Christmas Eve 2013

What a great week it has been to celebrate Christmas!!

On Sunday night, my younger siblings were in a Christmas performance at our church. They sang a few songs about Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. They all did a great job.

  Christmas Eve was fun fun fun. We had a nice breakfast of egg casserole made by my mom. After that we packed up for Aunt Julie, Uncle JR, and baby Elin's house.

Mom playing carols on the piano

Cousins

Sören LOVES Christmas....

....and so does Esther! :-)

Grampy holding Elin

Uncle JR, Aunt Julie, and Elin

Esther was tired of waiting to eat the big dinner!

Grampy & Me

Almost everyone at the dinner table

Group photo

After dinner, we all packed up and went to a house in another part of the neighborhood that had a lot of Christmas lights. All of the lights were set to music, so the lights would flash on and off.

"Merry Christmas"

After seeing all the lights, we (my immediate family) drove home, but stopped at our friend's house (the same ones we had Thanksgiving with) on the way. We had fun visiting, lighting the advent wreath, sitting by the tree, and singing carols with them.

I will be posting about Christmas Day soon. :)

SNOW DAY!!!!!

This morning, Sören woke us up at around 7, yelling, "It snowed! It snowed!" That helped wake me up fast! :) Sören, Lillian, and I bolted downstairs to see the sight....beautiful! Having read the weather forecast the evening before, we knew that the rain was on it's way and the snow wouldn't last long. So without even eating breakfast first, all four of us ran to the basement and put on our snow gear. We have about 2-3 inches.

Sören built this cute snowman

The beach

......snow boots!! They are really warm and soft.

Lillian made a big snowman-almost taller then her!

Her finished product

There's a little dirt pile in the yard and Sören & Esther did some sledding

On your mark, get set, go!!!

Seagull in the snow :)

Esther and I made this snowman at the beginning of our driveway. We are calling it our "Welcome Snowman." :)

We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of eggnog pancakes, sausage, and hot cocoa made by Mom.

I tried to make a snowman family but I only got Mom & Dad done. I got a little tired of snowman building.

 

Snow kids! :)

By about 10 am, the snow started melting a bit when some rain started falling.  However, there is still quite a bit of snow and I'm going to join my siblings out in it again. :) 

Let it snow!!!

Christmas time is here...

Well, at my house, Christmas time began the day after Thanksgiving. By that evening, our tree was up, but it took a few days to put up everything else.  

Sören & Esther have their own small tree in their room and so do Lilly and I.   Sören and Esther decorating their tree:

Decorating the big tree:

The finished product, minus the star!

Later, we had our friend Hilary over. She has a hedgehog and brought it to show us. His name is "Gus". 

Sören holding Gus

P.S. I added 3 photos of Thanksgiving breakfast on the previous post. :)

Thanksgiving 2013!

This Thanksgiving was very relaxing. We started the day with Mom and Sören's amazing pecan overnight french toast. YUM!!!! 

The Breakfast table

: )

After breakfast, we took a hike around the bay and it was an absolutely beautiful day! Here are a few pictures: 

Mom and me

On Rosario Head, overlooking the bay

Esther & Sören

Some Thanksgiving decor:

Our Thanksgiving tree...each family member writes something he or she is thankful for (every day). On the front of the leaves there is a Bible verse about giving thanks.

Mom came up with this idea....GIVE THANKS!

The 4 kids :)

My wonderful parents

After getting the food ready, we drove over to our friends' house for the BIG dinner.

The view of the Cascades driving over

The table:

Ms. Liz, Mom, and Sara (Mr. Ben in the background)

Mom and I made this banner: "Give Thanks"

The Cookseys aunt made this "Thankful" banner

Lillian & Eden-great friends!

Ready to eat!

Kid's table 

***

The feast:
 Turkey/Gravy
Cranberries
Stuffing 
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato Praline Casserole 
Green Bean Casserole
Spinach Salad 
Homemade Rolls 
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
 Apple Pie  
Whipped Cream

***

 Sara and Mr. Ben played praise music after dinner. They did a great job and we all enjoyed singing along.

Pie time!...Ms. Liz made 2 delicious pumpkin pies, Lillian made an apple pie, and I made a pecan pie. Delicious!  Our tummies were very full.

"In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."- 1st Thessalonians 5:18