Christmas Day!

The girls were up early and excited to see if Santa came...of course he did!!!!!


(And by the way....rudolph did drink his water...it was red in the morning....video taped it, but miss taking a pic!)

Without too many pictures...here are a few of the things they got and loved....
towels with hoodies and their names engraved, cabbage patch kids, webkinz, homemade pillows and quilts from nana, games, a keyboard, books w/ animals from the story, and a tricyle (for sienna..but they all ride it around the house and LOVE it!:)









Ryder got some fun stuff too...It was his FIRST Christmas!
He got a truck he adores, a webkinz, a blanket, a toy thingy with balls you move around and a little walking toy.







He had a lot of fun and even tried to unwrap a few things! :) What a cutie!

After presents, I made some breakfast casseroles, which is a tradition for us, then we left to get my sister at the airport!

She of course came bearing gifts...the girls got fun things.....Jayda: Fairy Shrinky Dinks, Halle: Lite Bright, Mia: Paint/ pictures, Sienna: Dora Doll, Ryder: clothes)

And we ALL got Peace, Love, World stuff...woohoo!!!!!! (PLW is my cousin's fabulous clothing line...www.peaceloveworld.com)







We had a fabulous lunch full of all the yummy normal Christmas foods (thanksgiving also)....ham, turkey, potato casserole, green bean casserole, veggie tray, sweet potato casserole, rolls, my mom's amazing dressing...all the goodies! I love this food...and it was fabulous...but I must say...we ate this kind of food at turkey day, then twice at church functions, then again at Christmas...next year...I am changing my tradition..we will be eating steak, baked potato, and salad on Christmas day from now on!!! Yum.....

But we had a fun day visiting with everyone here and then we topped it off with our Christmas Tradition of seeing a movie...(along with the rest of the world apparently)...we went and saw "The Princess and the Frog!"

It was as super fun day! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve Festivities

New Year's Eve we were excited for our list of things to do. We had a big day planned. Nana & Bill, and Grandma and Grandpa Cluff were coming to play with us and spend the night! Everyone was so excited.

On our agenda:

Make gingerbread cookies with Nana
Decorate a gingerbread house
Make and Eat Pizzas!
Open Christmas Eve presents
Play Christmas Bingo
Play a game and read "The Night Before Christmas!"
Sing Christmas Carols
Watch Video about Jesus Birth (another present)
Leave Cookies/Milk for Santa & water for Rudolph
TO BED FRED!!!

Nana and Bill arrived around 3pm. The girls were so excited...Ryder too. :) We were hoping Grandma and Grandpa could be here by then too, but it didnt work out as we all planned :(. So first the girls and Nana made gingerbread cookies....as you can see...it was a hit!







Next, we moved on to Gingerbread House Decorating....


Then Pizza Making!!!
Viola!


Then Christmas Eve Gifts...Pjs! What else?




Next....Christmas BINGO...loads of fun...with m&ms. :)




"Twas the Night Before Christmas" Game (whenever you read the story and you say the word "the" you pass a present to the right...you get the one you end up with at the end of story!) :)





After our fun games, we sang Christmas songs while Jayda and I played the piano...that was fun.



(Our two Choristers!!!)


Next we watched a video about Jesus Birth..and then all that was left was to leave treats for Santa... (and a bowl of water for Rudolph outside...we hear that when he drinks it...his nose touches the water and leaves the water red....)


In the end it was a super fun day and we had so much fun with Nana and Bill and Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone stayed the night (sort of) and we were excited for Christmas Day!

Jayda's Piano Recital

Jayda has been taking piano for over a year and half. (Since she was five). She is soooo talented and naturally amazing at it. She has had 4 different piano teachers (that is including me) and has not had a chance to have a recital until now. This was her first one. We were so proud of her...she was amazing. See for yourself. Way to go Jayda Bear! You are SO talented! We love you! My gorgeous baby before we left for her recital! At the Piano

The performances! (Be sure to pause music at bottom before listening!)

Up On the House Top


Joy to the World

Trip to Miami

On December 17th, my sister finally graduated from college. After many years (15) of going off and on and working in between...she finished! Yay! My mom, Ryder, and I flew to Miami for a short trip to celebrate with her. We flew out on Wed, the 16th and came home on Friday the 18th. We had so much fun!

On Wednesday, we didnt arrive in Miami until 9:30 pm, so we didnt have much we could do. We just went to my sister's apartment, ate some snacks, and talked until 1am (midnight our time). It was fun, except for the part of sweating at the airport...yes....sweating in the 80 degree weather....yuck! It was humid and hot....blgh!

So Thursday was the big day, so we had to get up early to go to the arena on UM (University of Miami) to get her there on time and go to our box seats...yep...box seats...FANTASTIC.

We were excited to see some of our family there and Angie's friends. Of course they all oohed and ahhed over Ryder....which was fun. :) He really enjoyed it. The graduation was really good, the guest Alumni speaker was "The Rock," yes, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who did indeed graduation from UM...with as my sister will remind everyone....with the same degree as hers..."General Studies."


My Cousin Alina, her son Christopher, and Ryder

(BTW, Alina is my cousin who started the fabulous, Peace Love World...check it out at peaceloveworld.com) It is becoming famous!

Alina & Ryder


Afer the graduation, we took some fabulous pictures!



Then we went to the most fantastic place to eat...oh, my mouth waters thinking of it. :) "Houstons" oh, they have the best hamburgers I have ever had, and that isnt even what I ordered, I ordered a salad, which was divine. We sat and visited for a couple of hours and it was very fun. (BTW, "The Rock" ate there too, he left before we got seated...and I missed him...because I was in the bathroom:( ) It was so yummy!

Alina & Angie


My Aunt Graziella, my mom, me, & Ryder



Then later we went to my cousin Alina's house for a graduation party she was throwing for my sister. There were about 30 people there and again....yummy food, cooked by her chef!

She lives in a beautiful house on the bay in Miami Beach....and just looking at the pictures, they look like it is a fake background..but nope...it is her back yard! Gorgeous! We had so much fun seeing our family and eating such yummy food. Ryder was so good and everyone couldnt get enough of him. One lady even took a picture of just his hair because she thought it was so cute. :) Well, he is a looker if I do say so myself. :) It was so much fun!We are excited for the fun festivities of Christmas this coming week with Auntie Angie, Nana, Pappa Bill, Grandma, and 2 Grandpas. :)

My grandmother Mia & Ryder


My mom and the fantastic View!


Me


GORGEOUS!