Christmas Day with the Glines family

The Glines family came to our house for Christmas dinner & afterwards we openned gifts. The food was all really good & we all had a lot of fun!

This is the main table, which seats 8; there was another one in the foyer & the kiddos ate at the kitchen table. Before we openned gifts, the kids sang a few Christmas songs for us:)

Paigey

Olivia and her new digital camera! She's already taken almost 200 pictures...of the ceiling, the floor, the walls & a bunch of other questionable stuff!?

The whole family:)

Christmas morning

The girls openned their gifts from us on Christmas morning. I'm glad we didn't tell them ahead of time, because they probably would have gotten up really early!? And since we had a late night the night before, it was nice sleeping until 8:30:)

The girls with their Barbies:) (oh yeah, and their other gifts too...can you tell which one was their favorite?) Paige with Alexa (she sings songs when you press her hand! we had the songs memorized by the end of the day!!)...nice hair, huh?

Olivia with Eden (she's from Barbie & the Christmas Carol). She was with me when I bought it & I told her it was for someone else & she broke down & cried, right there in Walmart!? I know, sad...so when she openned it, she said "mom, you lied to me! I knew it wasn't for Gracie!" NOTHING gets past Olivia!!

Paige with her tea set! We got one for both girls last fall in Duluth. They are tin - no more procelain ones for now (they've managed to break certain pieces from two different sets).

Olivia's tea set:)

Christmas Eve

Woody had last week off, so we headed to Hastings on Monday, because the girls & I had a Christmas party that night with some high school friends. The Glover family (my mom's sister) showed up on Tuesday & the girls loved hanging out with "the boys" (aka...the giants!). We spent Christmas Eve at my mom & dad's with Jane, Mitch & the boys & my grandma Doodle. I sang at church & then we ate dinner & openned presents. We left at 10:30 pm & didn't get home until almost midnight!? We had a LOT of fun:)

Olivia opening the first gift...a cute shirt from the boys! Paigey & Jay (aka...that green boy...because he was wearing a green sweatshirt! haha)

Paige helping grandpa open a present

Paige HAD to try on everything she got!? First thing: new Dora jammies:)

Another outfit...

Olivia's birthday

Cindy & I took the girls down to Woody's work yesterday & went to lunch at Olive Garden. The girls LOVE to go visit daddy at work & drop penny's in the water fountain!

Woody & his girls...snuggled up in the backseatIn the Olive Garden parking lot with Woody's office building in the background

Olivia's little Kit doll from grandma Glines
Sitting by the water fountain waiting for daddy (notice the black display board behind us? Cindy & I were looking at it & Paige nocked it off the easel. We were struggling to get it back on, so some guy offered to help...just as Woody showed up!?)

The Christmas tree in the lobby of Woody's building

My baby is 5!!!!!????

Putter put this video together for Olivia & I just thought I would share it with you all! I cry every time I see it!! I will post pictures from her big day later...

Our tree

While I was shopping on Friday, Woody & the girls set-up the Christmas tree! They had SO much fun & were wonderful little helpers:) Sorry these pictures aren't in order, but you get the idea...

Tada!

Everything was color coded, so it was fun for the girls to help separate the tree & then help put it together!

Here's what it looks like now, all decorated! It's very pretty, but part of me is still sad that we didn't get a real tree:( It's a tradition that goes back to when I was a kid. For as long as I can remember, my dad & I (sometimes my mom...she ususally said it was too cold & she would just stay home & get out the decorations!) would go to a tree farm & spend hours - depending on the weather - walking around & looking at trees & trying to find the perfect one! In fact, nine years ago today, Woody, my dad & I went to cut down a tree (my mom was at class that day) & afterwards, Woody took me to Red Wing & proposed to me:)

Tree shopping, but not for us...

A family tradition for the past four years, has been to go to the local tree farm with Mamie & Dan (& now with kids) to find "the perfect tree"! This year, we decided to go fake:( BUT, we still wanted to go with & walk amongst the trees & get in the Christmas mood! So we sort of helped find a tree for Mamie, Dan, Sam & Hannah.

We dressed the girls up in their cold weather gear (it was 18 degrees earlier that morning, but when we got there it was almost 30...I know, heat wave!). Paige looked like Ralphie's little brother (from A Christmas Story) & kept asking us to hold her because her legs hurt!? I'm pretty sure all of her gear weighed just about as much as she did & she was tired of "carrying" all that weight! (now she knows how I feel!...j/k) Here's Paigey pouting & crying on my shoulder...

The kids (minus Olivia, who was being shy) posing by a tree (yes, that's Paige on the far right..lol)

In search of the perfect tree! I think we may have found one...

Yep, and there it goes! The kids were giggling & laughing & chasing the tree as Dan drug it to his truck

Olivia & I (she finally posed for a picture)

Thanksgiving Day

Olivia was the last one at the table...she didn't eat any turkey, but something made her tired, because she fell asleep in grandpa's lap about an hour later! The family & the feast:)

My dad & I in the kitchen...he was a HUGE help!

My parents came the night before Thanksgiving & stayed until Friday morning. My dad & I were up at 6 AM to get the turkey going. He also helped me get everything else prepared! Thanks again, dad! My mom & Woody played with the girls & kept them out of the kitchen:) That afternoon, my mom & I went to see a movie...it was SO good, but very long! Woody & my dad played with the girls & took naps.

It was my first time hosting Thanksgiving & everything went smoothly! It was a nice, relaxed holiday!