Christmas Present from Mim and Doe

My parents got the girls a swing set for Christmas and it was delivered and installed yesterday. Here are some pics from the first go on the swing set.

Ella's new hair cut

Trina cut Ella's hair yesterday. It was her first real hair cut. I think it is so cute.

More Christmas Pics

Christmas Pictures

A Very Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas! This was probably one of our best so far. The girls had so much fun. We started our celebrations on Christmas Eve. Adam and Abbey came into to town around 11:00. We finished the cooking for our dinner and decorated Christmas cookies. My Uncle Gary and his family come in shortly after Adam and Abbey. This year my Aunt Jane's mom Mama Jackie joined us for Christmas. We went to church for the candlelight service and then came home and had a wonderful dinner and opened gifts. My cousin Tyler is a fantastic cook and and did a great job on the meat. The girls got so many great gifts. My Aunt and Uncle gave all three girls different Disney Princess outfits complete with purses, gloves, necklaces, and crowns. They loved them. My parents gave my girls a new swing set, since it was too big to go under the tree my mom wrapped up a picture. The swing set should be installed next week. The girls also received very fun toys from My brother and his family and my cousin Rhonda and her family. A tradition that we do as a family every Christmas Eve is to read the Christmas story using place cards that have a scripture on each one. This year we also did What God Wants For Christmas. That is really fun and it on the kids level. It is made by the Resurrection Egg people. Christmas Morning Santa came and the girls were so excited about their gifts. They got so very much. We had lunch with my Dad's family. They just live next door so we did not have to go far. We had a great time visiting with each other. Christmas afternoon Dave's parents came into town. The girls once again got a ton of gifts. I fixed dinner and we visited with each other and watched the girls play. We also enjoyed Dave's gift from my parents, a Wii. I think this is his all time favorite gift. He is addicted. It was so special this year to be able to teach Emery Claire the true meaning of Christmas and her understand. She asked a lot of questions, but it has been neat to watch her think about Jesus and try to understand it all. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I will post pictures later this week.

Happy Birthday Jesus Party

Thursday Emery Claire's class had a birthday party for Jesus. It was lots of fun. Ella enjoyed herself at the party also.

School Christmas Program

Emery Claire had her Christmas Program at school on Wednesday. This was her first time to wear a costume. She was a star and did a very good job. This week was super busy with Christmas activities, my birthday, and Dave being out of town all week. I had great help though. Ashlen and Heather helped out this week. With my mom recovering from her knee surgery, she and my Dad are limited on how much they can help right now. Mom is doing very well with her therapy and recovery. Here are some Christmas Play pictures.

Showing Off Our Cute Snowman Outfits

Here are couple of pictures of the girls in their snowman outfits that Trina made. I feel in love with these outfits.

Cookie Baking

Our preschool department at church had a cookie decorating party. We all decorated Christmas cookies and then we delivered them to the local police department and HEMSI office. This was our way of saying thank you for keeping us safe. The children really enjoyed it. Emery Claire and Ella had a great time, but Emery Claire got shy when we saw the police officers and ambulance drivers.

Preschool Handbell choir

Two weeks ago the preschool choir did bells in church. They did a really good job. Here are a couple of pics of Emery Claire

My very eventful week

Well, this week has been one that I think I will never forget. It all started on Tuesday. Tuesday is my staff meeting day so Ella stays with a baby sitter that day. When I picked Ella up Rhonda told me that Ella had not had a wet diaper all day. She had a whole lot to drink but no wet diapers. I called the doctor and by the time they called me back she had gone 12 hours and had even more to drink. The doctor said that if she had not gone by in the morning bring her in. I talked to my friend Jessica her is a nurse and also a mom and she said if it was her child she would take him to the ER. So, we head that way and shortly after we get there she goes to the bathroom. So we went ahead and left since it was super crowded. She was back to normal and has not had any more problems. Well, on to Wednesday. Wednesday night I was at church back in the preschool department getting all the kids checked in and settled and a lady and three teenage girls walk up to the welcome desk. The lady told me that two of the girls had gotten off the bus at her house with her daughter and said they were being abused and did not want to go home. She said she needed help would I help her. So, i took a deep breathe and off I went. I finished with the situation and got home around 12:00 am. That brings me to today. Ella and I ran to the bank this morning before we had to pick Emery Claire up from school. We went through the drive thru and it was taken a extra long time. The bank I went to was not in the best part of town and Dave even said while i was talking to him on the phone that he would rather me not go to that bank any more. I finally got through the line. Dave called shortly after that to inform me that the bank was robbed about 2 minutes after I left. So, I am thank God for His protection over me and my family this week. I think I need to lock myself in my house for a while. This week has been way more eventful than I would like.

Happy Birthday Jesus

Well, I decided that I would try something different this year for our Christmas cards. One of my ideas was to get a birthday cake for Jesus and have the girls blow out the candles. Here are a couple attempts. I thought they were pretty cute.

Christmas Pj's

Christmas Time is Here!

Saturday we decorated the house for Christmas. My mom came over and watched since she is very bored not being able to do much. We put up 2 trees, the Christmas village, decorate the den and living room, and put a little tree in the girls room. It was a day full. This is the first year that Emery Claire really helped decorate. She loved it!

Turkey Day

Here are a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving with my family. My girls and my niece had matching turkey outfits made by my friend Trina. I thought they looked really cute.

Sweet girls and sweet friends

Wednesday since school was out the girls and I went with my friend Susie and her kids to Early Works. Susie has a little boy Landon who is one of Emery Claire's best friends. They have been in preschool together since they were one. Susie also has a little girls Reagan that is just a couple months younger than Ella. The kids all play really well together. I thought the pictures were cute.