Christmas Highlights II

Dancin around the Christmas Tree!... We decorated our tree right after Thanksgiving. It's sometimes a dreaded chore, but always turns out to be a fun night, especially treating ourselves to hot chocolate when we're done and listening to Christmas music. The kids enjoyed hanging the candy canes and finding their favorite ornament and Trev was the lucky one to add the star. Lovin this time of year!

The girls ready for their Holiday Party at school. I couldn't be there, but they told me all about it. They had a great time!

I came later to volunteer in art, I love seeing there faces light up when I come... Secrets in art class. They're drawing their family portrait, supposedly :). Cute little artists.

Trevor's Holiday program. They sang all kinds of Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa songs, then invited the parents to sing along. Good job "TT" (double T) & 4th graders! (Trevor's on the front left)

Just what I wanted for Christmas! Sage resting under Grandma's & Grandpa's Christmas tree. We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's. It was a little stressful at first, but was a special night. After dinner we had a small talent show, sang carols, and the kids participated in the Nativity (so cute!) They enjoyed it, especially the Nativity, then were excited to get home and get to bed, couldn't blame them. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Stockings overflowing, somebody must have been nice!

Christmas morning...

The power went out for a few hours so the boys couldn't play their new Wii games. The girls didn't mind at all and were happy to have their brothers play Mousetrap with them. It seemed like an old fashion Christmas with no electricity and no phone, kinda nice. Wish we could stay in our jammies all day ;) It was a low key and simple Christmas this year compared to recent years. We were happy to see the joy and gratitude our kids showed for everything. We have so much to be grateful for!

Then off to Paul's mom's to celebrate the rest of the day. They also put on a nice spread and spoiled our kids with 20 golden dollars each hidden in a stocking full of treats (Uncle Mike's addition). My parents gave the girls a pretty Mulan barbie and cute fuzzy jackets, rubiks cubes and remote control helicopters for the boys, and dinner and movie passes for us. So thoughtful! We appreciate family and friends at this time of year, especially to celebrate the birth of Christ with our loved ones.

Wishing everyone a "Happy New Year!"

Christmas highlights, part I

Now that Christmas is over, I actually have time to post about it...

There must be an unspoken rule, teenagers shouldn't smile much for pictures. They really do have nice smiles, great boys, but maybe S & S should give them some tips :)

We're on our way to dad's work Christmas Party. They had a lunch catered for the families right there on the showroom floor. It was tasty, especially since I didn't have to cook, and nice to see dad's new work and meet his co-workers. The kids had fun checking out the nicest Nissan's and sitting in the 350Z. The girls were thrilled when the lot tech gave them a huge balloon in their favorite color- red. We miss friends & familiar faces from Paul's old work, but it was good meeting new ones at his new company.

A favorite part of Christmas for us is decorating Gingerbread Houses! We had a boy's house & a girl's house this year, since the girls wanted to go all out using a lot of icing, and, of course, making it very fancy! The boys made a great plan and ended up with an exquisite house, too neat to eat!

Aren't they beautiful? Boys on left, Girls on right

Hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas!

"Christmas Oranges"

This is one of my favorite Christmas stories to share with my kids each year, they love it. It's been awhile since I've shared things I'm thankful for, so here's a few...

Thanks Emilee for the presentation today at church for the primary children- the story, the short video of baby Jesus, & the kids loved their oranges! Great job on your first Sharing Time!

I'm thankful for my new church calling in the Primary. Although I'll miss directing the music, it's great to be with the children again and working with a great presidency.

Thanks Jackie for pushing us hard and directing us in the choir, the Christmas program was awesome today, probably the best yet!

I'm thankful for the simplicity of this particular Christmas, helps us stay focused on the real reason we celebrate.

I'm thankful for a little break from these busy school days to enjoy my family (I hope I still feel this way at the end of winter break :).

I'm thankful for great friends and neighbors that do so much.

I'm thankful for the gift of adoption!

And especially, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!

Notice anything different? besides the fact our boys were too busy to get in the picture.

Seeing the lights...

A favorite Christmas tradition of ours is seeing the lights at temple square each year. It was slow to snow this year, so we were glad to have some white stuff come before we went. It was beautiful, peaceful, and cold (I'm a wimp in cold weather, I must really love this place to live here, I do like a change of season though :). We enjoyed the nativity, watching Luke II, listening to the old fashion carolers, watching our kids play in the snow, and coming home to hot chocolate. Sage kept sneaking up on me with a snowball and Sophie was ready to make a snowman, their favorite part was seeing baby Jesus in Luke II and the carolers, sweet girls.

Happy B-day to my MIL

Sage (left) & Sophie (right) love seeing their Grandma!

and Uncle Mike

I cooked a yummy b-day dinner this year (since she doesn't wear jewelry :), while we enjoyed good company and the chocolate cake the girls decorated. Trevor put the candles in the shape of her age ;).

Happy B-day, to a great mom & grandma (they don't come much better!) It was a fun-filled evening.

And the winner is...

The lucky number is 11, it goes to you Crystal! Congratulations!
I used violettecottage.com for my random number generator, it chose 11.

Thanks everyone for participating, wish I had one for all, well I do, but not for free :). I'll do these random giveaways at every $500 dollars in jewelry sold online, so order, order. There's still time to get it by Christmas. Wear it proudly, it's for a great cause, plus uber cute!

School girls

Merry Christmas

(Trev felt too big to sit w/ santa, but agreed for his sisters, although he had that "oh, brother" look on his face, so funny)

Wordless Wednesday

Lovin Christmas Time!

If you haven't had a chance yet to enter my jewelry giveaway, it's not too late, see previous post- there's one day left!

(I know, a few words)

My first "Giveaway" & introducing...

Mei Li Jewelry yup, named after my girls, Sophie Mei & Sage Li

Isn't it pretty? Striking necklace set with semi-precious dark tone stones. It's even prettier in person, like most jewelry pics. To enter, leave a comment on this post by Thursday Dec 11. One lucky winner will be randomly selected and announced the next day. Break a leg!

Click here or go to meilijewelry.com to check out my latest jewelry at affordable prices. You don't need to pay a lot to look great. All proceeds go towards the remaining costs of S & S adoption, then, a portion of every sell go towards assisting other families with their adoption costs, as well as adoption organizations & orphanages. Wear proudly :)

Check out our watches and necklace sets, they make great Christmas gifts!

Decisions, Decisions...

1-

2-

3-

4-

5-

I was playing around with different Christmas Cards the other night. I liked them all for different reasons, but I wish I could take what I like from each to make the perfect one. I probably could if I really wanted to spend the time, No thanks. So, I went with my second choice (#4) for certain reasons.