Holiday Highlights

I have to get this finished up before we get too far into the New Year and I can't remember what happened.  LOL!  It already seems like a distant memory....no not really!  The holidays are always a magical time of year!  They are also exhausting and crazy and did I mention exhausting!!!  

Well we started off the holidays with a crazy decision.  We decided to get a puppy!  We had been looking at them

and debating and trying to decide on the right breed and if we even really wanted a puppy and well the girls they really wanted a puppy!!  So we decided to get a Broodle Griffon.  SAY WHAT?  She is a mix between a poodle and a Brussels Griffon and is pretty cute. A pain in the butt, but pretty cute!  And so yeah she has definitely added to the exhaustion!

This year we were finally able to attend our church's Christmas dinner again. I hosted a table this year which was fun and as always we had a lovely fun night. Before we headed to dinner I got a few pictures of the girls in front of the tree in their Christmas dresses.  I used to have more time to set up a backdrop and get pictures of them for Christmas but not so much this year, so these pictures will have to suffice. Rushed as they were...

We had the Mills and Kopps at our table and it was really fun.  Hannah and Olivia giving a ballet pose before dinner.

Elvis came to sing...lol!

The 12 days of Christmas singing was very fun!  Each person took one of the days and sang that little chunk.  Very Fun!

I took this picture to put on our Christmas letter.  The girls with their Christmas present Stella.

I got no pictures of them actually making their gingerbread houses so I tried to get one of them with their houses.  Olivia and Raelyn cooperated, but Claire and Aubrey had a little bit of a tough time working out the compromise in their picture.

We didn't have a Christmas program at church this year which was kind of sad.  The kids did sing one song in church which turned out really nice.  They sang "What a Glorious Night".  It was a fun song and they did a great job!

Even Raelyn was brave and sang this year!

This years Christmas dance show was more acting than dance.  Olivia was the only one in the show and she had one really nice dance in the variety and variation time.  It was also really late this year which was kind of hard, but it all worked out. And it was nice to have Mary, Eric, and the Chadwick boys over for the day to watch the show and get to play with the girls.  It was a so much fun cousin time I didn't even get any pictures...bummer!

And then it was Christmas Eve!  On Christmas eve the girls decided to have their secret sister exchange.  This year they decided to exchange names and buy a gift for one of their sisters.  This was probably their favorite gifts too.  It was fun for them to buy for each other and get to give them.  I really liked this!

Our after Christmas Eve service picture.

I just love the glow of the candles on my girls faces singing praises to Jesus on Christmas Eve! So glad we have this fun tradition in our family!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!

And then the girls got to open up their Christmas Eve gifts.  And surprise they were jammies!

And then they all slept in the same room Christmas Eve so they could wake up together Christmas morning.  Love these sweet girls and their fun traditions.

Christmas morning stocking picture!

Stella was a fun bonus this year as she tried to eat the presents and paper.

And a present from God (besides his GREATEST gift of JESUS!) was snow on Christmas Eve!  So Christmas morning after presents and breakfast we went to play in the snow.  Our first white Christmas at this house and the girls first white Christmas that they can remember.

Isn't she looking so grown up??!!

After snow play Grandma Mary and Grandpa Eric showed up to spend a few days with us.   We ate prime rib, played games and worked on puzzles on Christmas Day.  The next day they decided to burn our huge slash pile from our clearing this summer.  And we finally moved our apple trees that really needed to be moved.

On the 30th Olivia got her first pointe shoes!!  We went with her friend Kayla and her mom and it was  a fun outing.  We had to go over to Federal Way to get them.  Trying on pointe shoes takes time and she probably tried on 10 pairs or so and then compared them all.  So here are her first pictures of her trying on her first shoes!

And now for some random out of order cell phone pictures.

Look at all these salt dough hands we have done over the years.  Fun to watch the hands grow and boy are these girls growing!

Putting up Christmas decorations on the window.

Fun at the bonfire at Gina's House.  Again isn't my baby looking so grown up?  She is so tall these days!

There is a smile from my oldest!  Love that smile!

And then I found round 2 of random cell phone pictures and don't have the time or energy to put them in the right order.  So here you go...

We did lots of shopping and dreaming about Christmas presents.  The girls always wanted a picture of or with the toy so they could remember what it was (and so could I!).

Raelyn being her cute little self wearing fake glasses and little ears headband.

Playing with friends!  I think we were having a football get together! Ha...can't remember for sure!

Here is one of our traditions we do in December I hide our shepherd (Kevin) each night with a card and activity or story to read.  The girls love it, but I have a hard time keeping up with all our traditions!

Our baby Stella puppy under the Christmas tree...since she was a Christmas gift!

Decorating this year's salt dough handprints.  This year they made them into a manger and Mary, Joseph and the wise men.

 Poor Aubrey got an ear infection she was fighting for about a week.  Poor girl!

Another Christmas tradition...making sugar cookies!  This is such a labor of love for me, but the girls really love doing this.  A lot of work, but boy are they yummy!  And PRETTY!!

Olivia and Kaitelyn after Olivia's dance show.

Olivia's flowers from her show.

Piper wearing all the costumes we sent her!

Claire and Aubrey with their projects they made at homebase during their studies on the Industrial Revolution.  Aubrey made a machine of some sort. And Claire's group made a cotton gin and she got to bring it home.

I went in to get my knee checked out before going skiing this year.  This is one of my x-rays.  The doctor said I am fine to ski, but my repaired ACL is getting loose, hence why it will pop partially out on me when I step on it wrong.  And my knees are super squeaky and are arthritic in that they have little to no cartilidge protecting them anymore. And my left knee has bone spurs on it if you look closely at the x-ray. Exercising, and doing my best to protect and maintain them till I am much older and they just bother me too much and I can get a knee replacement is what can be done for now...

Another fun tradition is the daily (or every few days) devotions and ornaments we make.  The girls love it and I love reading the Christmas story, over and over to them.  They really get it and the little ones especially learn so much and really get it.

And because we have been wanting a new couch for awhile we decided to do some shopping before the new year and after lots of shopping, finally found our couch at Costco.  We bought it on the 30th, just in time for our New Year's Eve party.

We had some friends over to help us ring in the New Year since we were home this year.  We played games, kids watched movies and played hide and seek, some board games, and some Kinect.

Olivia and Hannah started off the night with Hannah teaching her how to sew on her ribbons and elastic to her pointe shoes.

 This was quite the game.  Each person got into their character.

 We played Oregon Trail and I died of dysentery!  Oh NO!!

 Getting ready to set off the poppers at the new year!

 All the kids that made it till midnight.  We lost a few families before the end!

Ok after a month of editing and fixing this post I think I am finally done!  Now I can start on this year!! Lol!!  Happy 2018!!