December 2011 Archives

On the Road Again

Let the insanity begin again!

Tubing



The first place we went had too long of a wait for our crew.


Success! Perhaps a little less snow than the first place but zero wait!


Sarah was wiped out.


So tired, in fact, that she resorted to crawling to the car.


Henry, walking off with Nana & Papa like they were his new parents after we had abandoned him today.

We met up with Corrine, Scott, Owen, & Raisa to go tubing today and everyone had a fantastic time. Totally tubular, in fact. Henry stayed with Nana & Papa for the day and seemed pleased to see us all again when we met up for dinner this evening.

Nana & Papa's

Identical Twins

Although this looks just like Henry, it is actual my dad as a little boy. Until now I only saw my mom's side of the family in him.

Snowmen

Not Our New Family Portrait

I don't plan to print any of these for display in our house. I had some funky setting on the camera and then Sarah wasn't into it (not sure if it's obvious or not, but doing a picture was not her top choice of things to do today). Maybe our next visit will produce a better family picture?

Christmas Day

The day didn't start off so well as Santa brought the wrong "Happy Napper" for Sarah. She had asked him for a unicorn (I heard her ask him earlier this month! He must have written it down wrong on his list.) and she got a ladybug instead. Anna also got a ladybug (she said she wanted that or a unicorn, Santa's choice; and Henry got a penguin as requested. Once we got past that though, the rest of Christmas day went well—Including my 15.5 mile run (longest distance yet in my training for the marathon in March). The kids also spent some time playing in the snow (the girls liked it more than Henry did).

Christmas Eve at Opa's

Craig & I haven't been to Opa's for Christmas Eve for many years and it was the first time for all of the kids. Of course, they loved it! Henry did get tired fairly early on (as expected) and started looking for his shoes so he could "go home and go to bed."

Colorado!


Marshmallow-Sugar-Snow is in the holiday spirit with antlers & a red nose (this was one of Sarah's Christmas presents because every time we saw a car with this in Texas she would get so excited about it).


Christmas Eve dinner with the Christmas cracker crowns on, jokes read, trinkets checked out.


Christmas Eve mustaches distributed.


Anita's fit so well that I had a really hard time taking this picture. (I was laughing uncontrollably.)


We made it to Corrine's with time to play, go to church, and have a great dinner. We missed Ross & Lindsay though!

Driving


Pretending to sleep. Who would actually sleep on a road trip? Not these kids!


Tortilla beard.


Neck-pillow beard.


We stopped at this same rest-stop last year on our way to Minnesota. I'm pretty sure the kids were shorter then.


We are on our way to Colorado! We will get there in time to go to Christmas Eve service with Corrine's family and then go to Opa's for the evening before heading to my parent's house to hang our stockings before we climb into bed.

Last Batch

We made the last batch of cookies and packaged them up for neighbors and to bring to Colorado. (I also saved a bunch in the freezer to enjoy in January!)

Gingerbread House

One of these years I'd like to make my own dough for a gingerbread house. For now, though, the thrill seems to be in decorating and not eating (but maybe that's because the kits aren't fresh and don't have a fantastic taste?) so I'll stick with this since it makes my life easier (and I like making the variety of cookies to give away so I don't feel too bad taking the easy way out on the gingerbread house).

Indoor Play Area

The kids had a blast checking out the new indoor play area near our house this morning!

Nutcracker Performance

Anna did a great job in her performance last night and at the matinee today.

Early Christmas



She was so excited about the Princess Aurora gown that Sarah & I found at the resale shop!


I'm really excited, too! (Although, I suspect that Anna was more excited than I was...)


Craig is driving the kids nuts by opening his package realllllllllllllllllllllllly slowly.


Finally, Clementine found a nice spot to nap under the tree.


Both girls love their new chairs & blankets. Anna is reading Sarah's new book to her.


We decided to do our Texas Christmas this morning since Craig is working all week and we are jumping in the car on Friday to drive up to Colorado.

Cookies

What I have named my "Most Awesome Run Ever" on my Garmin page was fueled by two of the Russian tea cakes in this picture. It was a 13.1 mile run and it was faster (but easier) run than the 1/2 in San Antonio last month (which drives home the importance of starting in the correct wave and sticking with smaller races). It was so easy and fun, I felt like I could have gone on forever.

Nutcracker Rehearsal

Anna did a great job in her Nutcracker rehearsal tonight! She always amazes me how comfortable she is getting up on stage to perform. She performs tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon.

Cookies So Far

I had to re-package what I have above for Henry's teachers at school since I'm a little farther behind on my Christmas baking than I wanted to be and the boxes I bought are too big. Everything is very tasty so far though!

Christmas Program

Anna, at first, was not going to participate in the school holiday program, but decided at the last minute to go for it. She says she did not actually sing, which is fine (she probably wasn't the only one!). She did write a Christmas story that her teacher read to the audience during one of the transitions in the program. That she was very proud of! (Me, too!)

More Baking

The kids & I marked all of the recipes in our favorite holiday cookie magazine that we want to try. Of course, there are way more than we could make in one season, but I am trying to do mine, Sarah's, & Henry's during the week and save some of Anna's for the weekend so she can help.

Don't ask me why the girls are wearing all white to bake. This is just what happens when you are four and six.

Reindeer Antlers/Santa Hat

Baking

I had some good helpers today with the Russian tea cakes. Henry still won't try the cookie dough. This kid just doesn't know what he's missing! Sarah, however, is still my number-one taste-tester.

The Nutcracker

We got the Jr. Patron tickets for the girls this year but this was the first performance we got to use them. Anna & Sarah were both excited and nervous to go backstage and meet the dancers. I'm looking forward to next year when Henry, hopefully, will be ready to come to this performance, too.

August 2012

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31  

Archives

Pages

Powered by Movable Type 5.14-en