Advent Week 3

HC and Keith hosted the party this week.

Keith shared his experience of being in Okinawa on Christmas, while serving in the Marines. Amy read a touching rendition of "Twas' the Night Before Christmas" but from a soldiers point of view.

We then had fun singing the Christmas Songs. A little too much fun during "Oh Come All Ye Faithful"! Claire joined us in singing "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night in German) and then graced us with a solo.

We finished the night off with baked apples and vanilla ice cream. Super yum! And very "wintry".

During "Jingle Bells"

Sie sind hier!

LaVor's brother and his family arrived last night from Switzerland. We were able to be at the airport when they flew in.

Jason surprised us with his cool mustache. The only thing I'm afraid of is that LaVor will think it's cool too.

We stopped by La Piñata on our way home since they haven't had Mexican food for over a year. As usual, it was deeeeeelicious!

What It's All About

Will and I have been watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" all day. When the above scene was over, Will said (in his sweet, little voice), "Amen". Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

Advent Week 2 & The Elves

This week, the crowd was a bit smaller (Keith had to work and Alex was home with Will...bowel problems) so the singing time was a little shorter than last week. When the singing was done, we enjoyed "Rick Steves - Christmas in Europe". It was fun to hear everyone say, "I've been there!". But it also made me thankful that we were there in August and not December.

For dessert, I made a rendition of the cake that's on the current cover of Sunset magazine. I like my cake plate more than I do the cake.

I put my shoe out on Saturday night (December 6th), ready for the Elves to pay a visit. And lo and behold...they came!Anyone who doesn't believe, speak to my 2nd grade friend Nathan Besse. And please don't pay attention to the size or cleanliness of my shoe. Thank you.

He's Silly

Last night was my work Christmas Party and once again, it was oodles of fun. Our Doctor's treat us so well and we're all truly blessed for being able to work for such a great office.

After dinner, the waiter went around asking if anyone wanted coffee. Being the non-coffee drinkers that we are, I asked for a hot chocolate. LaVor wanted to try a sip...

The foam on the nose was on purpose but it still makes me giggle.

Christmas!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? You have to wrap presents! It's too easy to peek when it's in a bag :oP

2. Real tree or Artificial? Fake...I'm allergic. Poor LaVor has to sacrifice for me and I appreciate it!

3. When do you put up the tree? This year is was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It would have been sooner if we were around Friday & Saturday.

4. When do you take the tree down? Mid January :o) I try to milk Christmas for as long as I can!

5. Do you like eggnog? I can't remember the last time I had any. I've acquired a taste to eggy things since I was in school so I suppose I may.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Indy doo! Our dog, Suzy, passed away when I was...9, 10? One of those. After she died, we had been begging our parents to get another dog. Welp, when I was 11, I opened a present and there was a stuff toy dog, a can of dog food and a letter from my mom saying we were getting a new dog. My brother and his friend brought it home from a shelter near my Omi's house. The darn dog is still alive and kicking today. Refer to a post about him back in July.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Pop.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Anyone else :o)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several. LaVor likes to get a new one each year but we're running out of room!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! Personal notes received in the mail are so much nicer.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? uh...worst...a bra. It was the Christmas during...7th grade, I believe. My mom had bought me these teeny tiny bras and I opened the package, peeked inside and slyly put it to the side of my other presents. We had a tradition of showing everyone what we got. I didn't show anyone that present.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's A Wonderful Life. I love Jimmy Stewart.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I'm aware of.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? No special food items.

16. Lights on the tree? White!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night. I love the Sarah McLaughlin version.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We travel when it's LaVor's family's turn. Stay home when it's mine.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Rudolph, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen. Is that it? I tried to remember without Googling anything

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Pajama's on Christmas Eve, everything else Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? 96.5 plays the same Christmas playlist every year. There are other Christmas songs out there!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? We just have random ones. No real theme.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham with funeral potatoes

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A police scanner!

26. Favorite Christmas Memory? Being home with all of my siblings for 2 weeks while we were off from school. I always hated going back.

Advent - Week 1

Last night was the first night of Advent. Each week will be at a new home with a different dessert...yum!

We all got to pick 1 Christmas song to sing. At the end, we sang "Silent Night" in German. We even got a little rowdy with "Deck the Halls". Kari exclaimed that it was payback towards her neighbors, who have been a little "non-neighborly" lately.

She was for real singing like that