The BIG GUY!

Grandma always has to be in the picture, too.

After we met Santa, we had dinner and gift giving at The Spaghetti Factory. We have a gift exchange among the cousins each year and they always look forward to finding out who has them, and picking a gift to give to someone else. They were all happy campers by the time the party was over. . .give or take a few battles.

VIBE Christmas Concert

Savannah had her 1st performance last night with the VIBE and she did a great job. She has skills! She was excited to finally get to perform and do her make-up. We are proud of her dedication - it's been "touch & go" but she's hung in there and it paid off.

Spirit of Christmas

I wanted to share this cute story & tell you how proud it made me.

Last week, while shopping at Cabelas (on Saturday) the crowds were horrible. As everyone hussled and bussled around the joint, it was difficult to even shop or to get down the isles. We squeezed through the crowds and made it passed the registers when I realized we forgot a shopping cart. There was no way I was dragging Savannah back to get one, so I sent Bo for one. I knew with his fancy footwork he would find a hole.

Of course, as I watched him, I could tell the carts were gone. As he waited for a cart to be returned, he noticed an older woman in an electric wheelchair trying to leave the building. As you are probably familiar, the doors are solid wood and very, very heavy. This woman just kept slamming her wheelchair into the door hoping she could push it open. There had to have been 30 adults come and go from the building - not one of them helping her. As I watched from a distance, my Bo walked over to her, opened the first door letting her through, then opened the second door also. This woman began to cry and took Bo by the hand, pulled him towards her so she could give him a hug and said to him, "That was the nicest thing anyone has done for me this Christmas".

I noticed there were adults around who stopped to watch Bo perform this great act of kindness (embarrased as they were and rightly should have been). I couldn't help but shed a few tears myself.

We all get so caught up and in a hurry

that sometimes we forget to notice the small things.

Greatest Invention EVER!

Peppermint M&M's!

One of MY FAVORITE THINGS

When Shaun and I got married my mom started our Christmas Village Tradition for us by giving us one new piece each Christmas. Needless to say, my collection has grown and I don't even have enough room to display them all. Each piece is from the Dept. 56, North Pole series. My kids have always loved them. They will sit and daydream in front of the village forever. Most of my pieces represent something that has happened during our family adventure, i.e., Bo starting elementary school, Savannah being obsessed with playdough, Bo learning to snowboard, the year we landscaped our yard.

This village is something that makes me HAPPY and feel like a kid again.

Pieces not displayed, Reindeer Barn, Elves Bunkhouse, Toy Delivery Train, Ice Skating Rink.

Our New Tradition!

Last year for Christmas, a cute little Elf appeared under Grandma's tree for each grandchild, packaged in his own box with a story about his mischevious behavior!
We are only to remove the Elf from his package on December 1st
and place it in our home somewhere for him to watch & see if the kids are being naughty or nice.
The story explains that he will fly home to the North Pole at night while everyone is sleeping to report to Santa,
and reappear in a new spot each morning.
His name is RUCKUS
and we welcome him to our home.



This is where we found him the first morning. It took Savannah a while to find him, she even had to ask Indy to come over and help.
I'm sure that Ruckus got a kick out of that.
He loves being sneeky!