Sending a HUG

We were getting ready to send a Christmas package to some special people today and decided that Emma needed to send them a ‘hug’.  I saw the idea on Pinterest and thought it was a cute idea.  I had Emma lay down on the paper and we traced her outline and then she got to color ‘herself’.  She thought it was great fun!  I hope that B&T will like it!

Ward Christmas Party

We had our Ward Christmas Party tonight.  The kids were excited when we told them that we were going to a party and Emma was especially excited to get ‘Reindeer Hair’… I figured, why not… right?! 

I tried to get a picture of the two of them actually looking at the camera… but this was as close as I got. 

The party was fun.  We had great food and though we didn’t get to visit with very many, it was still a nice night out.  The kids were VERY tired (we didn’t start eating until 6:30 and then there was a program after that).  We didn’t end up staying until the end as both kids were asking to go home and go to bed.  We left at about 8:00 or so and apparently they had Santa come visit after we left.  Oh well, as tired as they were they wouldn’t have gone to him anyways.

Mischief Maker

Gotta love it when you come in to the kitchen to find Ben helping himself to a ‘snack’…  Thankfully he didn’t dump anything out!  He’s getting too smart for his own good!

Mmmm… oranges…

Hmmmm…. what do I want?!

So glad that Lennard got home today and happy that everything went well with his dad’s surgery

Book Club

Mom came and watched the kids tonight so that I could go to Lethbridge with my Book Club!  It was such a nice night out.  I thoroughly enjoy visiting with these ladies each month.  We went out to eat at Luigi's and then did a bit of shopping.  Nothing too crazy this year, but a nice relaxed evening.  I feel very lucky to have these friends - Shirlee Y., Marianne T., Sheila P., Shannon T., Enid B., Karen O., Patti B., Deb B., Jacki O., and Katie S. (not all were able to be there tonight, but they are all good friends!)

Cataracts and One LONG Week

Lennard flew out today to Abbotsford to be with his dad when he has his cataracts removed tomorrow.  Len Sr. is pretty nervous and Lennard was glad to be able to be there for him.  I am glad he's able to go too, but at this point it is looking like this is going to be one very LONG week without him.  It makes for a long day when he doesn't come home for lunch, let alone having him gone for 5 1/2 days!  I'm such a wimp! 

We finally had Bryan come to mud and tape the laundry room.  I'm excited to finally get it done!  It's been way too long coming. 

Mom and Dad invited us out for dinner tonight, so it was nice to get out of the house with the kids and have some adult conversation.  I'm already missing Lennard...

The 25 Days of Christ

One of the things we did at our recent sisters weekend was to paint these ornaments for 'The 25 Days of Christ' kit.  It is an amazing kit.  Each day has an ornament, a scripture reference to go with it, a quote, a picture from the gospel art kit and sometimes even a video that you can show from the internet.  It's awesome!  Lennard and I are really excited to start this tradition. 

The kids were REALLY excited to open the gift box to find the first ornament, which was a star.  We opened the box and asked the kids what was in it.  Ben looked in the box and said, "Twinkle, twinkle!".  So cute.  They didn't really sit for much, but I think it will start to sink in. 

Emma has been playing with her nativity all day long.  So when we showed her a picture of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus, she jumped up to show us that she "has a baby Jesus, too!".

Christmas Tree

We decided to surprise my mom and dad this year and put Christmas lights up on some of their trees.  Mom has always wanted to have Christmas lights up, but it's never happened.  We bought a bunch of lights and extension cords and then made sure they were in Lethbridge (for Becky's birthday).  We put on a movie for the kids inside and got going on putting lights up.  The trees were a lot taller than I thought and it was a bit of 'fun' trying to get to the top to put the lights on!  About halfway through it started to rain, so that made it a bit more fun too.  We finally got three of the trees decorated and had to call it quits.  They took more lights than we thought and we used everything we had.  We'll have to watch for sales and buy some more for next year.  I'm excited to hear their reaction when they get home tonight!

We had fun putting up the Christmas tree tonight.  The best part of the whole night was that it was a nice tree and already pre-lit!  No more fighting with lights!  The kids LOVED seeing the tree go up and were anxious to ‘help’ put on ornaments.  Putting an ornament on the tree each night with the 25 Days of Christ will be a lot of fun.

Emma with her little nativity.

Putting on our first ornament for the 25 Days of Christ… a star.