OK, now that I have my camera back I have to rewind all the way back to the beginning of December. Please bear with me on this. This blog is my way of remembering what we did so when I get to my scrapbooks I have something to write down that is fact rather than making up some sweet story! :)
December 5th: Getting our Christmas tree-and it was a beautiful one in deed. Our best, we think so far. The tree was still drinking water the week after Christmas!! This time getting the tree was a little different. Brian gave the reigns (the saw) over to the girls and let them cut it down all by themselves, having to work together which is sometimes difficult for them. It went well, no one fought and no one lost a finger or arm. Natalie had fun looking for a "baby" tree, one her size and eating snow. Just had to make sure it wasn't yellow snow! Usually after Brian cuts the tree down he then drags it to the car by himself. Oh no, not this year. You cut it, you carry it. So again, teamwork, they drug it to the car. Well, mainly Caitlin and Emily. Rachel kind of ducts out of hard jobs and well, Natalie, she's only two! She gets a free pass! And as tradition goes, after cutting the tree down we head to Whiskey River for a bowl of soup and watch the wildlife roam around the restaurant. This year...no animals-just a couple birds. And the food...not much to be desired.
Brian giving a little "instruction" on tree cutting.
Natalie (project manager) looking on to make sure Emily and Caitlin are doing it correctly. Rachel working hard at "holding" the tree from falling! Ha ha.
Finishing it off. Rachel now Project Manager...
Decorating the tree was fun for me this year too. I didn't have to!!! The girls, again, using teamwork, got the tree decorated all by themselves. I do admit, "fixing" it a bit the next day when they were at school though. All in all though, they did a pretty good job. This year's ornaments they got from us were light up ones. The girls were pretty excited about them! I also have to mention that we were supposed to decorate the tree on Monday, the day after we got the tree, but they lost their privilege to do so after they decided to start fighting. They were not happy with me, but I stayed my ground and this Mama won one!
Too precious! We know exactly where Natalie put her ornaments.
Caitlin and Emily sang at the Christmas Eve mass so we all went to the 4pm service. It was different, but nice. We usually go Christmas morning and sometimes the 9pm service. The 4pm mass is always very well attended and it was packed! The girls sang beautifully and we for the most part very well behaved. After mass we headed home for an Christmas Eve formal dinner with the china and sparkling wine. After dinner we opened presents. It was a nice quiet? evening.
Christmas morning, Caitlin and Emily were the first ones up-7:00am. Not too bad. Rachel was up about 20 minutes later and then they finally got us up about 7:50. It was funny to listen to Caitlin and Emily whispering about what they think was in their stockings and what was under the tree for them. They never pick anything up or shake it, just sit and wonder. Very cute. Our house puked up Lego's Christmas morning. Everyone got a set and everyone was very excited to start building! Natalie didn't get Lego's but she did get a few puzzles she was very excited about. She's a puzzle freak! After playing a bit it was time to get ready for "over the river and through the woods to Gma's house we go!" Salfer family Christmas!!! COUSINS!!!!
We love going to see all the Salfer's. Its never quiet, the food is always good and the kids are never sitting around bored. This year for some strange reason or another, the older grandkids served the dessert, cleared the tables and did the dishes!! Their present to Grandma perhaps?! It was very nice of them. After present opening, we played games, visited and watched Elf on TV. We didn't get home until 10:30pm. Very fun and exhausting day.
Isaac and Emily (7mo apart)
Uncle Mike? Is that you under all those bows?
