Christmas Eve 2008

We had a great Christmas Eve with our friends The Duncans, my parents and a set of our ward's missionaries. (Dave Duncan and Ryan go WAY back. The stories we can and do tell!)

Natalie and Jack played so well together with their matching curls.

Ryan's family has a tradition to play the chimes each Christmas Eve. My mom sent us this set of chimes last year not realizing that it was a tradition for Ryan. So now we have our own set. You can see everyone concentrating on their chimes. This is a really fun activity and we laughed really hard. I'll be making posters of the music next year for easier following along. I'd like to see you try to sing, read numbers and follow your part all at once. It is not as easy as it sounds. I wish I had taken video. Too funny.

Addy did not get the hang of it.

Addy went to bed before dinner was served so here is her farewell picture. Jack wearing his new Christmas pajamas and reading our new Christmas book.

We love Russell the Sheep at our house.

It's always fun when Grandma comes

Thank goodness my mom is here or Jack would be doing nothing fun. With Addy throwing up for a week, I've had less energy to do fun things. So glad that my mom was able to step in.

Notice anything special about our Christmas Cookie Selection?
We add the Christmas Dinosaur, the Christmas Rocket Ship and the Christmas Airplane to our holiday repertoire. Jack loved his airplane and rocket ship cookies.(Thanks Grandma Shirlene for the cutters)

Our friend Juliet came to help too and really enjoyed sharing in Jack's enthusiasm.

Covered in flour but oh so happy.

Seasonal Confusion Disorder

Jack is a little confused as to what tool helps remove snow the best. However, he did have fun with his mower.

This post's for you, Heather R.

No chickening out next year. You must cut your own Christmas tree before you leave NY and return to the desert.

I love cutting down fresh Christmas tress and I think the best local place is Stokoe Christmas Tree Farm. We've only been to two places so my experience is limited. However, with that being said, I had a great experience last year. We wanted to go there again this year but they are only open on weekends and we could not fit it into our busy weekend schedules.

This is why I think Stokoe Farm is the best:

First, they drive you out in a wagon to the best trees. Second, they give you a saw to cut down the tree. Third, they pick you and the tree up and put it on the wagon to return to where you pay. Fourth, they give you free hot chocolate and a cookie. Fifth, they have a cute little country store to shop in and a place to order food. Sixth, there are little animated singing puppet shows for the kids to watch and a play area. Seventh, they give you a fresh cut on your tree, shake it and bail it for you and provide the twine to tie it to your car. So basically, the tree cuts itself:)

The place we went to this year came with high recommendations. But I was disappointed after last year's experience and did not feel their selection of self-cut trees was the best. The did have a life size nativity with animals that had displaced baby Jesus from the manger and they do give you a fresh cut, shake it and bail it for you and give you the twine.

But there was no tractor to drive me to my perfect tree. And really, if I am going to go to the trouble of cutting down my own tree , I don't want to have to carry it back myself:) And I should at least be rewarded with a free hot chocolate and cookie.

The tractor is worth the $5 more you pay for your tree.

"Hello, Christmas"

It finally feels like Christmas at our house.

Once I started putting lights on the tree, Jack repeatedly said, "Hello, Christmas." I feel the same way. Even though I've been doing Christmasy things all month, it did not feel like Christmas until the tree was put up Monday night.

Monday morning, Jack, Adeline, Grandma and Grandpa and I all made the trek to a tree farm about 30 minutes away. It was warm at almost 60 degrees so it was muddy. (Far cry from last year's experience cutting a tree in the cold cold cold) Jack loved the mud but after starting to walk out into the trees, the pre-cut trees were looking better and better. We took the obligatory tree picture and then walked back to the display of trees and picked the first one we saw.

A meeting of the minds

Adeline was so happy to have her younger cousin, Caleb, to play with during our visit to Atlanta.

Future Rock Stars

Jack and his cousin, Mariam, rocking out in Atlanta .

(Jack's 1st layer of pajamas, peeking out from underneath his footie pajamas, says, "Mummy's little Monster." Perfect for a toddler rock concert.)

Between sets, Addy likes to chew on the microphone.

We're hoping that if her future includes fronting a band, that she will at least wear pants while singing on stage.