Christmas Weekend Festivities

Christmas Weekend 2006, started off with our immediate family gift opening at my mom and dad's house on Friday night. We had a great time, and all received such fun and nice gifts!

Here, Halle admires her new barretts (she actually got three different kinds!) - she LOVES putting 'pity' things in her hair, and we've been using her barretts virtually every night after we get home!

Here Brendan shows us his cool new Jeep from Grandpa David and Grandma ConnieSaturday night, we went to Grandma Marion's 80th Birthday Party in Britton - (see the next post for pictures). Sunday was Christmas Eve, and we headed to my Grandpa Bill and Grandma Margie's house to celebrate.

Here Grandma Connie assists Halle in opening up one of her gifts...

Brendan knows the drill, and needs no assistance at all in ripping into his presents...
Halle is impatiently waiting for me to get the box open - she wants her....
BABY! She LOVES babies.
Daddy showing Halle the proper smooching technique.

Halle, you've got to pucker your lips, like this...

More kisses for the baby Uncle Doug let the kids choose a stuffed animal and Brendan chose this kitty - he loves it!

Here is is giving his new kitty a big hug...
Here are a few pictures of Brendan trying out his new bicycle (with training wheels) - it's soo cute!

Here are some family pictures taken at Grandma Margie's house.

First, a picture of my cousin, Roxanne, and I...
Erica, Roxanne, myself, and Colin - (our other cousins, Carrie and Jacinta were also up for the weekend, but had to leave late morning on Christmas Eve Day)Our family...

A cute picture of Kahri - she didn't want me to take it, can you tell?

And, finally - Halle hopped up on Colin's back when he laid on the floor in the living room - ride 'em cowgirl!

Grandma Marion's 80th Birthday Party

Here are a few snapshots taken at my Grandma Marion's 80th birthday party, which was held this past Saturday night at the Hunter's in Britton...

Here my mom holds Halle as the birthday girl looks on (this is the ONLY picture I took with Grandma Marion in it the whole night! Grrrrr...)


Halle admiring Grandma Connie's pretty necklace...

Brendan sitting at the table...
My aunt, Lana, her fiance (notice how I used the "official" term, Lana??), Paul, and my sister, Erica chatting away...
The Hunter's is actually a resturaunt/bar where many wedding dances are held, so it's complete with a stage and dancefloor. It was no surprise that the kids spent most of their time dancing the night away - here's a picture of Halle and Brendan busting some moves.

The kids having fun on the stage -
Grandpa Tom and Cary having a nice chat...

The party was a lot of fun - Happy 80th Grandma Marion!!!

Celebrating Christmas at our house (Dec. 15-17)

The weekend before Christmas was a busy one! Cary and I had both of our Christmas Parties for work, Cary's Friday night, and mine Saturday night. Grandma Carol came up and spent the entire weekend with the kids for us! YAY! Here we are at Cary's party in Brainerd....


On Saturday afternoon, Grandma Carol and the kids made some treats for Santa...chocolate dipped pretzels! YUM! Halle dipped and ate all of her pretzels, while Brendan consumed about 1/2 of his!


Sunday morning was our actual Christmas celebration -- and Santa made an early visit! Here, Brendan tries on his new slippers from Santa...

And, checks out his stocking...

Brendan got a new train set from Santa - YAY! (Halle got the cutest little picnic basket, complete with a red/white checkered table cloth, dishes, and cups - she loved it, but was a bit sleepy so she spent most of the "Santa" time on my lap)

After breakfast, it was finally time to open presents!


Brendan got a ton of real tools from Grandma Carol - he LOVES them!
Grandma Carol made Halle this ADORABLE apron - doesn't she look cute in it?? She also made a matching set of pot holders, and an oven mitt!!
The apron, potholders and oven mitt were needed because Grandma Carol also got Halle a.........


NEW PLAY KITCHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is the cutest thing ever - it's two sided; on one side is the typical kitchen set-up - fridge, microwave, sink, stove, dishwaser, etc....

And on the other side - it's an outdoor bar-b-que grill area!

It is so much fun - both Halle and Brendan (ok, and me) have been having a blast playing with it! There are SOO many cute accessories that go with it - and it's been so fun watching them "cook"!

Decorating the tree

This past Tuesday, Cary picked out a gorgeous tree from a feed store in Brainerd, and we spent the evening decorating it and the rest of the house. The tree is HUGE, stands 8 1/2 to 9 feet tall and looks beautiful in the living room.

Here it is with the lights and the angel, before we added the ornaments...

Ornament time!


A close up - ooooohhhhh, pretty...Brendan had a blast helping us decorate; Halle, on the other hand was terrified. Here is a picture (sorry it's so dark) of her crying as we carried the tree into the house...
And, while we were decorating, she retreated to her bedroom and sat on Brendan's bed.

I finally made her laugh, however, but if you look at her eyes they are still shimmering with tears. Goofy kid. She got over it after awhile, and is ok with the tree being in the living room now.

Every year Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Charlie make each and every one of us our very own wooden decorative "placecard" -- they are always so cute, and it's so much fun to take them out each Christmas and use them in the decorating - here is a picture of the various ones from over the past several years... I wonder what this years will be??

Just wanted to share a couple of my favorite memories from the night:

*Brendan, wearing a stocking on each hand proclaiming, "Mama, I'm wearing Santa's gloves!"

*Halle refusing to walk into the living room and past the big, bad tree. She stood on the edge of the carpet and cried and cried.

*Hearing Brendan in his bedroom comforting Halle while we were in the living room, "Hawee, it's ok, it's only a tree."

*Brendan and I's conversation when we found the plate we use to put out the cookies for Santa:

Brendan: What's that, Mama?

Me: It's a plate we put cookies on on Christmas Eve, so Santa can have a snack when he stops by the house.

Brendan: Does Santa like cookies?

Me: Yes, and he also likes milk.

Brendan: And he also likes meatloaf. Santa really likes meatloaf.

So this year we'll probably be setting out milk, cookies, and meatloaf!

Fun at Grandma Carols...

Over Veteran's Day weekend my sister and I took a trip to the Twin Cities to do some Christmas shopping, and Cary was busy studying for the CPA exam, so the kids got to spend the weekend with Grandma Carol!

Halle is lucky enough to have her very own baby at Grandma's house, and she loves her! She also has the cutest little cradle, hand crafted by Great-Grandpa Lee for her baby to lay in, and baby blankets made by Grandma to keep her little girl warm...(as you can see, she's not all that delicate with her, though, and has been known to pitch her face down into the cradle if you mention it's time to eat :))


They played games...
(She looks like a teenager in this picture!)They played outside...

And before bed it was time for the "pants-optional-bubble-wrap" dance...

What a fun weekend! Thank you Grandma Carol!