Merry Christmas 2011!

We've been blessed with another very merry Christmas!

Santa came, and he was hungry!

 D was delighted that he had the time to answer her questions, and many of his responses were what she had predicted.

     Favorite color: RED

     Favorite food: COOKIES!

 C had a very "Cars 2" Christmas! Happy boy!

 Our family at Christmas mass at Assumption Cathedral. (Thank you C, for adding your own special touch to the moment!)

 Admiring the baby Jesus.

We enjoyed brunch with friends and then spent the afternoon and evening playing with new toys. Lots of fun!
Tonight we'll welcome T's family who will be visiting for the next few weeks. More adventures to come for all of us.
We hope everyone had a spectacular day!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

The children are nestled all snug in their beds, full of Christmas cheer. Santa is on his way!

Last night we had our friends, the Gros family, over for dinner and fun. Everyone was in the Christmas spirit!

And we had carolers too! That's our Tess on the far right, lucky us!

We began today golf carting around the area handing out bags of oranges and a leaflet with the story of Christ's birth. The church in our community puts this event on every Christmas Eve and the 4 of us were thrilled to be a part of it this year.

Then, smelling like oranges, we went to the show. Arthur Christmas was a great movie! It had awesome, imaginative explanations for the mystery of Santa Claus. But, D explained to me, this was just a movie and these are just "examples" of how it might work. No one really knows how Santa gets it all done.

 We had a nice, quiet Christmas Eve with D and C. Dinner, baths, the annual reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas, and cookies and milk for Santa.

I hope Santa has time to answer all of D's questions. Definately and inquiring mind...

Merry merry Christmas everyone!

Wrapping Up Fall and On to Winter!

It is definitely a busy time around here. November went by in a flash, and it seems December will be the same. Hope I can keep up!

D and I began Girl Scouts this year and were welcomed into the organization with an Investiture Ceremony at the school. It was a really special night for all 90 of the girls! (Only 8 in our Daisy troop.) We were "pinned" and made official. With a few meetings under our belts now, we're really having a lot of fun!

We've also done our best to be involved in the continued flood relief efforts. C and I made our weekly trip to Makro, a local warehouse/club type store for supplies. He enjoyed the ride, and was a good little helper too. Insisted on carrying boxes of goods to the cart and then helping  the cashier bag things. Also tried sticking his hands in the cash drawer. People still just smile and love on him.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful celebration with friends. SO delicious, and we're still enjoying some leftover pie and sweet potatoes. HEAVEN!!! Thank you the Gros and Hopkins families for all your delicious dishes!

  Time to start D in some pie-eating contests! The girl knows good pastry when she sees it!

 Finally, on Sunday, we decorated for Christmas. Being that we've always travelled back to the US for the holidays, we have not done much decorating here at our house. But, a trip to our local Christmas decoration factory produced a tree, ornaments, and lots of other lovely things to make the house festive for our first Christmas spent abroad.

The opening of the Veggietales Nativity is always a cause for shouts of joy! Long time, no see Junior Asparagus!

C is quite the little decorator... if you like all the ornaments in clusters along the bottom branches. But how he enjoyed himself! Love him to bits!

Happy belated Thanksgiving and early holiday prep to everyone out there!