Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas Day 2013

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

The kids could hardly contain themselves this morning.. they were SO excited to open presents! We had hoped the late night with the Bjorge's would mean we could sleep in a little bit. Yeah.. right! They were up at 6:30 ready to go! It is Christmas, after all!!

Trying to be patient...
Fine, mom... ONE picture! You can see how much they wanted to post for me..HA!

The pomegranate tradition continues...



Stocking stuffers were a hit! I found a small pink and jeweled mirror at Peir 1 for $1. She LOVED it!





They were pretty excited about their new stuff!
The "group" gift. They both LOVE the mini trampoline!
Putting this thing together was NOT a highlight of my morning..HAHA!
Daddy put this together for the boy!
Testing out his new audio headphones..

Later in the afternoon, Doug's brother Don and his family, as well as his Aunt Mary, came over to celebrate with us. It was SO great to spend time with them and we had a lovely, lovely time. So lovely that I was so busy enjoying myself and my family that I didn't get many pictures.


Showing Aunt Mary some of their new things

Our nephew Greg (8) LOVES our go-kart. He really wanted to ride it in August when they were here for a BBQ, but there were just too many people here to do it safely. Well.. this time he brought his helmet along and was READY! Doug charged up the batter enough for him to ride for a little while, and it was, according to Greg, "the BEST Christmas present EVER!" He also told Doug that all he wanted for his birthday (in June) was to come over and ride some more. We love this kid!! 

The day went by quickly and since my kids were running on little sleep and lots of excitement, they were more than ready for bed! I think we all went to bed with full hearts and smiles on our faces. 

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Christmas Eve 2013


It's late. I am tired. But after such a fun evening I had to get theses pictures up!

We had a leisurely morning today together. I really don't remember what we did other than make plans for the evening and watch Christmas movies!

Soon it was time to head to church. I love it when we all get to dress up!






It was a meaningful service and a good time to see friends! Thanks Abby for taking these pics!

We then met up with our dear friends the Bjorge's and headed out to Forest Grove to "Storybook Lane", a Christmas thing that has been part of that town for YEARS! I still don't know how I have missed this since I have lived here for more than half my life! We had the BEST time.. what a lovely place it was.. with lovely people!




Evelyn and Hannah.. buddies since birth! (they are 4 months apart in age)




Eric and I have been friends since 9th grade! Thankful for his friendship over the years!
His sweet wife and my good friend Cindy...she is good people!
Signing the guest book

The cold kiddos! It was a balmy 35 degrees!

We wanted to go out for hot cocoa after we left Storybook Lane, but since it was Christmas Eve, and it was late, we weren't sure if there was going to be anything open. Thankfully Shari's was open (and busy!)!
Wanting his cocoa in the worst way!

"What does the fox say?" Cue the song.... :)
The whole gang!

We got home after 10. I don't think my kids have gone to bed that late EVER!  But it was SO worth it. It was such a great way to spend Christmas Eve! 

Off to play Santa! :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas with Jody and Lori

With all of us having busy schedules, I was glad that time was found to celebrate Christmas with Jody and Lori! We had a lovely morning together with breakfast, presents and conversation!




Jody is always so thought-ful with gifts and takes time to think about what the person may like. I like to do the same for her, and try to listen for clues of what she needs/wants as Christmas gets closer. I think we e hit the mark with a battery operated phone charger! Phew! :)
The kids were SOOOO excited for Jody and Lori to open the "big"
 present that they helped find and wrap!

A wooden Christmas sign for her yard... we found it at a garage sale earlier this year and the kids HAD to have it to give to Jody, a HUGE Christmas decoration fan!

Think she likes her gift? ;)
He did too!

A lovely morning spent celebrating with special people!!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Morris Family Christmas 2013

We had a fun day celebrating with Doug's family down in Dallas. The Gresham clan couldn't join us this year, so it was a smaller group, but we still had a lovely day together.


Evelyn took this one of me and said I had to put in on here. So here it is..and funny thing, it's the only pic of me from the day! HA!
Think they are related?
Waiting patiently for breakfast

Evelyn loved on Lily well.. she can be quite the "little mommy"!
Lily wasn't quite awake yet and wasn't too excited about photos.. but I still thought this was cute!
 I will never get tired of pictures of this!
Lily starting the stocking opening!
"It's BRAD,mom.. BRAD!!" His favorite NASCAR driver is Brad Keselowski, but it it hard to find stuff of his, but grandma and grandad scored!! He held onto it all day!
We practice our caroling before heading out to the retirement center to sing. I captured this sweet photo of my even sweeter nephew Zach. He reminds me of Doug.. such emotion and heartfelt singing from this 12 year old! Love him!
Goofing off before heading inside to sing

The people there LOVE it when we come and sing for and chat with them (this is our 5th year going now). The kids are always a hit!
The Morris family singers! :)

I dont' know what got them laughing, but I love this shot of the kids with their grandad!
My mother in law sitting in a chair she has had since she was a baby!
Grandad reading the Christmas Story
Pretty excited to get a Sophia doll!
Spiderman stuff... he was thrilled!

Aunt Debbie made a bunch of hats and let the kids pick which one they liked. As usual... she rocks at the whole gift giving thing!
We got Lily this rocking horse for Christmas. I wish I had a better photo of her on it, but she LOVED it and was rocking so fast it was hard to get a good shot! She was one happy girl!




Christmas is tiring for 2 year olds!

Getting her craft and puzzling on with Aunt Debbie!

I wish I had more pictures of our day.. I guess I was enjoying it so much I just lost track of my camera. We truly did have a fun day, tho. So thankful to have married into this family!!