Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We were fortunate enough to be able to spend Christmas Eve with our wonderful friends, the Lee's. We had so much fun! There was enough food for 50 people and all of it absolutely delicious! Santa made a quick show, despite his busy schedule, and brought all the kids jammies. It was so sweet. Tia was beyond excited and Rosie liked him, but not a lot. She was very curious and sat on his lap for a minute, but didn't want to hang out there. We ate way too much and stayed up way too late, but it was such a special way to celebrate Christmas Eve. We loved every minute of it! Grama and Papa were there, too, which made it even better. Today started early with Tia bounding into our room saying "Merry Christmas, guys!!" She was so excited. Rosie was still sleeping so we woke her up and the party began. As you can see in the pictures, Rosie was a bit tired, but she did enjoy it all. The most special gift of the day was from Dad to Mom. He had a beautiful piece of artwork made out of her picture from the convent. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tamra. It was the most precious gift of the day. Mom LOVES it and Dad was SO tickled to give it to her. It was very, very heart-warming. That was such a special time for Mom. For the last few years, our good friends, Johnny and Elena, have been celebrating Christmas with us. Each year, Elena brings "poppers" for us to share. They are a decorative piece that you twist and pull and goodies come popping out. There is a paper crown, a small toy and a piece of paper with jokes and trivia. We all have such a good time with them! We wear our crowns and share the jokes and it's just good, silly fun. Tia absolutely loves it!
Happy Birthday, Jesus! Merry Christmas!

More Pictures!

I have so many that I am doing separate posts, since I'm not sure how many I can post at one time. Enjoy! PS - the one of the girls on the pink mat was them doing yoga. Sweetest thing I have seen! Rosie would copy Tia with every pose that she did. I think the picture is the "butterfly". And the one of Rosie, Tia and Grama with their heads down is all of them digging in the party mix.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Merry Christmas to all!! We hope you have had a wonderful, beautiful, peaceful and fun-filled day. That is exactly what we have had. This whole "Season" has been great and it's hard to believe it's over. I have a TON of pictures to post from Tia's Christmas program, Santa flying in at the airport, baking cookies with Grama and Papa, Christmas Eve, Christmas day...........................I think you will be able to figure them all out, since I am unable to put comments by each one. I also have a few fun miscellaneous ones thrown in. Basically, it has been an amazing holiday, we are super grateful and happy, etc. etc. --- I know I sound like a "broken record", but it's just true. :-)) We couldnt' be happier and we all still find it hard to believe that Rosie is finally here. She is really starting to walk a lot more and it's so exciting.

 

 I think the most she has done is go from one end of the hall to the other, which is huge for her. You can tell it feels so good to her, it's precious. Other than that, just enjoy the pictures and we'll post again in the New Year. Love to all of you! Thanks for continuing to check in.

Holiday Fun!

So, as most of you know, every year we go to Red Lodge to cut our tree. We do this on the first weekend of December because it's the Christmas Stroll there and we stay overnight at the Pollard. It's become our very special Christmas family tradition and we just love it. It's our "family Christmas present" to each other. It was so wonderful to have Rosie with us this year............finally! The weather was extremely COLD, but we did it anyway. Actually, "we" didn't cut the tree at all, it was just Daddy. He's our hero and got us the perfect tree, as always. Tia attempted to go with him, while Rosie and I stayed in the vehicle, but that only last about 10 minutes. That's how cold it was! So, Daddy got the tree while the girls stayed back and waited. We definitely have the best Daddy ever. After we got the tree, we headed to the Pollard to check in and get cozy for a bit before dinner. Our room has a balcony that overlooks the festive lobby area and the girls loved it. We didn't "stroll" very much because of the cold temperatures, but we did go at a very quick pace to the restaurant for dinner, to our favorite shop in town and to the candy store before heading back to the hotel. Like I said, it was COLD. :-))  When we got back, Tia and I got into the big Jacuzzi tub and managed to practically drown ourselves in bubbles. It was so fun! When we got out, we took a bunch of the bubbles out with us and played with them on the bed with Rosie and Daddy. I think we giggled for an hour. It was so much fun. And so precious for Mike and I to sit back and watch the girls play and listen to them giggle and be so happy. It still doesn't even feel real at times. We just couldn't be happier or more grateful. Have I ever mentioned that before?? :-))

Last night, Tia and I went with my parents to the Billings Symphony Chorale for their holiday performance. We got all dressed up and went to dinner at the Grand Garden first. The performance was amazing! My good friend from high school was singing, so it was very special to see him. He's been away for many years and just moved back recently. We all enjoyed it so much. Their voices were just spectacular. Afterwards, we got some ice cream and took the long way home to look at a few Christmas lights. We had a lot of laughs, as always. Times like those are so incredibly special. We are so thankful to have Mom and Dad here and healthy and able to share special times with. We are very blessed that way and never take it for granted. God is so good!!

So very thankful!!

As you can imagine, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with so, so much to be grateful for. The day was peaceful, fun and just beautiful in so many ways. We started the day with the Macy's day parade (of course!) and our friends joined us, which made it so special. We had coffee, the kids had hot chocolate and we all enjoyed yummy cinnamon rolls and treats. Mike hung the lights outside, as he does every year on Thanksgiving morning. We were able to take a walk in the afternoon before Mom and Dad and our guests came, which was great. Our meal was delicious and we all enjoyed a lot of laughs, as we always do. As you will see in the pictures, Rosie loved the stuffing! On Friday, we decorated the house on the inside and then ended the day with the Holiday parade downtown, as we do every year. It's the official kick-off to the holiday season for us and always a great time!