Christmas Program at church

Grant was in his first Christmas program today at church!!!

His part was a stable animal, we got to choose WHICH stable animal.
A friend of mine had a cow costume, so Grant got to be a cow :)
He, obviously, didn't have any lines, but he was center stage almost the entire show! He didn't sing many of the songs, but just having my shy little boy up on stage is a HUGE victory!!!
The program was SO cute and we were especially grateful to have Kevin, Liz, and the boys come watch it too. Sam wanted to see Grant in the play :)

Lee, I REALLY wish you could have been here for this too.
They video taped it, so I'll get a copy to mail to you!!!

Getting ready...she did NOT want him in the picture with her.

When did she get SO big!?!?!?

The cow is ready to go, B is still brushing her teeth :)

Getting ready in the preschool room at church.

During the performance...see the spotted cow next to Mary, behind the manger???

Joseph, Mary, cow, donkey, sheep, sheep


Singing.


This is getting close the end...he's getting restless :)



They did an amazing job...VERY cute!!!!

First Christmas celebration of the season

On December 5, we traveled to Ames (Wade and Stephanie's house) to kick off the Christmas celebrations. We celebrated with Grandma Cathy and Roger, Great Grandma Audrey, Uncle Wade, Aunt Stephanie and Whitney, Uncle Matt, Aunt Tiffany and Owen.

We had a great meal and a fun day together, even though we missed Lee, A LOT!!!!!!!!!

Opening a remote control Jeep!

Her new baby stroller.

Fixing the baby's hat.

Grant teaching her how to feed the baby :)

His new sled!!!!

I had to wake her up from her nap to open gifts.

Owen, Tiffany, Brynna, me, Grant, Stephanie (+ one on the way), Whitney

That night, after getting home!
She's ready to go...

him, not so much :)


Thank you to everyone for making it a fun day!!!!!!!!!!!
(and for spoiling the kids)

Blah

I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged. I have things I should post, our first Christmas celebration of the season, putting up the tree, the first snow, the great neighbors I have that moved the snow, my new 'couponing' adventure, cute pictures of the kids...I just don't feel like it.

The days and weeks are ticking by (Christmas is NEXT weekend!!!!) and life is fine. No major issues, no big problems, nothing out of the ordinary. I'm just feeling blah! I suppose that happens when your husband is on the other side of the planet. One of these days I'll get my act together and get the blog updated, for now...this is all I've got.

Care Packages for Lee

If you are planning to send a care package to Lee for Christmas (or any time) please check out his latest blog post. Many of you have been asking, so here is a good list of items to include.

http://oef2011.blogspot.com/

Don't forget about the flat rate priority boxes from the post office. Anything you can fit in the box (they have various sizes, and a special military one) for one flat rate. Also, you'll have to fill out a customs form. They look intimidating, but just follow the instructions and you'll get through it. They ask for weight of items, I leave that blank and usually the p.o. person will fill it in for me...or at least they'll fill in the total weight and you can "guesstimate" on the weight of each individual item. I pick up the boxes and custom forms ahead of time so I can pack and seal the box and have the form filled out before mailing. FYI: I don't think they really check what is inside, so do your best but don't be overly concerned about the form.

Weekend with the Vandewater Cousins

We were able to Skype with Lee while Abby and Maddy were here! They thought that was pretty cool.

I just got a picture of Brynna at the computer.
I don't know why she wasn't dressed...I had four kids here, that's my only defense :)

Brynna just HAD to color with markers like the big kids.

Making snow flakes to send to Lee.
Aunt Heather is the BEST at making snow flakes!!!

Watching a movie, Cars Toons!


Kailee WAS here too, not sure why she didn't make it into any pictures???

Christmas Parade

Winterset had their annual Christmas parade on Friday night. It's at night and all the floats (about 7 of them) have Christmas lights on them. It is so short, they actually go around the square twice! This year, before the parade, they had a live nativity (with a mini horse on the courthouse steps) and presented the Christmas story. I'm thankful we live in a place that we can tell the true story of Christmas without fear!

Abigale and Madison came home with us after Thanksgiving and stayed the weekend. Heather, Kailee and Eddie came down Friday night, but missed the parade. We had a fun weekend playing with the Vandewater cousins.

It's finished!

After a coat of primer and ANOTHER coat of paint, the dresser is finished! It's not perfect and that one drawers is STILL whiter, but it's, "good enough for rural work."
(A quote from Lee's favorite documentary about the man living in the Alaskan wilderness)
:)

Before

After

Brynna is actually really excited about her new dresser.
She points to it and makes cute little sounds (I'm sure SHE knows what she's saying) when she wakes up and sees it :)