Christmas 2009

I tagged a post for Christmas right away, but somehow a month has gone by and I still haven't gotten around to posting pictures, etc. Oh well, better late than never!

On Christmas Eve we headed to Mike's parents to celebrate with Chris and Alicia.

Christmas morning the kids found that Santa had come. Brooke was insistant that we leave the fireplace doors open (since this was our first Christmas with a fireplace.) We then exchanged gifts with my family and had a fun day playing with new toys.

The day after Christmas my Grandpa Ted, Aunt Jeanne and her two girls, Amanda and Steph arrived. We had a great visit and my kids were excited for all the extra attention. Our big turkey dinner was 2 days after Christmas with our guests and Mike's side of the family. It was a great week of celebration.

Grandpa with the grandkids







Taking down the tree a few weeks after Christmas...I think this picture gives perspective on how honk'n big the tree was.

Supporting the North Pole

I know how Santa generates enough money each year to support his shop in the North Pole - mall pictures! Year after year I overpay for a picture that never seems to qualify as "good" and this year was no exception. Although, there was a great picture of all the kids but Santa's eyes were closed! How dare he...(Mike said he would have bought that one anyway.) Oh well - there's always next year!

In the spirit of giving...

This Christmas Mike and I have tried to form some traditions that will help the kids truly understand that the season of Christmas is about giving, and not just receiving. I'm really proud of both Brooke and Clayton...

For the kids' preschool classes we bought presents for the classroom (toys, supplies, etc.). Clayton could not wait to get to school on Thursday in anticipation of presenting his gifts to his teachers. He was so excited that he proclaimed on the way to school "I love school! It's my favorite." (Definitely never heard those words before.) As soon as he entered the classroom he was trying to open the gifts to show the teachers what was inside. The teacher asked him to put them in the circle for group time and they would open them then...Clayton's response "I can't - they go under the Christmas tree!"

Today Brooke and Mike did bell ringing for the Salvation Army at a local grocery store. It was a great opportunity to explain to Brooke that there are people who don't have food, shelter, etc. like she does. A woman came from the Salvation Army to empty their bucket and also had an opportunity to share with Brooke what they would use the money for. Daddy said she did a great job of saying Merry Christmas and Thank You. She lasted for 2 of the 3 hrs with Mike - definitely a father/daughter tradition that we'll keep...(I wish I had gotten a picture!)

Christmas 2009 pictures

With the help of my mom we took all 3 kids to have Christmas pictures taken. I wasn't anticipating getting a picture of all 3 of them together - it would be near miracle for them to even all look the same direction at the same time. So I really just wanted individual pictures of them in their Christmas outfits. I did leave with a picture of all 3 of them and they are all looking the same direction - it just doesn't happen to be the direction of the camera! Oh well...maybe next year! I love Lincoln's picture and I am amazed at how much he's changed in just the 2 weeks since I had his 3 mo pictures taken! Clayton refused to smile, but his smirk is totally him at this age. Brooke picked out her favorite pose and liked that you could see her whole dress.

Missing Grandma Millie

Grandma would have been 85 on December 9th. This Christmas season has been filled with many memories of her and I'm so thankful to be able to share those memories with Brooke. We've made Christmas cookies that were grandma's recipe and talk about the different ornaments on the tree that she made through the years. It did make me sad when Brooke and I had to go buy a stocking for Lincoln that didn't match our handknit "Grandma Millie stockings." She is dearly missed and I can't believe she's been gone for over year and a half. I found these pictures the other day of my childhood Christmases and memories...I'm not usually very sentimental but I cried as I scanned them in to share...I miss her so.

3 months

I took Lincoln to get his three month pictures...I had to make sure to since I did for the other two kids and who knows the long-term psychological effects if I didn't...(just kidding.) Considering they can't do a whole lot at this age, I thought they turned out pretty well. I can't believe he's already 3 months - time seems to go exponentially faster with each child.