Christmas 2008 with Family

Our family gatherings this holiday season were quite spread out. Due to illnesses and family in various parts of western WI we had several different parties to attend this year. Thankfully, we all stayed in fairly good health through this busy season (unlike last year when I got the FLU!!! on Christmas Eve, YUCK!) and we had FUN FUN FUN! Hope was a blast this Christmas.

She passed out the gifts and "helped" everyone open them.

She visited Santa.

She enjoyed the baking and the eating.

She learned the Christmas story with her great new Advent calendar.

She sang Jingle Bells with a boisterous "HEY!"

We have so many special memories from Hope's second Christmas home with us. I can't believe this is really her SECOND Christmas here! I know I said in an earlier post that she was our "Christmas Angel." It is so true. The joy this little girl has brought to our lives is incredible. I love being her Mommy! :)

12/21/08 - Christmas in Strum (Mommy's Extended Family)
We are a family that loves each other and loves Christmas. We have cameras everywhere, read the story from Luke and then take our time opening gifts, and if anyone goes away from this party hungry it's his own fault. The kids were BUSY this year. It was so much fun to watch them and they all played so well together. Next Christmas we'll have three new babies to pamper, too. I can't wait!
Ron and Oliver

Is cosmetology school in our future?

What scheming is taking place here?

Photos with Cousin Laura


Uncle Jim with Some of the Nieces

Grandpa Bob was watching this with pride! Cribbage was his game!

Beautiful Anna

Flying with Laura

Singing with Auntie Karla


Sisters

Comic Relief for the Night - The matching pj's for the kids were adorable but trying to get them to pose for a photo was hilarious!



On Christmas Day we were HOME!!! We didn't have plans until the evening so we had some wonderful family time with stockings and gifts in the morning and then we "PAYED!!!" (played = Hope speak).





She's having waaaayyyyy too much fun giving me that "poke."

BUSTED - But pretty darn cute don't ya' think?

We saved the best for last. We have quite the chef on our hands here. I'm not sure what Ella thinks about it all though.


Our weekend after Christmas was a little busy. On 12/27 (Saturday) we were together for the day with Ron's family. It was pretty low key because we had a sick aunt, uncle, and cousins so our group was smaller than usual, but we had a nice time. We had some brunch and then "payed" some more. Hope even napped there that afternoon which was great. The adults got to play a few heated rounds of Sequence (one of Grandma and Grandpa's favorite games). Here are a some of the highlights.








Mom: "What did you put together with Grandma out in the kitchen earlier?"
Hope: "I don't know."
Mom: "Hmmm...."

Mom: "Surely you must remember this, Hope."

Hope: "COOKIES! For me?"

The afternoon of 12/28 (Sunday) was spent with some of Ron's extended family in Glenwood. We had another wonderful time. We are so thankful for Grandma "Hoot's" independence. It is pretty special to have her celebrating with us. She loves to watch her great-grandchildren play, too. I know Hope had a pretty fun day with her big girl cousin!




Can somebody tell me why my daughter was always under the tree this year? ;)




As of the end of this marathon post, I am still working on photos from two other family gatherings. We were busy, but we loved every moment. If you've made it to the end here, thanks for sticking around. I know there were a TON of pictures, but seeing as though I'm trying hard to keep up here and not being so successful in doing so by printing photos, I try to be thorough. Also remember, I'm always holding back. :)

Christmas 2008 with Friends

We had several occasions over these past couple of weeks to gather with friends in celebration of Christmas. I don't know how we got to be so lucky, but we have some pretty amazing friends in our lives. Thank you God! We ate, we laughed, we played, we laughed, we exchanged gifts, we laughed...you get the picture. With all of the negativity blasting us in the daily media, the stress of work in this economy, and the personal struggles that seem to overwhelm us, we certainly have much to be thankful for. We are thankful for you, dear friends. We are thankful for you!

Our first friend stop this year was meeting up with these good friends. Thank you so much for a wonderful night. 12/12/08




On 12/19 we had a little work to do preparing goodies for more of the upcoming parties. Don't these look yummy?

Then we headed out to a get-together with our church choir. I haven't asked permission to post photos of all the attendees, but I can show you these. Our hosts have a beautiful sunroom with this lovely little tea set and dolls just waiting for a young hostess of their own. Our daughter was happy to oblige.


This is a great video from the same night. Hope LOVES her jingle bell hairbows this year. She had them a year ago at Christmas time as well, but they have brought so much more excitement to her wardrobe this year.


On Christmas Day we had these friends visit for the night. I can't even begin to tell you now much fun Hope had. I bet she was giggling from the moment they walked in until they left close to 10!




There were a some peaceful moments though. The girls started reading and I think I may have even teared up when I peeked around the corner to Hope's room and saw them cozy in the rocking chair. More special Christmas memories to keep close.

Tree Hunt

Now that the Christmas season has slowed, we've said goodbye to family and friends at all of our gatherings, and we've welcomed in 2009, I'm finally getting around to sorting photos from the past month. YIKES! A daunting task ahead!

I'm going to try to break things down a bit to organize my thoughts. So, starting back in early December, here we are in search of the perfect tree. BRRRR! We picked a cold day for our hunt but we sure had fun doing it.

READY!

Hope wanted to help. Notice the branches she's pulling for us.

Christmas Tree 2008

"What are they doing Daddy?" The workers had our tree up on their machine to shake out all the loose needles.

MMMM - Hot Cidar

Done making choices and ready to head home.

Now the real work begins! We felt like the Grizwalds when we got the netting all cut off and the tree fell open. We seriously underestimated the size of the tree. It looked a lot smaller in the woods. :) We got it up and situated with lots of good help from our little daughter. It was a beautiful tree and worth all the hard work.


She always has a "baby" close by.



Here is Hope at Church the next Sunday.

Then, it was time to head home to decorate. It was a bigger job this year than last year. Two-yr-olds are definitely busier and want to "help" so much more than when they're one. We have a little girl who wants to do it all and "DO IT BY MYSELF." :)

Christmas time is so full of traditions and limitless special memories to be made with each one of them. We love Hope. We love our family. And, we cherish every precious moment we have with each other creating those forever memories.

It is moments like these....


...we'll keep in our hearts forever.

This is a picture of Hope with my "1st Christmas" ornament (1974). She thought it should fit her. :)

Christmas Angel

The King we honor at Christmas orchestrated a miracle when he brought this angel into our lives. We are so blessed!


New Beijing Olympics Ornament This Year

Posing with the Tree at Church

Merry Christmas!

Santa & Gingerbread

We went to breakfast with Santa. Hope had such a fun time. He was visiting a nearby coffee shop, so we thought we'd stop in for their Santa omlet special. We fully expected a BUSY morning, but there really weren't too many children around while we were there so Hope got to trot to the back room to visit with Santa several times. It was very cute. She enjoyed talking with him but didn't really want to sit on his lap at all.

Wonder What He's Whispering


This was the moment Hope thought she was totally getting away with something by taking another candy cane from the bucket. Pure Delight!

Hope enjoyed her first candy cane of the day on the way to our next stop.

Our friends (Mark, Melody, & Hope B.) invited us over after our Santa visit to make a gingerbread house. Hope had a blast with this project...and so did Daddy.


Every other sentence was "Mama? May I eat this one?" She got away with more sweets that morning than we ever give her...I even busted her on camera a couple times.


This was the two Hopes with their masterpieces. I wasn't going to post all the pictures, but I think they make a pretty comical progression. The girls obliged us for the first photo by sitting nicely, but it is SSSSSOOOOOOOO hard to resist the candy temptation when you're 2/3 yrs. old and it is just sitting there right on your lap. hahaha - or should I say Ho Ho Ho! :) Even in that first picture, check out our daughter's left hand.






I love this one! Here is our joy of the season!