Happy Holidays 2008!

Happy Holidays! 

December was a busy month - thank goodness. We had to say goodbye to John, the day after Thanksgiving, for the next year. It was harder than we thought it would be and we miss him every moment of every day. 

I was chair for the holiday party, it was a Candyland theme. So, the first two weeks were busy getting ready for that and the holidays in general. My Mom came to visit. It was great to see her and we appreciated all the help she gave us as well. As I write this, I am eating leftovers that she put in my freezer! Gotta love a Mom!!! Anyway, I think the party was a success. Just around 200 people came. The kids had a great time taking pictures, sending a video message to Daddy, playing games, and eating cake! 

On Christmas Eve Abi was making a plate of cookies for Santa and put out a few carrots for the reindeer. She counted out a carrot for Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. She said that the other reindeer would just have to share, or they could have the magic reindeer food that we put out on the lawn - what ever they wanted. As I was putting James to sleep that night I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him. He said that he didn't know. I asked if he wanted Elmo, Spiderman, Thomas the Train. He said no to all three. So, I asked him what did he want Santa to bring him. He said "Ummm, Doritos!" They were both very excited for Christmas Day! We had a nice Christmas day - just the 3 of us. We went to lunch at the dining facility and we had dinner at our lovely neighbor's house. 

We went to visit some friends in Heidelberg for a few days and had a great time! Abi was so happy to be with her best little friends, Cate and Ella. James had a good time playing with the girls as well. We made it back home in time for New Years Eve. We went down the street for a party and the kids stayed awake until 12:45! The custom here is to set off fireworks New Years Eve, and everyone does it. So, we watched several really nice displays from our front window. You can't get better entertainment than that! 

We wish you all a very Happy New Year! Please keep in touch - and I will do my best at keeping up the Blog in John's absence. Be sure to check out the Shutterfly link to see many more pictures!!!! 

Our November Birthday Boys!

Both of our boys have birthdays in November. John's was much quieter with just the 4 of us. The kids wanted to decorate and insisted on birthday party hats. The only ones we could find were Cars - so that is that! John was thrilled! 

James had several celebrations for his second birthday. John was away on the actual day but there was a big family event for John's work. So we went and had their faces painted and jumped on a jumpy castle. James was so excited! There was a concert that night as well, but we couldn't stay up late enough to attend. We were there for the band sound check - and they were kind enough to sing Happy Birthday to James. It was very exciting! Then we had a family birthday celebration with the Byrom's. We made Spiderman sugar cookies and James dressed up for the celebration! Then we had a birthday party for him with some of our friends from the street. That was an airplane theme. I tried my best to make an airplane birthday cake - not the best in the world - but James was excited and that is all that counts! All in all a great month for birthdays!! 

Halloween 2008

While in Barcelona on our vacation - Abi found her Halloween costume. She was a Flamenco Dancer. She was beautiful and danced all the way down the street trick-or-treating. James couldn't decide what he wanted to be. So, we ordered a Superman costume. After we placed the order he insisted that he wanted to be a dolphin. I bought some craft supplies just in case we had to make a dolphin at the last minute - but when Superman arrived he loved it! Thank goodness! They of course got too much candy - and they only visited about 20 houses! We handed out a tremendous amount of candy and had to turn kids away. It was a great night!