Family Christmas Photos

Mommy just loves the expression on my face here

-- I couldn't stop laughing!

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The grandkids with Grammie and Gramps

(or "Gammie" and "Gamps" which is how I like to say it)!

We thought our baby should be in the picture too

-- that's why Mommy's belly is there!

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everyone together -- four generations

Christmas Day

I was curious about my stocking ...

lots of fun little toys inside!

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Eating a piece of candy from my stocking and admiring the Christmas tree!

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Is this really for me?

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Leo liked his new toy frog!

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Opening my first present!

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Hurray for play dough!

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Then we went over to Grammie's house for another set of stockings!

We read the Christmas story, had gingerbread for breakfast, and opened more presents!

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In fact, I have not even opened all of my presents yet!

So far, my favorites are ...

the dolly Aunt Allene made,

my first train set,

my doll house & family,

and my sit and spin!

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More pictures will follow!

Christmas Eve: So many traditions, so little time!

We have a lot of traditions to keep up with on Christmas Eve.

We always have a family concert where everyone performs something...

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Mommy and Aunt Ginny did a piano duet.

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Grammie read a Christmas poem.

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Gramps played the recorder.

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Here I am helping Aunt Ginny practice!

I performed a fabulous dance number with Daddy.

I will post a video of that later!

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We also have the tradition of doing a special meal with fondue Christmas Eve.

Daddy is helping himself to the salad.

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We did cheese fondue with bread and apples, a marinara fondue with meatballs and lobster ravioli, and chocolate fondue with all kinds of fruit and treats.

It was really yummy!

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And we make a birthday cake for Jesus!

This year I helped make a cake...

I kept stirring, "round-a-round" until it was all mixed in!

Then we sang happy birthday to Jesus which I thought was really fun!

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We also did a treasure hunt which is a tradition Daddy grew up with.

I'm not much interested in coins, so we hid bath toys!

I will post a video of that too!

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Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Catch -Up

The last few days have been just lovely here.

All you need is a sweater or a light jacket and you can go right outside and enjoy the lovely sunshine and even catch a few still lingering fall colors on the trees.

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But, just a few short weeks ago we had a little snow!

Yes, that's right, while we were at the seminary Christmas party,

snow started falling outside.

When we got home, Daddy & I just had to go out and play in it,

even though it was late & I was still in my party dress!

So, we bundled up ...

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And enjoyed the snow!

It wasn't really sticking to the ground,

so we had to scrape it off of the cars in Grammie's driveway!

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We did manage to make a stash of snowballs to throw at Grammie and Gramps when they came outside!

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It was Daddy's idea ... really!

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I was fascinated by the snow...

but finally I got so tired I had to go to bed.

And the next day it was mostly gone!

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But, we have done other fun things even without snow...

Today we went to the Christmas display at the history museum.

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They had a whole miniature village and several trains set up!

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I absolutely loved it!

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You can see the detail in the village.

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Here I'm asking Daddy my favorite question,

"What happened?"

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They also had toys and Christmas trees from different periods in history.

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We had a really good time!

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Tonight Aunt Ginny arrives, and soon everyone will be here!

I can't wait! I'm not really sure what is going on,

but something exciting is happening!

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Benjamin or Elizabeth? New Pic!

Today when I woke up Daddy was there to make me breakfast, but Mommy was already gone. I looked for her everywhere, but I couldn't find her. Daddy said she would be back soon. Sure enough, she got home just as I was finishing my fruit and cereal. She had been to the doctor to check on our baby.

So far our baby is healthy and everything is fine. Next time Mommy says I can come with her. Grandma & Daddy will get to come too. We are going to go see the baby on a TV and try to see if it is a boy or a girl.

We have talked a lot about names, and I think we have all agreed for the moment. We still reserve the right to change our minds! :) It was very hard to all agree. Mommy likes names that are traditional or family names, Daddy likes names that are trendy, quirky, or uncommon (like Ada) and I like names that are easy to say like Elmo, Dora, or Puppy!

Right now we are thinking that if she is a girl we are going to call her Elizabeth ( nicknamed Ellie) and if he is a boy we are going to call him Benjamin.

We will find out January 7 and let you know! :)

FFN: Window Shopping

For Family Fun Night this week we had a picnic in the living room in front of the fireplace!

I thought this was great fun, although it did get a bit messy.

We had spinach & 3 cheese manicotti & cucumber salad.

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I was not a big fan of the salad, but I did like the manicotti quite a bit!

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Just for fun we headed off for the mall to see all the lovely Christmas decorations!

Look at what a big girl I am!

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Baby goes with me everywhere!

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This was so much fun!

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Wow! What are these?

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Daddy gave me a quarter!

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Below I'm proudly showing off my gum!

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Me & Daddy

Special thanks to Aunt Joy for the birthday outfit!

I love it! I call it my "wutterfly" shirt!

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Daddy's Painting

Daddy did this painting for the charity auction at church.

It is better in person, but still looks good here.

Our church raised over $1,000 for charity.

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"Mary Did You Know" by David O'Donnell

The Birthday That Keeps on Giving...

On my actual birthday we were too busy with a Christmas concert and a Christmas party to do much birthday stuff. To continue the "smarties" for my birthday this week, we went to Chuck E. Cheese today. Grammie, Gramps, Ompa, Mommy, Daddy, and I enjoyed games, pizza, and most of all watching all the little kids dance around to the crazy music! It was really fun! :)

From the Mouths of Babes

Today I was saying something over and over again to my baby, and Mommy had to listen very closely to understand what it was.

See if you understand Ada-ese.

"Top, istem, opey, tanku, nice hugs!"

Translation:

"Stop, listen, obey, thank you, nice hugs!"

I must have said this string of words to my baby a million times today!

We have been working on obedience at my house, so I guess it was on my mind.

Just so you know, I use a stern voice for the first three words, and then a big smile for the last three. My baby always obeys ... I can't quite say the same for myself! :) At least not yet!

Lovely Birthday Weekend

We had a lovely birthday weekend, although we were too busy with other stuff to do much birthday-ing! We really enjoyed taking in the Seminary Christmas party, the Christmas concert, and a small group party! It was all a lot of fun! :) I even had a snowball fight with Grammie, Gramps, & Daddy -- yes that's right we had snow this weekend! I thought it was great fun!

In honor of my birthday I got a nice card in the mail from Grandma & Grandpa O'Donnell and a card from Ompa with some money in it. Of course, I don't know what that means, but Mommy promised to buy me something fun with it! I also got to talk on the phone to Aunt Joy, Caleb, & Grandma!

I think there are rumors that we are going to do some more celebrating later this week, & we are making plans for another "smartie" in January when Grandma and Grandpa come!

I think I'm doing a great job of spreading this birthday out a long time! :)

Last night we lit the first candle of the Advent Wreath!

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Mommy is teaching me the lines of the poem we say.

And I'm learning to sing Away in A Manger and Silent Night.

By "learning to sing" I mean that I sing about the last word in every line! :)

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Since it is the first day of December we opened the first door of the Advent Calendar too!

Guess what? There was a treat inside just for me!

I think I could get used to this advent celebration.

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We put Baby Jesus in the first pocket.

He still has a long way to go before we celebrate his birthday.

Then, we practiced our Bible verses.

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"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given!"

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"And we say, 'Amen, come Lord Jesus. Come!'"

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Ada meets Leo

Leo is my present from Mommy & Daddy!

Aunt Ginny bought me all the nice dog stuff:

bowls, dog bed, chew toys, collar, leash etc.

Thanks Aunt Ginny!

How Old Are You?

Happy Birthday Song

Meet Leo: Smartie Part II

This is Leo, my birthday present. They delivered him from the shelter this morning.

He is a wonderful easy going dog!

He warmed up to me right away and let me hug and pet him!

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I was so happy petting Leo, that I did not look up at the camera!

When I took my nap today, I told Leo, "Night-night, love you!"

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Birthday "Smartie" Part 1: More to Follow!

When I came in I was so excited to see streamers everywhere and lots of balloons!

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And I absolutely loved these "pupcakes" that Mommy made!

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These are a simplified version of the picture in the magazine,

Mommy worked on them for a long time and finally decided that they were good enough!

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Here I am, the birthday girl,

inviting people to come and eat!

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We had all of my favorite foods...

mini pizzas, little smokies, bananas, kiwi, fruit, etc.

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I thought the food was really yummy!

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And I enjoyed eating the toppings off of my cupcake!

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And I really liked the red punch!

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Aunt Allene, Uncle Carey, and Patrick gave me a big girl purse with lots of goodies inside it!

I got my own chapstick!

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And look at these cool sunglasses!

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And I got other nice gifts too!

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Like this cool Mr. Potato Head from Grammie and Gramps!

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It was a great birthday smartie!

I especially enjoyed singing and blowing out the candles!

Thanks to everyone who came & made it special!