Texas...part two...Christmas Day

We brought our felt creation to Texas for an instant tree. I made this tree when we were living in family housing for grad. school in Boulder. That year we really didn't have room for a tree and we weren't going to be home for Christmas anyway. Jared was amazed with how the felt ornaments stuck (and were repositionable) to the felt tree. (I guess he didn't consider the miracle when he was in primary and fhe as a kid.. :) )

We had the cousin kids draw names for gift giving. My kids did a project (some of you probably did this at school) where they drew on a special paper, we sent it in, and they were made into plates. It was so fun to make! And give!

This year we had our own kids pick a name and choose a book from the scholastic book order for each other. They had fun with that, though their choices were pretty different from mine. :) I loved that even still they spontaneously made cards for each other. And loved them.

My favorite Christmas moment was with this vest Andrew's wearing. He'd been wanting one for a while so I made a little note to self. When he opened it he shouted "AWESOME!" (or something) and ran up to me giving me a huge hug, and a kiss!! I'll give a vest every year for that reaction!!

We had our fun Christmas breakfast despite the fact that we were in a rental (picture living without your typical baking foods...) we had a very fun breakfast. The kids "got to" eat at the coffee table. Great memories!! Such a great, unique Christmas.

Texas...part one...Christmas Eve

I just love this picture of a wedding-planning Mom. Ok, so this may have been a meal-planning Mom moment, but you get it. Debra was amazingly organized over the Christmas/Wedding week. We made wreaths to bring some Christmas cheer to the rental home we were staying in. Here are the kids ready for our Christmas Eve dinner at a lovely restaurant in Arlington, Texas.

Eliza and her ever-loved cousin, Ashley. (Pronounced by Eliza: Ash-uh-Lee)
It's a little dark, but around the table we have Brian (the groom), Bethany (our niece), John, Jared, Heidi, Ashley, Abby, Debra and Andrew. Daniel and Eliza missed the pic. because they were outside on a "walk". Eliza was tired and drawing too much attention to herself inside. If you get my drift.
We had such a fun time out--the food was amazing and it was so fun to be together! Thanks for the treat John and Debra! We're not sure if Debra will want to cook on Christmas Eve again...! wink wink.

Volunteer Mom

Can I get a volunteer to be the Mom? Anyone? Ok, so the title sounded funny to me. Actually, I've been volunteering at the elementary school for a couple months. I have a very cool friend who has been watching Eliza every Tuesday for a couple hours. I get to go to Andrew's class AND Abby's. It's so fun to help out and watch them in action.

This is Andrew's Christmas party...

In this game they had to inhale through a straw to keep a tissue "ornament" attached as they ran to their relay team.

There he is! The kid in blue next to him is our downstairs neighbor, Albert. The two were best friends since the day they met.
This is that game where you roll the dice and have to open the present with gloves on. It was pretty hard!

Christmas (the early one)

Sleeping together, like when I was a kid...(in a twin bed, nobody fell off!)

It was just like a real Christmas morning, so fun! Just a few gifts, fun breakfast, and play time. Santa visited, but saved stockings for Texas.
Eliza is opening a barbie movie soundtrack. She had the best happy-surprised face of the morning. We first found this cd at the library and the kids love it (and so do I)!

The inside of my windows...

I don't think it can get worse than this: Tomorrow's high is 6 below.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas energy is in the air today! It's a blustery snowy white outside and the kids are home from school! (We're expecting 8-12 inches, incuding "thunder snow.") We have tunes playing and are preparing for our family's "mini-Christmas" tomorrow morning. Since we're traveling to Dallas for Christmas we decided that Santa ought to drop off any slightly larger gifts to us at our home! (You know some airlines are charging for EVERY bag now!) So our kids are sending messages to Santa in their hearts to let him know we are waiting. We are even hiding the Christmas pickle late tonight!

So an early merry Christmas to everyone!!

A Christmas Carol

This fall Daniel was asked to play a narrator and 5 parts in an abridged version (written by a ward member) of "A Christmas Carol." He'd have to memorize all parts but the narrator. He'd have a variety of costume (more like prop) changes. He'd be practicing at least twice a week, more when the performance got near. This would be performed at the ward Christmas party as a dinner theater.

Well, he did it!! The production was so well done! They had spotlights, a sound guy, a great set, costumes, and fantastic acting! We have had lots of fun watching every version of "A Christmas Carol" we could get our hands on in anticipation of the event. Andrew was so proud of his Dad--beaming and hugging him after the play. I was proud of him too--he memorized a lot and wowed us all!

These are the best shots I could get in the dark with Eliza climbing all over me. Clicking to enlarge may help. The video clips I took are not worth posting (dark, hard to hear) but luckily the Bishop did a better recording he'll make copies of.

Here's Marley visiting Scrooge

Daniel as the ghost of Christmas present

Scrooge and the scary ghost of Christmas future
Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and a happy, changed Scrooge.