Christmas Morning

We had soooo much fun enjoying our Christmas. It felt like our first Christmas, ever. It seems like we have been moving or traveling every other Christmas. I tell you what, it is going to be hard to talk me into doing that again. It has been several years since we even got out our decorations. Christmas Eve we had two other families over for dinner and games. It was a lot of fun, I am bummed we didn't get any pictures. Luckily, pretty much all we had to provide was the house; everybody else brought the food.

 

Christmas morning the girls slept in quite a bit. I don't think we got downstairs till after 9, which was good since we had been up till 2:30. We also realized how small our living room was.

 

Myka was very excited about her toddler bed, ball pit, and easel. She got a few more things than the other girls since we ended up not giving her her birthday presents.

 

The girls were pretty excited to see that Santa had left presents for the guinea pigs and kitty, too.

 

Unfortunately, the combination of an energetic kitten and new ball pit wasn't too good. She ended up popping the top level before morning.

Kyla was excited for the diversity of fruit in her stocking. She loves avocados and kiwis. She also thought the Lite Brite was pretty cool.

 

Nora got her evergreen tree plus an easy bake oven, after it spent several hours in Daddy's workshop.

 

Myka loved playing the Nisa girl and her little panda.

 

Nora modeling her new poncho from a sweet boy in primary. I was so sad they gave it to her the day they moved, so we didn't get to say thank you.

 

It might just look like wrapping paper but there is a little kittens ear in there by the red tissue. She loved all the mayhem of Christmas morning.

 

Myka fully enjoying Christmas morning crazy hair and all. The girls were thrilled not to have to get dressed the whole day.

 

Myka trying out Mommy's Christmas present. Daniel bought me a massage chair because it was so hard for him to effectively massage me with my big belly. It is pretty cool.

 

Kyla and Myka working hard on a picture for the Lite Brite. I had forgotten how much work those Lite Brite are, my fingers were hurting after awhile.

 

The rest of the break was spent with Daniel painting the girls' room. We still haven't put all the finishing touches on it, so I haven't taken any pictures yet. Having everybody home for almost 2 weeks was awesome. It was hard to get back into the routines of life again but a good change.

Christmas at the Museum

We decided we needed to visit the Museum before Christmas and enjoy all the fun stuff they had put up. This is Myka controlling the train they had set up for the kids to run. Also in the background you can see Nora, Kyla, and our friends Katie and Marian. The trains were pretty cool but I think I was more impressed with the amazing candy houses, castles, carousels, etc.

 

Katie and Alyssa with the girls in front of the great museum tree.

 

Nora having a visit with Santa. Since she already got her American Doll, she asked for an evergreen tree that she could decorate.

 

I think Kyla stuck with her baby with a bed that goes potty story.

 

I was really happy that Myka even went close to him and let me get far enough away to take this photo. He was a very great "real" Santa and very fun for the kids. I think the cute white bears Santa was giving the girls also enticed Myka to be a little more cooperative.

 

The girls got to make crafts and then we took advantage of this fun photo op.

 

One of the newest, most popular additions to the museum for the girls, is this make yourself a hot dog. They love it. I guess I should have backed up a little and got a picture of the Wienermobile that it is in front of. Kyla makes a pretty tasty looking hot dog.

 

Myka too. Mmmm . . . I could just eat her up.

 

I was really amazed with the model trains display. I can't believe they go to the work to set this up for only a month. I never did get around to counting how many trains they had going, but I think it was around 7. They had a camera attached to the front of one of the engines and the camera feed on the screens. The girls like figuring out the perfect spot to stand so the would be on camera. I am sure it would be more exciting for boys, but we thought it was pretty cool.

Nora's American Girl Party

Nora had asked for an "Amercian Girl" party mostly centered around activities out of an American Girl book she got at the library. We had the girls bring their dolls but I had a hard time thinking of good activities for them to actually DO with their dolls. We beaded braclets for the girls and their dolls, made fans for the girls and their dolls, and made gingerbread houses.

 

I wasn't smart enough to get a picture with all the girls and their dolls, but Daniel did snap one of the dolls.

 

She had 5 girls from school and 2 from church come. I am glad we didn't end up inviting anymore; I had my hands full. They were definately not as calm and proper as I had imagined.

 

Nora got lots of fun presents, especially some great stuff for her doll.

 

The last activity was making petit fours. Nora had been planning that part for several months. I baked a cake sliced it up and froze it. I had them prefrosted and let the girls decorate with piping bags and different kinds of sprinkles. They had fun, but made a mess of their cakes with huge piles of frosting and sprinkles. Not exactly what they had pictured in the book Nora saw. We will definately wait for a couple years to do the piping tubes again, or at least with only a couple of kids. Nora had a great time and I think we met all her expectations. She greatly impressed Mommy with her follow through after mom's hostess training. I do wish her birthday wasn't right before Christmas so I could do more planning for her birthday.

 

Happy Birthday, Nora!

The week leading up to her birthday we spent planning every detail of her birthday and the next day when she would have her party. From what she was going to eat for breakfast to when we were going to open presents, we were ready to go. Our plans got spoiled a bit when a big snow storm hit that night and a "snow day" was called for that day. We were a little sad because her birthday landed on the last day before Christmas break, so they were going to have their Christmas party and she was going to bring in cookies for her class. I think that she enjoyed more having a relaxing day with not any demands on her.

 

The girls were very excited to get out and play in it, although I did make them wait till afternoon when it had actuallly stopped snowing. Myka liked being in the snow but it was so deep she couldn't move much. So she got tired of it pretty quickly and went inside to torture the kitty.Nora and Kyla worked hard at making a snow cave out of Daddy's pile of shoveled snow.

 

For dinner we stuck with the plan and headed to Red Lobster. If I had realized what the roads were going to be like, I probably would have postponed that part. Nora got crab legs and a baked potato, not exactly what I thought a seven year old would get but she has some interesting tastes.

 

She thought it was a lot of fun cracking them and digging out the meat. I think she finally agreed with me that it was too much work for the little bit of food you actually got. Kyla loved her popcorn shrimp and I ordered the only chicken dish on the menu (I don't do well with fish when I am pregnant).

 

Happy Birthday Nora 2

After Red Lobster, we headed home for cake, ice cream, and presents. We had made her a Danish Layer Cake; unfortunately we were pretty stuffed from dinner to enjoy it much.
She had a great time opening presents. Although, her sweet sisters spoiled the big surprises. Myka told her that she and Kyla were giving her a bed for a doll, which helped her figure out that the big present was an American girl from Grandpa and Mormor. Kyla and her planned out how she was going to open all her presents saving the American Girl and her bed for last. I am not really sure why we bothered wrapping anything. She did get the surprise that the American Girl was Julie. Mom and Dad gave her a Julie puzzle and matching outfit for her and her doll. She got a new outfit from Savannah and a good chunk of change from Grandma Cynthia that she hasn't spent yet. She was so excited about it all. It makes it worth it when they are so excited and animated. (I think I need to take a lesson from her)
I had planned on picking up the bed at IKEA when I went to my dr's appointment. For some reason I kept having this thought that they were going to be sold out of them. Sure enough I got there and there was the display model and no more. I was super lucky that they sold me the display model and it only cost me $13.

Ford is Different!

For those of you outside of the Midwest, the news about the automotive industry is most likely doom and gloom about "The Big Three" Detroit dinosaurs (to quote Senator Shelby) that are not worth saving. We have some opinions about the hypocrisy, arrogance, political posturing, and blatant ignorance of some of the critics in congress, but that is not the purpose of this entry. This entry is to make sure all ya'll are aware of the positive and good things that have been and continue to happen here at Ford Motor Company.

The current economic environment is hurting all of the automotive companies, and even the normally very profitable nameplates from Japan and Germany are running into the red ink. So, obviously, the US automakers, who are all in the process of re-structuring, were the hardest hit. However, Ford is different and has already made most of the transformational changes required to compete and be profitable in this challenging environment. We started three years ago by doing the things that GM and Chrysler are only now talking about doing. Our quality ratings are on par with Honda and Toyota, and every new Ford vehicle is among the leaders or the leader for it’s segment in fuel economy. In the next couple of months you are going to start hearing about some more exciting new products from Ford that we have been keeping under wraps.

New 2010 Fusion Hybrid Article

Ford leadership is making a concerted effort to get out the message that we are different and doing much better than the other Detroit auto makers.

Bill Ford Jr. (1), (2), (3)

Mark Fields

Ken Czubay

Alan Mullaly (1), (2)

I think they were all just filmed live the last couple of days. My work area is right back behind this showroom they are in. I was trying to figure out what was going on with all of the activity over there.

Click the Ford logo above for a link to the Ford Website dedicated to telling our story, why we are different, and how we plan to succeed.

Yes, Kitty Just For You

So of course, the kitten thought that the tree and all the Christmas decorations were put up just for her. She climbed the tree several times getting pine sap stuck in her fur. I think this was the highest she ever got. I think she got tired of the pricklyness since she hasn't been climbing it the past couple weeks. It is going to be a major shocker when we get everything put away and our house becomes boring again. She provided pretty good entertainment though!

 

 

Dance Recital

The girls had their last dance class and we got to attend and see what they have been learning. Myka was not as involved in participating as I would have liked, but she still seemed to like it. I am not sure when we will put her in dance again but it was fun to try. I thought her Halloween costume worked well as a dance recital costume also.

 

Nora and Kyla enjoyed being in a class with most of their friends from the ward. I think they missed the glitz and glamour of the real recital but they didn't complain. They enjoyed being able to wear their dance costumes from last year's recital. It was nice to get another use out of them.

 

It is very sad their teacher won't be teaching anymore since she is having a baby in March and then moving to Utah. We will have to find somewhere else I suppose.

 

Ward Christmas Party

Our activities committee did a fabulous job at putting together an awesome Christmas party. They had crafts for the kids, a great variety talent show, treats, and, of course, Santa. We had signed up to do a little song, but all the generic ones were taken. Daniel wrote a script and we did a little skit about what happened in America preceding the birth of Christ (complete with tin foil balls). It was really

 

funny, mostly because it was totally last minute thrown together and partly because of little girls that do silly things. Kyla was excited to talk to Santa. When I asked her she said she asked for a baby with a matching bed that sings "twinkle, twinkle, little star" and the baby goes potty for real. I have no idea where she got that idea. I asked her where she saw that and she said she just made it up in her head. I told her she needed to give Santa more time on something like that. She had previously written to Santa that she wanted a toy kitten, so that is what he delivered.

 

Myka really didn't want anything to do with him, but she did get excited when he gave her the treat bag.

 

Nora asked for an American Girl and an mini evergreen tree that she could decorate for each holiday. She comes up with the strangest things sometimes.