Early Christmas

I found the camera cord!!!!!!!!!!!! In the very bottom of some box....So, after uploading 145 photos, now I can blog again:)
We celebrated Christmas in Gig Harbor -early, before we moved. It worked out great!
The girls and I baked some cutouts and we iced them-we set some out for Santa every year-it's a must:)

We got a real tree-which was new for us....but we loved it! The girls made all of the ornaments:)

...well, except for the bulbs, bells, and snowflakes. We didn't explain that it might be Christmas when they went to bed. SO, to their surprise, when they awoke at 6am the one morning, there were toys under the tree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, to their shock, Santa found the cookies in the container on the counter!!!! ...and left a bitten one :)

They were delighted with everything! Dalaina was just so happy to receive the small disney dolls and castle that it took a while before she realized that she had other gifts!!

Faith just went from one to the next as she always does!!!

The computers were hit---thanx COSTCO!

But, the castle got the most play:)

...later that day:)

They had a great early Christmas...then it was time to pack and move!

CHRISTMAS TIME

This is the season for busy-ness; every year it's the same. No matter how much you think you're gonna scale down and slow down, or plan ahead, it never happens:) Of course, in this busy time, my blogging has fallen behind. So, this post is an attempt to update/catch up!
The catch up-
We got our tree up in early December. Since then, we have been to the local town tree lighting, watched christmas carolers, visited Santa, watched the boat parade, visited a live Nativity, and driven through the largest light show in the northwest! We have also been shopping for gifts and baked cookies. The girls have loved every moment of this season:)
I assure you that I have photos of these things and when I am able to upload, I'll be posting them.
The update-
We love Gig Harbor. What an adorable, little town! The people are great and the scenery is amazing. We have enjoyed all of our time here in this quaint little town and truly will miss it.
Yes, we are moving-again. We are heading to Santa Rosa, Ca. The girls and I will be back together with David and can't wait:)
We hope that you all have an amazing holiday season and a blessed new year!

TREE TIME

Christmas in Gig Harbor means that we dont have our 9ft tree. So, we had to go out and get a tree. Simple, right? We went to Home Depot and the girls ran through the garden center and decided which tree they wanted. After we stood each treet up, Faith said, "Mom, there is no room under the tree for presents!" We had to select from many trees, only to her disappointment, there wasn't room under any of them!
I explained that they would trim the branches off to our satisfaction and she was ok with that. So, off to pay and take the tree home. I shoved that tree in the back of the Routan and off we went.




The tree is a 5 1/2 ft Noble Fir and it smells great!
They wanted to do everything and so I let them. They put the stnad together, cut the net off the tree, and screwed the bolts into the tree! There was some silliness in there-of course:)

They were very serious about helping out despite the silly moments...and they did a great job.

Faith decided to take the camera out and shoot a photo of me trying to hold the tree up and screw a bolt in! She did ok:)

Then came the decorating--which they always enjoy. It was less stressful this year because the balls were plastic!

The tree turned out to be great:)

Of course, we will continue to make ornaments and add them to the tree.

Come on Santa!

Thanksgiving 2009 ---trip to the burgh!

The girls we excited to make the trip to the burgh for turkey day! We had a mid morning flight which was nice--no early rising and rushing around! They always enjoy the shuttle ride.


They were pretty good at the airport. They each had their backpacks with some stuff to occupy their time:)

Faith enjoyed the magazine in the back of the seat pocket-she looked so grown up!

The view out the window was awesome!

Dalaina did whatever her sister did!

On a clear day, you can see Mt Hood, Mt Baker, Mt Rainier, and Mt St Helen's.

They were so excited to see their cousins...there was much playing to be done:)

Domenic provided some great entertainment for us at the piano!

"Oh Jingle Bells Oh Jingle Bells Oh Jingle Bells" over, and over, and over...and very loudly as he banged on the keys!

Aubrey was a little ham! She chased me for a picture:)

Thanksgiving morning meant time to make the gingerbread house! After last year's disaster, I revised the making. They each decorated a side of the house with icing and candies first.

Then, I assembled the house...it worked much better!

Complete with snow, trees, shrubs, and a peppermint side walk! They had great fun decorating and did enjoy a taste after dinner:) Look at that bird!

The usual was on the menu, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoe casserole, rolls, and gravy! We ate and drank as usual--until we all moaned about the fullness we felt:(

Uncles, Aunts, grams, and cousins, all at the table...it was a good time:)

Then, more playing during clean up.

After dessert and some more playing, it was time for the little ones to get to bed. We had an 8am flight to get back home!!! We let them go to sleep in our bed and watch Cars---they were asleep in no time:)

We are very greatful and count our blessings!