One of Each

Christmas is always a maxed-out holiday for us. Of course, I have quite a few pictures. So, I only chose one picture from each Christmas event to share...

On the 22nd, we traveled the icy highway to Camp 18 for dinner with my immediate family. We then opened gifts from each other at Mom and Dad's. Their house is all torn up from the water damage, but Mom still put up a little tree with a few decorations. Below is a pic of us all at Camp 18.

Christmas Eve was spent at our house this year. I really enjoyed having everyone over. I think there were 26 people in all...and EVERYone was able to sit down for dinner! This was also the first year we decided to play the "gift game!" I think it was a hit! After gifts, some of us girls decided to do MK makeovers! Fun fun! Below is a pic of the "adult table" in the living room. I had to do some rearranging of some furniture =)

Mom, Dad, Elise, and Henry (Chris had to work) stayed the night Christmas Eve so that we could do our traditional Christmas morning with stockings. Mom brought her stockings from home and the kids got gifts in 2 different stockings (ours and hers). Soren also gave his pacifiers to Santa this year (just like Synnove did last year). Below is a pic of Dad reading the letter Santa gave Soren for giving him his "guckies."

After opening stockings, we all headed over to Grandma Barb's house. I just realized I didn't take the opportunity to snap photos of her kitchen all finished..oops! It looks 100% better than it did before!! Anyway, Great Grandma Backe's health has been steadily declining, and hasn't been over to the house in quite some time. She made it over for Christmas dinner! Below is a pic of her coming in to see Grandma's kitchen all redone (it was the first thing she wanted to see when she walked through the door). Of course, she loved it. Tay was excited to see her, and snuggled with her on the couch for a bit.

The next day, we made the trip to Steve's house in Vancouver to spend Christmas with Adam's family. I thought we were just going to be there for a short time to open gifts since Patty had already hosted Christmas the day before. Little did I know, they all waited to celebrate with us! We had a full Christmas dinner and spent the entire day visiting! We were even able to make it home by 8:30...just in time to put the kids to bed.

Preschool Christmas Festivities

On Thursday, Synnove performed in her very first Christmas program. They acted out the story of Baby Jesus and sang a few songs. It was so incredibly cute! I volunteered to help out, so I was in charge of the 5 sheep below...

Left to right: Daisy (wouldn't put on sheep costume), Katie, Synnove, Carlie, and Grace. This is the girls putting on their best camera faces for the 5 minute photo-op time...ha ha!

The next day was the last day of preschool before the new year, so Miss Kara deemed it Pajama Day! I was so lucky to be snack helper for the day. Grandma Patty had spent the night the night before because she came for Synnove's program, so she put our hair in festive pig-tails before school. We played games and made a special egg-free (with substitute), soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, wheat-free, nut-free, and maybe a couple of other "free(s)" Birthday cake for Baby Jesus! Sound gross, I know, but the cake was surprisingly delicious! Wanna try it? Click HERE!

Novie and I...Soren in the background playing with Legos.

Everyone got the chance to use the mixer. Miss Kara always includes Soren in on the fun during my snack helper days...he fits right in.

Weesie's Birthday

My sister turned 23 on the 10th! Chris invited the family over to their place for pizza and ice cream on her birthday. I had a feeling he had a pretty big surprise for her...but I didn't think it would be THIS big! Spoiled brat...

On the 1st Weekend of Christmas...

The first weekend in December was jam-packed full of fun! We had several plans for Saturday, but we ended up ditching them all for varying reasons. So, we spent the whole of Saturday getting the house ready for Christmas. We had heard of a u-cut tree place way out in Brownsmead, so we headed out late morning, hoping to find some signs to follow. We ended up at Aldrich Point Dairy and found the perfect Noble Fir for $25!

The kids really enjoyed decorating the tree this year. I wasn't as into it, and didn't care how the tree looked. In fact, I only put out a couple of decorations. We didn't even put lights on the house. I don't know what my deal was. That all changed last week when my parents' house flooded when a pipe broke in their attic during the freeze. I volunteered to have Christmas at our house! Sitting 30 people down to dinner will be a bit of a challenge...but I'm up for it!

On Sunday (the 6th), we headed up to Vancouver to Steve's house for a Christmas party. Patty even invited Santa and Mrs. Claus over for the fun! The kids were so surprised when he and his wife arrived! Soren was a bit reserved at first and wouldn't even sit in the picture with all the kids. Synnove enjoyed visiting with Mrs. Claus for the majority of the time that they were there. Santa gave each of the kids a gift while they sat on his knee and asked him for what they really wanted for Christmas. Before the afternoon was over, EVERYone had sat on Santa's knee...including Steve's reluctant sons and their wives.

Once Soren saw that Santa wasn't so bad and that each kid was getting a gift, he started to like him. I even caught a picture of him on Santa's lap...smiling!

Synnove loved Santa this year! She was a bit shy as usual, but was anxious to go up and talk with him. He really was a great Santa...with a real beard!

The party was nice. We got to meet Steve's 2 son's and their families, and hope to meet his daughter soon. We all enjoyed cookies, candy, and cheese fondue! However, while eating some cheese, my crown popped off! I have a root canal scheduled for after the new year. Merry Christmas to me!!

Some of November

As you already know, November was a busy one. Thank goodness I keep my camera in my purse (most of the time) otherwise, I wouldn't have remembered much from the last month!

Synnove's preschool went on a field trip to one of the local fire stations. Soren is such a big boy. He always fits right in. He didn't fit so well in the fire suit though. Lots of kids tried it on, but Soren fell over with the weight (I caught him in time)!

During a visit to the coffee shop, Chris happened to be parked outside waiting to pick up one of the bar pilots. Elise and I took the kids out to say "hi." Then Chris decided to show off by cutting some "Columbia Cookies!"

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Ann was one of the 10 finalists to compete at the "Lum's Country Showdown" for a chance to open for an Andy Griggs concert that was gonna take place in town. She did an incredible job...she really did! Unfortunately, the music was too loud during her songs and it was hard to hear her. It was a tough competition with some really good local talent. The judges were deaf...'nough said.

We had the privilege of attending Tayanah's 2nd birthday party! Tay is my cousin Wesley's first-born...and he and his wife Stephanie have another little girl on the way! Her birthday is actually in December, but Wes was gonna be on a boat for the first two weeks of December (he works for Tidewater Barge Line), so they celebrated it early. Anyway, I came in a different car than Adam and the kids and Tay was quite disappointed when Synnove and Soren didn't follow me through the door. She anxiously waited by the window until they arrived. The kids had a great time playing...in fact Soren is STILL carrying around his party favor bag. He didn't put that thing down for a week straight...even to the bathroom!

I Used to Find SO Many Things to Blog About...

...and I suppose I still do. However, I'm having a hard time finding the time. This last week has been wondrous. I've been able to do laundry, lounge in my jammies, cook dinner, and tuck my babies into bed. The entire month of November painted a completely different picture, and I was utterly overwhelmed.

As you all know, I started my own Mary Kay business a few weeks back. And I can honestly say that I'm really enjoying myself. God has a way of preparing us for such ventures, and I know that the details of my life, especially over the past year, have led me to where I am today. I certainly didn't see it coming. It was never my dream to sell skincare and cosmetics. Never. I wish I had the words and the time to fully convey...*sigh*....nevermind.

I almost don't want to share anything at all. I don't want people to half listen to me thinking that I have ulterior motives to sucker them out of their hard-earned money. My biggest fear is that people are going to avoid me like the plague. It is not my intent to "sell" anyone anything...that's not the part of the business I like so much. And, I guess, that's the part I'm leaving up to God. My part is to share what I know and love about Mary Kay, let people try out the products, and hope that they love them as much as I do.

Mary Kay wasn't the only thing occupying my time last month. As I blogged about earlier, Adam was hunting and fixing broken cars, and I was juggling between MK, wallpapering, painting, and Bunco! If it wasn't one thing, it was another. I suppose the hardest part is living out in Svensen. It's not just a quick jaunt to ANYwhere, it's always a 20-30 minute drive. We spent many evenings bathing the kids at Grandma's before heading home with them in their jammies. Thanksgiving was a welcome break, and now we're finally getting back into the swing of things. But, with Christmas on the way, "normal" won't really return for another month or so.

We're getting our tree today! I'm looking forward to getting into the Christmas spirit. For some reason, I'm not as into it as usual. Maybe it's the lack of funds?? Ha ha! 'Tis the season!