Visit from Jon and Chelsea and Gingerbread Houses

 We were lucky enough to have Greg's sister Chelsea and her husband Jon here for an evening during the holidays.  (From Utah)  We thought it would be fun to make gingerbread houses together.  I was gathering all the supplies at Wal-Mart and stumbled upon their new thing...a gingerbread village.  ($9 for everything!)  We had a great time assembling houses, having dinner (Greg grilled), acting out the Nativity, and playing games.  (Our new favorite:  PANDEMIC)

Men at Work

Two men and two boys worked very hard in the days before Christmas.  Nathan was determined to make "love gift" creations for everyone.  (And, he had a great dad who helped make it happen.)  He used the kind of beads that can be designed with and then melted with an iron to make a "self-portrait of Grandpa", etc.  And, made necklaces and bracelets for the rest of us with pony beads and elastic.

Grandpa and Joshua loved working together on puzzles.

Scare Hair

Grandpa helped the kids figure out a great trick.  After many takes with the camera we finally captured Elizabeth's "scare hair" created by much rubbing with a fleece blanket and then a great reveal.

Dollar Store Adventure

Going Christmas shopping at the Dollar Store is one of our traditions.  After drawing names and handing out $1.06 to each family member, we headed off on our adventure.

 The best part is sneaking through the store with the kids, hoping not to get caught by the person whose gift you're holding.  It's always fun to see what thoughtful things Nathan and Joshua dream up with their totally "unrestricted" $1.

Greg...who had my mom and debated a long time between fake eyelashes, a set of dream catchers, and a large back rest to use while sitting in any chair...opted for the back rest and totally scored!  (We assumed we'd take it to Goodwill after Christmas, but it the mammoth thing was put in precious luggage space to take home.)  I should let him pick out Christmas gifts more often.  I gave Greg a CD with Spanish guitar music in hopes of inspiring his "Spanish Mode".  (See Toy Story 3)  =)

Moments to Remember

People ask me what we did when my parents were here.  As I look back on all the pictures I realize we did "do" a lot!  But, for me it's more about just the time we got to share...doing life together.  Here are a few of the miscellaneous moments I'll treasure most.

Nathan got a thermometer from Grandpa for Christmas (mutual weather lovers) that we mounted outside the window so he can check the temperature in the mornings and know how warmly to dress for school.  This is Nathan and Grandma checking the temperature.

6 hands playing the piano.

 Dipping pretzels...something I loved doing with my mom growing up.

Grandma taught us how to play "Don't Eat Pete!"  A simple game that was an immediate hit!

Bedtime with Grandma.

There's an "App" for That

Two iPhones at Work

Joshua teaching Grandma and Grandpa how to play Bananagrams.

Male Bonding

I just love these two men in my life...and it was so fun to have them together.  We had a great time in the the evenings after kids were in bed...talking, working on Christmas, checking on our latest addition (see Kipper post), and playing Mario Kart!  (Priceless!)

Dad knows how to show interest in our lives by being curious, asking questions, and then getting right into the thick of it that we love so much!

Downtown Lights

I think this year is the most magical Christmas I can remember.  To get to be both the mom of kids at such great ages...and get to share our little families traditions with my mom and dad...it just couldn't have been better.  

Our downtown does an amazing light display every year.  You can see...the buildings are just covered in them!

Warming up with donuts at the shop on the corner.

Grandpa's Ice Cream Treat

While we were on our little trip, Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to McDonald's.  Elizabeth and Grandpa had quite the time with her ice cream cone.  Both of them are very clean people...and had met their match in each other!  

Grandpa would carefully give Elizabeth a little lick...  

And then Elizabeth would take a napkin and quickly wipe off her whole face and sometimes the table beneath her before taking the next bite.  You can tell it took a big pile of napkins to make it through the hole cone.  And, more importantly a really great Grandpa to survive it and enjoy it!

Mom and Dad's Christmas Visit

 Yes, this is one of those everyone-trying-a-little-too-hard pictures.  =)