Ballet Recital Videos

Mom this is for you. I'll get pictures up soon too but thought the videos might be top priority. Wish you could have been there!

Ella is right in the front, she waves at the beginning of the video.

Madeline is in the middle back, she's kind of hard to see sometimes.

Ultrasound

We had an ultrasound yesterday! No, we did not give in and find out the sex but I will admit it was harder this time than with Madeline and Ella. Apparently, it would have been very easy to find out had we wanted to know because the ultrasound tech was adamant about Brett and I looking at each other and not the screen while she was checking some things and doing some measurements around the lower half of the baby's body. Anyway, all is well and the baby is growing right on track weighing a whopping 9 ounces! Here are the pictures!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend! It's always great of course to have daddy home for an extended weekend so that started things off on a great foot! Thanksgiving day was spent at Mikie and Naomi Neidich's again with the whole Wheatcroft and Gamba crews except for Brad and Valerie who spent the day with Valerie's family. We missed having them there but got to see them later in the day at Dennis and Sidni's. As always the food was amazing and the fellowship as sweet as ever. Thanks so much Naomi and Mikie for opening your home once again for a super fun and abundantly blessed day. Brett and I are so thankful for your friendship! Here is a slide show from the day:

Then Friday is our traditional day to put up our Christmas tree. Even though "I'll be home for Christmas" we decided to go ahead and put up a tree here to enjoy until then. As always, it is so fun to watch the girls get so excited about each ornament and a challenge to sit back and let them do it their own way. What can I say I love Christmas - more now as a mother than I think I did as a kid! And here are the pictures from tree decorating:

Ella is 4 Today

I can't hardly believe my baby is 4! Seems I was just making her little video for her 3rd birthday. For her birthday this year we decided to forgo a big party and do a smaller special outing with just a couple of friends. We invited Jude and Tirzah to go to "Nemo on Ice" with us which was a lot of fun! Last night Brett and I got the kitchen decorated for her birthday morning breakfast and this morning we woke Madeline up early so that she could be the one to wake Ella up. Brett made Ella a chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancake while she opened presents and then she topped her breakfast off with the traditional Krispy Kreme doughnut. We spent most of today playing with Play-doh toys and then this afternoon it was time to prepare for our traditional fancy dinner. Originally, Ella requested only macaroni and cheese but later decided Brett and I should have hot dogs and Madeline could have a hamburger - and what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets. I did sneak some cantaloup and asparagus on the table for the rest of us! After dinner it was of course time for cake and ice cream and you guessed it - she wanted ANOTHER princess cake, this time a purple princess cake. Here are a few pictures of her birthday celebration.

First Ultrasound

Today we had our first ultrasound of baby number three. Despite much speculation by some friends I am only carrying one baby in there and he/she is due on April 30th which puts me at about 9.5 weeks along. Here is a picture!

Back on the Wagon

Well, I fell off the blogging wagon but I'm going to try and jump back on again. I will not try to update on everything that has happened since my last post but I will do the last two big things we've done as a family.

Over Labor Day weekend we got to go to Hendersonville, NC for their annual Apple Festival. We heard about the event from some Brett's family's friends the Williams when they came to visit. Susan and Greg were so gracious to help us make plans to stay there at Greg's parents' house next door to them, right in the middle of their apple orchard! This was definitely a time I was so thankful that we get to do homeschool because we were able to spend the whole week learning about apples and then got to top the week off with a weekend spent in an apple orchard and at the Apple Festival (or "Vestival" according to Ella). So here are a few pictures of the weekend:

The second big family thing we've done was this past weekend. Our good friends Mikie and Naomi invited our family to go with them to Dollywood. They could get 3 of us in for free so we would only have to pay for one child ($42) and since we had never been before and we are heading into a busy weekend season for Brett we thought it would be a great way to spend our last full weekend together. However, when we got there and were ready to go inside a lady approached us and said she could get one more person in with her family so we ended up not having to pay anything at all - how cool is God?

It was a perfect day! The weather was overcast so it wasn't too hot but it wasn't cold either. And I don't know if people stayed away for fear of rain but it was a pretty quiet day at ol' Dollywood so we really only had to wait in line for one ride all day long. For the most part as soon as we got in line we were on the ride. I couldn't believe how much Madeline LOVED all the rides. That girl is fearless! Thankfully her daddy likes that stuff too and was willing to go with her on all of them, and thankfully I had the excuse of being pregnant to where I couldn't go on a lot of them. Madeline could have gone on the "log ride" all day if we had let her, the girl just couldn't get enough of it. Ella enjoyed the rides too, at least that's what she said but her face rarely matched those words. She did quite a few of the rides but wasn't as exuberant about them as Madeline was. We all had such a great time and as always had a blast with Mikie, Naomi, Nathan and Ethan. They are such a great family and I am so thankful for them in our lives! Thanks again Neidich's for such a fun weekend! Here are some pictures:

Chicago (this is a long one!)

This past weekend Brett and I got to go to Chicago and spend an amazing weekend reconnecting with our friends Marc and Tonya all under the pretense we were there for a management conference.  Brett and I have planned many trips to get together with Marc and Tonya and the rest of our KC family but for one reason or another we haven't been able to make it happen but it was time to make the dream come alive!

Marc and Tonya are people we originally met during under graduate school in Sterling, KS and while Brett and Marc spent some time together there in Sterling I really only knew Tonya as a previous volleyball player (she graduated the year before I came to Sterling but was still involved with the program and in other things on campus).  But our friendship really began in Kansas City.  About a year after Brett and I were married and were living in Kansas City there were I think 5 or 6 couples from Sterling that moved up to Kansas City, Marc and Tonya were one of them.  Marc decided to go to chiropractic school as an extension of his interest in sports medicine.  What began as the guys playing on a softball team and Tonya and I supporting them at their games turned into spending at least one evening each weekend together.  Tonya and I were usually scrapbooking until the wee hours of the night while Brett and Marc watched sports, played sports, watched movies or whatever.  Of course there were the countless games of dominos and cards played as well.  They quickly became that couple with whom we spent most every weekend, who we could call and say "we're coming over" and they didn't feel like they had to make a big to do of it or they could just tell us "not tonight" and vice versa.  We all got a long great!

It was also so exciting (and a little scary given the stage in life we were all in, that being in school and making no money) when we found out we were both pregnant!  Our Ella and their Blake were born less than 4 hours apart - fun huh?!  Needless to say when God was leading us out of K.C., leaving them was the hardest part.  Brett and Marc stay in touch quite a bit since they are both now practicing and are great encouragers for each other, they have even gotten to do a couple weekend trips together for different technique trainings.  Tonya and I on the other hand have had a hard time staying in touch regularly and often just get the update on each other from the guys.  Before this weekend I hadn't seen her for over 2 years which was only the 2nd time I had seen her since we moved out here in 2005.  

We miss them and the ease of their friendship terribly!  One of the hardest realities I have had to face in my life is when my mom said, "Beth you need to understand that there may never be another Marc and Tonya, that they were very special friends and those don't come along everyday."  They are truly so dear to our hearts.  I'll admit I was a little concerned about seeing them again after all this time and if there would be an akwardness since it had been so long since we had all been together, but let me tell you seeing them again it was like we hadn't missed a beat.  We had a blast together!  It was so fun to catch up with them and to laugh with them again . . . oh the laughing! 

Another blessing from the weekend was to spend some quality time with my sister's best friend Shelby.  It was so good to see her and talk with her and just love on her and the sweet baby boy she is expecting in a couple months.

Of course, I also enjoyed the car time with Brett as we drove to Chicago.  It's been at least 5 years since he and I took a road trip just the two of us.  I truly love my man and was blessed by the 20 hours of drive time we spent together.

So here's a pictorial recap of the weekend:

Brett and I left Thursday and drove through to Louisville then took our time on Friday driving the rest of the way.  We ate dinner with Shelby Friday night before heading to the airport to get Marc and Tonya.  All four of us went to the morning sessions of the conference where we heard speakers Denis Waitley and Randy Snow.  Here is Brett and I with Randy Snow, an Olympic Hall of Famer and founder of NO XQs (I think that's right it's supposed to sound like "No Excuses").  Both speakers were incredibly entertaining and had amazing messages to share!

We headed to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory for some amazing food.  The guys went to the afternoon conferences while Tonya and I went back to our hotel room ate our cheesecake and rested which included not only watching what we wanted to on TV but also hearing it as well (those of you with kids will know what I mean by this).  Then Shelby joined us again just as the guys got back to the room and we decided we would take the suggestion of a man Marc and Tonya know to go downtown for dinner at Uno Pizzeria.  Apparently he and his wife enjoy this pizza so much they will take day trips from Wichita just to eat there.  When we got down there we found we were facing an hour and 30 minute to hour and 45 minute wait but decided it would be worth it.  So that allowed us to do some walking around downtown and of course some photo opportunities.

The four of us together again!

Me and Shelby

Me and Tonya

Marc and Tonya

After about an hour we headed back to the restaurant to see how things were progressing.  Let's just say we were really committed to eating there because we ended up waiting for over 2 hours just to get seated!  I wish I could say we waited as patiently and just enjoyed the time chatting but I would be lying.  We groaned everytime that speaker came on and announced another table of 4 begging them to let us have one of those tables and just put another seat at the end, I mean come on how hard would it have been?  The upside of the whole waiting process would have been missing the parade of nearly to totally naked bicyclers who were rode through the streets protesting something or other.  But then we finally got in and finally got to eat and I'll go ahead and admit this deep dish pizza was worth the wait!

Despite the grumbling and groaning we all ended up with smiles on our faces and very full tummies!

We headed back to the hotel where Marc, Tonya, Brett and I stayed up way too late chatting just like old times.  Sunday morning held a few more motivational messages and then it was time to get the Robertsons to the airport and Brett and I to hit the road again.  We made a quick stop on the way to the airport to say goodbye to Shelby and then we were on our way.  Here are a few last pictures from the hotel where we stayed:

Family Time

Brett and I went on a long weekend trip to Chicago this past weekend (which I will post next though I just created that post and am hoping that if I publish this one first it will stay in the right order when I publish our Chicago trip - does that make sense?)  Anyway, since we were going to be gone for so long we decided we needed to be sure to spend some quality time together Wednesday night.  We headed downtown for some ice cream and a stroll across the walking bridge.  Being that River Bend was going on there were lots of people and lots of music.  We had such a blessed evening.

Summer days

So here are some other random pictures from different occasions throughout May and this first week of June.  The last 10 pictures or so are from this past Thursday.  The girls and I were going to go to the Aquarium and we weren't sure if our friends were coming with us or not so we were waiting outside for them.  The girls got to playing in the water and we ended up playing there for about an hour.  I got in with them and we had all kinds of fun splashing each other and getting wet.  We were bummed about not seeing our friends but we had a good time nonetheless. 

Fun with Family!

My little sister and cousin came to visit us at the end of last month into the beginning of this month.  We had so much fun with them!  It was both of their first time to the south.

A few years back (actually probably at least 6 or 7) Anna had memorized a Jeff Foxworthy skit about his family going on vacation with their Piggly Wiggly luggage.  Well 4 years ago when I moved out here I actually got to go to visit a Piggly Wiggly and got Anna some "luggage" but when we started talking about her coming out here I decided she had to visit a Piggly Wiggly for herself.  The one I went to (in a little town called Ducktown) was cute and clean with lots of little pig faces around the border inside and let's just say the one I found for us to go to on our way home from the airport in Nashville was more, how should I say it . . . true to some of the stereotypes of the south.  We went inside to find it was not the cleanest or largest grocery store we had ever seen (don't think you could have gotten 2 carts down any one aisle at the same time) and we only found one little piggy face to take a picture.  It was above the door to the storage room and in the process of taking a picture we about got run over by the butcher with a huge tray of meat.  Anyway, we got some pretty crazy looks to which I explained we were from Wyoming and only heard about Piggly Wigglies, to them this was an acceptable explaination.  Upon waiting in line to buy a bottle of juice our experience was topped-off by the arrival of a topless man who really could have used a belt, as was evidenced by his 1-inch of . . . well I think you get the picture.  Needless to say it was everything she'd hoped it would be!  Anna has a better picture of us outside the Piggly Wiglgy with the awesome sign (amazing grammar included) but I haven't gotten it from her yet so I'll be adding it when she sends it to me.  But here is our picture from inside the store:

The first full day they were here they spent all day with Madeline and Ella while I worked (it was the day before the math final at the school where I tutor so I had a 10 hour day of tutoring).  Then we had 4 days to just play.  We of course hit up the aquarium, did lots of shopping, played at the park, barbecued, hung out at the market and played lots of cards.  So here is a slide show of the rest of our time together - Enjoy!

April Days

So this will be a rather eclectic post but given how long its been I am just doing a little bit (or a lot bit) of everything.  First some photo highlights of the month followed by a couple videos of the girls in actions.  We are loving the weather here and have been spending a ton of time outside, we have already seen a couple of 90-degree highs, not sure I'm quite ready for that but for sure am ready for the warmer weather.  Spring time also means that daddy gets to get out on the golf course more and softball has started up again as well which means some fun evenings for us at the softball fields (well for the rest of the fam at least, I still have tutoring for a few more weeks but am looking forward to joining them on Tuesday nights).  We are also looking forward to a visit from Aunt Anna at the end of this month, she has never been down here to the south so we're excited to show her around our beloved town!

Madeline's First 5 Years

Okay so I know it's been way too long since I have posted anything, I've gotten sucked into the Facebook vortex and have been failing to post anything on my blog so I apologize.  But here is a little tribute to Madeline and her first 5 years!  It was really hard but I chose some of my favorite pictures of her from birth to present so I hope you enjoy!  The very first picture is from the sonogram we had when I was about 20 weeks pregnant and the last picture is from the day of her 5th birthday!  I can hardly believe how big she is and can't begin to put into words the immeasurable joy she has brought to our lives.

A Big Surprise

At least once a day I hear, "I want my grandma."  It usually comes after I've told one of the girls they can't do something they want to do or to do something they don't want to do, but a lot of times it just comes out of the blue without anything to prompt them but just their longing for her.  So when my mom called to tell me when she was coming to visit Brett and I decided that we weren't going to tell the girls.  One because I just thought it would be a really fun surprise but two because I didn't want to hear every hour for the next 3 weeks, "is it almost time for grandma to be here?" and all the other impatient questions along those lines.  

At the beginning of the week I told the girls that there was going to be a very big surprise at the end of the week and we needed to work really hard to get the house cleaned and picked-up.  The girls were very excited and of course wanted to know what it was - a new necklace? new barrettes? new headbands? - wow was their world going to be rocked.  Mom got in late last night and the girls were already asleep when I got her back to the house.  So Brett and I went into the girls' room this morning to wake them up and get them dressed for church and well, here's the video:

It wasn't quite the response we thought we would get, but the girls were still half asleep from being up late last night and the hour time change but truthfully I was so excited about them seeing her that I couldn't wait for them to be more awake.  Later this morning Madeline said to me, "Wow mom that was a great surprise!"

Mom got to come to church with us the morning which was so fun to have her there and introduce her to our amazing church family!  The weather is beautiful so after church we came home and had some outdoor activity time before lunch and now Grandma is listening to story time before we all go down for naps.  Below is a picture of Grandma and the girls with the tiaras the girls made.  Grandpa don't you worry, there's a visor already in Grandma's suitcase for her to bring home to you!

Obviously with Grandma here there will be lots of pictures to come and I hope to do a couple posts while she's here so that Grandpa can keep up and live vicariously through them because we love and miss him tons too!   Can't wait for the day when ALL my family gets to come out here.

A Valiant Effort!

I often find myself thinking, "I need to apologize to my parents for putting them through this." Monday night was one of those nights.  It began as soon as I pulled the chinese take-out out of the bag and Ella watched as I prepared her plate with Sweet and Sour Chicken and some Vegetable Lo Mein, complete with a single broccoli floret.  The moment she saw it come out of the box and make its way to the plate she made it quite clear to me that she had no intention of eating it.  Mind you that a little over a week ago she ate a full serving with not so much as a word about it.  But not this night.  No, this night, as the three of us girls sat down to eat, Ella broadcast to anyone who would listen that she did not want to eat her broccoli.  I did my best to not give her the "you will because I say you will and you're not getting down until you do now suck it up and eat that one stupid piece" line, but after the 6th or 7th announcement of her refusal she got it.  Of course, that tender little heart of hers was broken and the waterworks started.  Then what's that I hear?  The jingle of keys, the turn of the lock . . . IT'S DADDY!  I was more excited than the girls on this particular night as he is the professional in handling such matters.  And after her first informative statement of unwillingness to eat it, daddy echoed my "suck it up."   And then it came, the greatest line of all time, the line I wish I could have coined as my own, one I wish I had thought of as a kid . . . are you ready for it?  So Ella looks at daddy, her misty puppy dog little eyes and in her soft sweet voice declares, "I can't, my mouth is too tired."  I couldn't help it, I had to laugh and was seriously considering letting her win this battle.  Then daddy reminded her of what usually happens in these circumstances - mommy goes to work, Madeline and daddy eat their dinner and go upstairs to play and have fun while Ella sits at the table alone and inevitably ends up eating whatever it is she has decided she doesn't want to.  So with that very reasonable reminder she picks up that one little piece of broccoli puts it in her mouth chews it and looks to me waiting for praise and adoration.  Are you kidding me?  Daddy's home for 2 minutes and he has her eating the single piece of broccoli I have been listening to her declare abstinence from for the last 28 minutes!  A valiant effort was made by all that night but alas daddy was the victor!

Mommy's Little Helper

The last week or so Ella has been such a good helper.  Each morning when I'm emptying the dishwasher she comes to ask if she can help so we usually pull up a chair to the silverware drawer and she helps put them away.  When she's done with that she asks me to start the water and put in the soap so she can put the clothes in the washing machine for me.  It's great not only to have the help but she doesn't expect anything in return for it and often when she asks to help it prompts Madeline to do the same.

Fun times with Jude and Tirzah!

I continue to enjoy more and more our Wednesday morning playtime/mommy alone time with Miss Rebekah, Tirzah and Jude.  It's so fun to watch the kids' friendships grow and of course I deeply appreciate the time I get to myself every other week.  The weather was finally nice enough for us to play outside this past week.  The kids had a great time playing golf and tee ball.

Just needs to straighten that left arm a bit and she's got herself a good start to a great back swing.  Now daddy needs to work on her club selection a bit.

A nice little chip shot - with his driver - good form but again we need to work on his club selection.

Ella was all decked-out for the outting in her finest - because anytime is the perfect time for princess attire.  She apparently is anticipating only hitting home runs given her shoe selection.

Another great attire and shoe choice by Tirzah.

Then on Saturday the aquarium was offering its members a free viewing of the new IMAX movie "Under the Sea in 3D".  The girls and I met up with Rebekah and the kids and enjoyed a very cool movie.  It was fun to watch the kids interact with the 3D images, plus they looked SO cool in their 3D glasses.

Atlanta Zoo

Last weekend the girls and I joined Brett in Atlanta for a practice management conference he had.  We got up early Saturday morning and were on the road by 6:30!  The girls were great on the trip down there (still pretty sleepy but never did go back to sleep).  We dropped daddy off at the hotel where we would be staying later and where his conference was being held.  The girls and I ventured to Target to get come snacks for our trip to the zoo as well as a notepad and some cool pencils to draw and write about all the things we would see at there!  We arrived at the zoo around 10:30 or so and didn't get back to the hotel until around 4:00.  It was such a beautiful day and with as cold as the past couple of weeks had been it was so nice to be outside all day!  Here are some pictures from our adventures there at the zoo.  Again, there's lots of pictures and some lengthy captions so you might want to use some manual controls on the slideshow.

Kung Fu Madeline

Madeline loves to "practice" in her "fighting robe."  This keeps her busy for a good 30 - 45 minutes each day, at least she's getting her exercise.  As you will see in the video it is becoming quite apparent that she has her white momma's vertical!

Aquarium

As mentioned before we got a membership to the Tennessee Aquarium as a Christmas gift from my parents so we have been spending a lot of time there.  I have been meaning to post some pictures of our adventures there but since we have been at least once each week since Christmas it seems that just as I am ready to post I get new pictures and hold off until I get the stuff added hence the reason it has taken a month at least to get this up.  Sometimes I wonder why I feel the need to take my camera every time, but then each time we're there I see something new I hadn't seen before.  There are two buildings - Ocean Journey and River Journey.  We typically begin in the Ocean Journey and the first stop there is the touching tanks that have the sting rays, guitar fish and some small sharks.  We could spend a good hour or more here if I let them (I'm not sure why don't, actually I do, the butterflies are next and that's one of my favorite places).  On a couple of occasions I have gotten to feed the sting rays which was pretty cool.  Anyway, here is a video of the girls "petting" the sting rays.

The pictures below are in order of how we normally spend our time there.  As you will be able to tell I LOVE the butterfly cove!  I'll warn you now that some of the captions are a big lengthy so you might want to be ready to click the pause button if you're a big caption reader.  It also might be worth clicking on the "Aquarium" link there in the bottom left corner so you can go to the web album and view the slide show a bit bigger.

Here is another video clip of some of our favorite animals in motion:

Madeline the Model

I mentioned in the last post that there were some great pictures of Madeline from our visit to Rock City - Enchanted Garden of Lights that would be posted later.  So here they are in a little video.  For the record, all of these were done by her own accord with no coaching or prompting by either Brett or myself, in fact we have no idea where it came from.  And you will notice that Ella joined in on the fun in a couple of these.  The second to last picture is obviously from a different event - the aquarium this week.   When asked where she learned it, she responded, "Oh I just learned it myself."  Enjoy!

Post Christmas Fun

One of the things I loved most about this Christmas was all the family time we had.  Not like the typical weekend family time but the go and do something different kind of family fun.  One of our favorite gifts this year was a membership to the Tennessee Aquarium from my parents so the day after Christmas we went to check it out.  It was so fun!  We had been the first summer we moved here and then when Ella was one but hadn't been since.  The girls had a blast and loved checking everything out with the magnifying glasses they got in their stockings.  We have been a total of 3 times since and as I type, am waiting for Ella to wake from her nap so we can go again this afternoon (because we didn't get to go all the way through yesterday before my parking meter expired so I promised we could go back today).  One of the things I'm loving most is that it's an indoor activity (great for freezing winter days and scalding summer afternoons) where they are learning so much and getting lots of exercise - it's a lot of walking and they are surprisingly good about it.

That night we went to watch Brad and Dennis play tennis where we sat with Sidni, Valerie, Grandpa and Grandma.  Then afterwards went to eat with Brad and Valerie at Steak 'n Shake.

The next day we went to the Creative Discover Museum (we still have a month left on that membership from Christmas last year).  Another place the girls never get tired of going and where they can go and get lots of learning and playing done.  That night we went back to Dennis and Sid's to just play and relax!

Sunday was back to Dennis and Sid's to have one last dinner with Grandma and Grandpa before they left the next day.

Monday was kind of a downer day because daddy had to go back to work but we knew we only had a few days before he would be off again so we didn't pout too much!

Tuesday night we went up Lookout Mountain to go to Rock City's Enchanted Lights.  We had intended to go last year but the one time we drove up there to go there were so many cars in line to just park that we decided it wasn't worth it.  This year we went after Christmas and on a week night so it was pretty slow which was nice.  The girls loved all the lights and the Fairytale Cove.  There are some pretty hilarious pictures of Madeline from that night but that will be the next post and the post after that will be New Year's Eve!  I'm getting there!

So here are the pictures from all the above activities!

Christmas . . . FINALLY!

Okay so here it is finally, my blog for Christmas day.  We had such a great day and really it lasted all weekend even through to the following weekend.  This blog will be just of Christmas Day and the opening of our gifts from my family out in Wyoming which we did when the package got here the following Monday but be looking for pictures from more of our holiday weekend fun - there was lots of fun to be had!

Last year, as mentioned before, was our first Christmas here in Chattanooga which wasn't a big of a deal except that it was my first Christmas spent without my immediate family.  I wasn't sure what it would be like, and while it was different it was such a neat experience.  Christmas as "the mom" of the house is an almost magical experience.  Even though I had experienced Christmas as a mom, I wasn't THE mom.  We still went to my mommy's home where she prepared all the meals and did all the little things that you never realize she does to make Christmas such a wonderful day.  I wasn't sure if it was going to be as magical this year but it was indeed.  I again woke-up bright and early to get the cinnamon rolls started because who doesn't love to wake-up Christmas morning to the smell of cinnamon rolls baking?  And while those were baking I got the biscuits (cut-out in Christmas shapes) and gravy cooking.  I had some redeeming to do after last year's Christmas breakfast.  Last year I tried this overnight omelet thing that my mom usually makes (and is wonderful) and let's just say we didn't even attempt to eat it because it looked so gooey and soggy - gives me the heeby geebies just thinking about it.  And that was followed by a cinnamon strudel thing that was too sweet even for me (and believe me that is sweet)!  But rest assured this year's Christmas morning breakfast was great!  And the cinnamon rolls were fantastic if I do so say so myself!  Much of the rest of the morning is told in the pictures below so I'll let it do most of the talking.

But one of my favorite new things we did this year was a Nativity Scene scavenger hunt.  A couple weeks before Christmas my mom sent the girls a Nativity set that they could touch and play with (because my Willow Tree Nativity is off-limits!)  But I intentionally did not leave the baby Jesus in the cradle/manger because Jesus wouldn't have been around until Christmas Day so He was hidden and we told the girls we would be playing a game Christmas morning to find Him.  A couple days before Christmas the girls found where I hid him (in the kitchen cabinet with the canned goods) and figured Jesus had been found - game off, though we left Jesus in the cabinet.  But Christmas morning they discovered that ALL the nativity figurines were missing except the manger - what would be going on?  After we ate breakfast we started the hunt.  I won't go through the whole thing but it consisted of reading passages of scripture about each of the "characters" of the Christmas story and then having to find that character.  We started with Mary, then Joseph and then the donkey they would have rode to Bethlehem.  They took those three figurines to the manger and then found the shepherds (outside) and when they brought the shepherds to the stable Jesus was magically in the cradle.  Madeline was mind-blown how Jesus could have possibly gotten from the kitchen cabinet to the stable - it was a Christmas Miracle!  I loved this activity because we read through the whole Christmas story and got us focused on Jesus!  We ended with "Happy Birthday to Jesus" and a prayer of thanks.

Well I suppose that's enough talking with no pictures because I know what you really want is to just see the pictures so here they are:

Christmas Eve and other cute December pics

I'm finally getting some Christmas pictures up!  Yay! 

So first though is a cute picture from earlier in December.  I came downstairs one chilly morning and found the girls cuddled-up watching TV.  Thought it was too cute!

Christmas Eve was spent with Brett's family at his parents' house.  We had the extra pleasure of having Grandma and Grandpa Wheatcroft in town as well, we are always so thankful for the time we get to spend with them, plus we always know Grandpa is good for a lot of laughs and believe me he did not disappoint!  Dennis made super yummy ham, potato, corn chowder which was followed by cookies.  The girls helped me make cookies that spelled everyone's name and then told me how they wanted them decorated, they had bad coughs so they didn't get to touch the cookies, but they gave great artistic direction.  Grandpa and Grandma got special cookies though, Grandpa got a flag and a gingerbread boy and Grandma got a tulip and gingerbread girl. 

Grandpa and Grandma hadn't seen the girls for a little over a year and couldn't believe how big they had gotten.  Grandpa all but pushed Brett out of the way to follow the girls into the living room to watch them play when we first got over there, this of course after we had told the girls in the car to not get too close for fear that they would cough all over them and get them sick.

After dinner and cookies we opened gifts.  We usually do $5 gag gifts with Brett's family which is always a lot of fun to see the creative things everyone comes up with that usually end up being pretty handy little gifts.  One of my favorite parts of the evening was when Grandpa opened a picture that Rob and Jeminah gave them from their wedding and after he and Grandma oohed and aahed over it Grandpa said, "That'll be great in the bathroom."  Which of course led to the discussion of how you should surround yourself with the things you love in the places you spend most of your time.  Anyway, it was a good laugh for sure!

So here are some pictures of the night.  Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for Christmas Day, the day after, the day after that, the next Monday, Tuesday and New Year's Eve - I've got a lot of work to do!