December 25, 2011 - Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was nice and peaceful around here.Everyone was sound asleep.It wasn't long before we heard some shuffling in the Living Room.Look at what Santa brought us!Candy.Abbie figured it was like every morning, when she sits in her swing. Except everyone was louder than normal.Daddy helped James find some goodies.A tea set from Santa. You can guess what she wanted to do right away.Santa brought Daddy some tools. Lucky for daddy, he doesn't have to use his really nice tools on crappy jobs. He can use these crappy tools instead.James loved his remote car from Santa.A Glow Worm for Abbie-just what she always wanted!A Fancy Nancy game for Clara, which happens to be her new love.A "replacement" waffle iron for mommy.
I can finally throw out the broken one and we can make waffles again! Yay!More cars for James.A Pink Giraffe from Grandma Bonnie for Abbie."Don't shoot your eye out" - just shoot the tree. I hope the scope is accurate. Despite James' facial expression, he was really excited to get more presents at Memee's house.Clara LOVED the Sleeping Beauty bubble night light Grandpa Choo-Choo got her.

December 21, 2011 - Oh, Christmas Tree!

Lights on!Lights off!
(Oh the beauty of LED lighting!)
I made these stockings to match my brother Daniel's childhood stocking. Since my Great Aunt Dorothy passed away, I will be making these for the rest of my siblings families. 10 stockings in 12 months. I think I can try and do it!

December 17, 2011 - Trip to Kansas City

So, long story short, we went up to Kansas City to see some historical church sites. These gravestones were located at the new 8 Witnesses Monument.They are obviously really old.

If you can read any of it, you are pretty good. What's amazing to me is that someone carved these with their own hands and tools. The writing is absolutely lovely.

Here is part of the Eight Witnesses monument.

This is such a sight to see!

Here are the grounds with the gravestones.Such a sacred and beautiful place.Then, it was off to another site: the new temple site.Loved this! For all those who worked on the temple, there is a code of conduct. It is kind of funny, but also amazing that there is still a reverence maintained when the Lord's temples are built upon this Earth.Heaven on Earth!Isn't this amazing?!We can't wait until the open house!What is a trip to Kansas City without going to Union Station. During this holiday season, they had their special train outside, all decorated in holiday lights.Inside the Station was a HUGE layout. Clara and James couldn't get enough. Ballerina girl and Santa Fe boys! James was in "hog-heaven"!Off to Jack Stack's for BBQ. The only way we could get James to eat his french fries was to pretend it was a train. He loved that.We also went to the American Girl store and a few other places. We forgot how much fun Kansas City is, especially during Christmastime.

Happy New Year!

I did not get all caught up like I wanted to but it's okay. I have realized I take way too many pictures, and I feel a need to share them with everyone. I will eventually get all caught up. In the meantime, here's to a new year of taking new pictures!

December 9, 2011 - Illuminations

Every year, our family attends "Illuminations". This year, the new children's garden was all lit up as well. Oh, it was beautiful! We went with some friends of ours and their children. We took our traditional picture with Santa. I like this Santa a lot. Doesn't he look so jolly?

December 16, 2011 - The First Snow

Doesn't this just get you in the mood for Christmas?
We had our First Snow and then a couple hours later, it was all gone. We haven't gotten anymore since.
Clara took the opportunity to make a snow angel. I love the facial features!As one of my many early Christmas gifts, I received an old, vintage sled. It's a beauty! Seeing this on our porch really has helped me feel Christmas-y.

October 31, 2011--Halloween

"Charlie Brown" (minus "The Great Pumpkin"), Ladybug, Dinosaur, and "Fairy Princess" all hope you had a happy stomach-ache! I mean Halloween!

October 22, 2011--Halloween Party

Note: It's hard to play catch-up, but it is my goal to get all caught up before the New Year.

So, for Halloween this year, we went to 3 different parties. The first one was at our local rec center. We had a lot of fun. I was "the Great Pumpkin" this year.Dale was "Charlie Brown".James was the cutest dinosaur and Clara was a "Fairy Princess".Poor Abbie! She was such a trooper! She was my ladybug. She was not too happy with the hood on.They really enjoyed going out this year--3 times!

Candy!
Candy!
Candy!