Dear Santa, I want Snow for Christmas...

We had a good amount of rain on Christmas Day, and poor Eric was sad about not having much snow. Sure enough, the day after Christmas we got snow...LOTS of snow...ALL DAY...poor Diva had quite a time outside. She took a flying leap into the snow for "exercise", misjudging the depth and did a massive face-plant into snow as tall as she was. We had to get the dryer out for her several times that day! Enjoy!

Christmas Eve

After getting back from Kohler, we set to doing some fun activities...cookies, Christmas lights, coffee and hot cocoa, and more. We are thankful for family and friends, and we are most thankful for the reason for this season of celebrating. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Luke 2:28-32

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the sight of all people,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel."

Kohler 2009

Ah, yes, it's that time of year...spa-ing with hubby at the Kohler Waters Spa. And it was wonderful as always. Eric surprised me with booking our honeymoon suite for part of the trip, which was very sweet. I urge anyone to go and spend quality time with your sweetheart...or girl friends... ;) There is something really great about wandering in bathrobes for a week!

Here's some pictures of the room and the Riverbath that is on the enclosed patio area in the room...do I look relaxed, or what?!?! ;) Also a picture of us in one of our favorite places, The Lincoln Room, which we like to stop in before and after our dinner in the Wisconsin Room to enjoy the fireplace and play Uno. I rocked at cards this year!!! And look at that beautiful snow...

PS - special thank you to John, Chellie, Danielle and Heather Mei! Elena spent the week with her Aunt and Uncle and cousins and she had so much fun...she didn't want to come home with afterward! ;)

December Fun!

Here's some fun shots as we rev up for the holidays and our annual time away in Kohler.

1) Elena makes her very first Christmas tree ornament. What's funny about this picture is my mom has one of these of me almost identical. Mine's a pink star though, and she STILL has it! :)

2)When it's too cold outside, we have plenty of indoor entertainment. Case in point...Elena and her one man band...sans pants, of course!

3)When all else fails...give a child a box, and she will be happy forever...

4)Diva, after too much channel surfing, passes out...

5)Where you'll usually find Diva...I hate to break it to her, but this tree is not a permanent fixture.

More Christmas, Decorating...of Many Kinds

We put together our very first Gingerbread House...not too shabby, considering it started falling apart while adding the candy to it...GEESH! That and trying to explain to Elena that we don't eat the house right after you make it...keeping her and the dog away from it has been a chore already! :) It's still pretty funny though (even though I won't tell her it is) to watch the two of them try to sneak snacks off of it.

And how kind of Diva to contribute to the "decorating" by creating fake snow out of toilet paper for the front room...how...festive...

We're excited for this time of year...decorating, cooking, lights and presents...but the best gift, and the reason we celebrate Christmas, is because Christ came to earth for us. We are grateful! The funny in that is that right now everywhere we go, if there's a baby Elena squeals "Look Mommy! It's Baby Jesus! Oh, she SO cute! (our "he's and she's" are mixed up right now)". Hilarious! ;)

Luke 2:9-11 "An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

Starting to Decorate

Some photos of Christmas decorating...this is one of our favorite times of year...I'm also putting this up, because the picture with the TV was taken by Elena as well as the close up...the Wonder Pets are on...quality...

Getting home...

Believe it or not, we were pretty pooped after Thanksgiving holiday...even without traveling! Poor Diva was even tired out...thought I'd share some funnies...

Diva in the laundry...she did not care to be kenneled, and was THRILLED to have us home...she wouldn't leave me for a second...see laundry pile...

And then there's shots of her "passing out" on the couch...too funny! That's how we all felt! Good times!

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving with Eric's brothers and family here in Gurnee at Keylime Cove! I highly recommend that kind of holiday...no cooking, no cleaning, family fun to allow the kids to run rampant! We had a blast! It was great to see the kids play and we parents had fun getting to hang out and play games. We are so grateful that everyone came to be with us, and miss you all already! The kids really loved the arcade as well...ok, the parents liked it too!! we found that Dani was really good at the Sponge Bob game, scoring big time in the ticket department, and Elena won a "mini" jackpot on one of the candy machines! Chellie brought Mare's famous cheese ball and games, Emily made all of us "turkey spoons", and sadly, we had a failed trip to the Cuneo Gardens for Christmas lights, because they start the DAY AFTER Thanksgiving...oh well...it was still fun to be out and about with family. We loved every minute! Thank you again to everyone for coming up to be with us! We love you!

PS - Special thanks to Heather for sending these photos!

Psalm 69:30"I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."

Happy 30th Birthday, Jaimie!

We surprised my youngest sister by having all the family come be with her for her birthday. She even had friends from Kentucky come all the way to see her and wish her well! Nice planning, Tony! He's an excellent surprise party master! :)

We grilled out and all the kids played...destroying poor Claire's room! Diva was also a big hit with the kids, and she was super patient allowing them to pass her around. It was nice to get to see everyone and spend some good family time together. Happy Birthday, Jaimie. We are glad you were born!

Photos:

-We stayed the night before the big event at Sal and Kirb's - even with the flood damage they are still dealing with, they open their home as if they have the world to offer. They give with their whole hearts. Thank you, guys! This shot is in their basement with Eric and the kids all exercising together! (PS - please continue to be in prayer for their situation. It's a hard one, and they deal with it all with such grace).

-Surprise!!!

-At the party

-Honor holding Diva

-The Jonathan, Matthew, and Elena at Donato's Pizza that night...I don't know what's going on here. Pilgrims? Quakers? Crazy napkin-head people...

Halloween Party!

Elena had her very first School Halloween Party Friday. She was so excited for all the fun and getting to dress up. She wanted to be a "Lady Bug Family" for Halloween, and I did find costumes for all of us. Even the Dog! As it turned out though, we wouldn't be using them since we'd be surprising my sister for her 30th Birthday Party. So we promised that we would come in parts of our costumes for Elena. The kids got to "trick or treat" the halls at school, and Eric was even recruited to help! Then there was a big snack time of special treats, and afterward the "Parade of Costumes"! So cute! Elena was really excited to see a "bee" in her class to fly around with her. ;)

More work...I helped!

Here's some more shots of home improvements...the attic is getting closer and closer to be done. Can you believe I spent 2 days helping insulate everything with my hubby?!?! Wow! Anji, getting dirty?!?! I feel a massive sense of accomplishment, folks! Yep...all for getting more storage space...now if we could just clean the insulation puffs from all over the house. I have a feeling I'll be doing that for a while!

More Photos

Photos:

-FireWOMAN Elena

-Trying to organize preschoolers for a group photo...guess how long that took?!?!

-I love this shot of Elena's reflection in the door

-Elena and Daddy looking at the fire truck

Field Trip!

Monday morning was spent at the Grayslake Fire Station as part of a preschool field trip...awwwww, Elena's very first one! And it was perfect, because she is HUGE into the whole Fire Fighter thing right now. Books, pictures, every time we hear a siren, "There goes a fire fighter's, Mommy! Listen! They on a rescue!"

They watched a movie with Elmo at the Fire Station and then got a tour. They got to sit in the "an-gu-lance" and sit in the driver's seat of the fire engine. You'll see the glee on Elena's face when it was her turn! I will have a couple posts for photos.

Photos:

-Yep, Daddy wanted to go, too!

-In the "an-gu-lance"

-In the driver's seat

-Elena is on the floor enamored by the attire - she was a little disgruntled that there wasn't a fire coat, hat, etc in her size...but she got her very own soon enough!

-Elena looking at the Fire Engine. She couldn't take her eyes off of it for the longest time!