decided to "kick it up a notch" by putting on sunglasses.  Kaitlin did not want to be part of such "silliness".

The girls have always enjoyed helping in the kitchen and grandma is very patient with them.

 Kaitlin specially enjoys it and is quite good at it.

Making Fruit Soup

I'm so glad they are able to build these nice memories with their grandma.

 

Day Three-Hundred and Thirty: Game Day

Natalie attended the Nebraska vs. Colorado football game today with her Dad and her Uncle.

Her grandmother made sure she had all the gear she needed down to tattoos for her face.

The weather turned out beautiful for the game and made it a lot easier for her to enjoy the experience.

Kaitlin and I had bet that she was going to get bored soon, but we both lost.  She loved it!  And came home very happy with her souvenir cup and box of popcorn that she saved for her sister. I was glad Joel was finally able to share his Huskers Love with his little buddy.  And to make it even better Nebraska won 45-17.

GO BIG RED!

Day Three-Hundred and Twenty-Night: Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some scenes of our stay with Joel's parents during Thanksgiving.  I did not take too many pictures this time.The day was low key.  Joel's mom always does a great job with the food, and had actually made most of it before we got there.  So there wasn't too much to do on the actual Thanksgiving day.

The girls lounged around all morning, watching TV and holding squirmy kittens.

Kaitlin and Natalie with Ben and Callie

We got together around 4PM for Thanksgiving dinner and the rest of the evening was spent watching TV.  Not the most exciting thing but relaxing enough.

Natalie and her uncle Brett

Tomorrow, Joel and Natalie are planning on attending the Nebraska vs. Colorado game.  She is really looking forward to it.  Kaitlin went when she was four years old and the noise and excitement was so overwhelming for her she promptly fell asleep for most of the game.  I have a feeling things are going to be different with Natalie.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving day with your loved ones!