Merry Christmas!!!

Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas day filled with the warmth of family and friends, no matter where you are. Hope you can follow baby Claranna's example and find joy and wonder in the simple things like shiny ornaments and tree lights...

...and Christmas cards from family and friends.

Thanks for all the holiday greetings! We, big and small, enjoyed them very much!Merry Christmas!!!!

The Best Gift

Here's the very best gift sitting around our 2009 Christmas tree... Happy 1st Christmas, Claranna! You are a sweet blessing to our whole family!

Countdown to Christmas

Santa made a house call last night just to check up on the kids to make sure they were still going to be on the nice list. James was very expressive and talkative with Santa...

We are fortunate to have many special people in our lives, though some of these cherished people live very far away. "Uncle" Hal and "Aunt" Sharleen bring a lot of smiles to our faces, yet we don't get to see them often enough. Through the magic of the internet we had a little Christmas celebration with them around our tree. The kids each opened a present with Hal and Sharleen on a video call on the computer. Claranna was really interested in the video call this time and interacted with them a lot and James gave the computer screen a hug and a kiss--Great moments!

Claranna is smiling at the computer while James is the first to open his package.

Getting a closer look!!

Mark and the kids made gingerbread house, a first for our family. The kids had a hard time not eating the candy....

Our little elves were very busy working on a few Christmas masterpieces recently...

I think we are nearly ready for all the festivities to begin! We did lots of baking today. My mom came over and we made rosettes and krumkake. The krumkake are my absolute favorite! Then tonight, the kids and I baked sugar cookie cut-outs, drop cookies and gingerbread bears. We should be stocked up on treats if we get snowed in!!

Claranna

This is the reason why Mark had to drop the crib mattress down this week. Ella woke up one morning and said, "Claranna's awake and she's looking at me!" My babies keep growing up too fast! As of yesterday, Claranna is officially a crawler. She also can easily move herself from crawling to sitting and has once already pulled herself up onto her knees. She really likes to be on the go. But no worries, she still makes sure we get plenty of time to cuddle with her in the wee hours of the morning when we all should be fast asleep.

Visiting Santa

We made our annual visit to see Santa at our mall about a week ago and it was a memorable trip. The kids brought their Santa letters and Santa read them with the kids. Here's Ella and Santa.James may have been a bit wiggly and energetic while he was waiting for Santa to finish with his sister's letter. He was happy when it was his turn, but he wasn't so happy once Santa started reading his letter. Santa added a few extra phrases into James' letter that Ella, Mommy and Daddy thought were pretty funny, but James wasn't that amused. Santa's version of James letter went something like this: "I've been a really good boy. I've been good to my sisters and I promise I'll stay away from Starbucks. Please bring me the Cars game and Sarge, but don't bring me any more caffeine." Santa snuck the word caffeine into James letter about five times--really funny stuff. I don't think Santa thought James would be listening along so closely, but James was and when Santa finished reading the letter James grabbed it back and clearly told him, "That's not what it says!" Notice James' pouty lip below...

Here's a little attitude! James was still a little upset with Santa, but he's over it now.

The kids did have fun with Santa and Claranna didn't seem to mind her first visit with Santa.

Checking out the Big Guy.

The kids can't wait for Christmas!

"Deck the Halls" James Style

If you need a little holiday music to get you into the spirit of the season, this might be it. Or, maybe not! Last year at Christmas time James would sing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" almost nonstop. This year "Deck the Halls" is a new favorite. He adds his own special line near the end of the song that I think he stole from the Chipmunks. He's singing loud and proud...enjoy!

Said by the Kids

James: in a sweet voice "I love you, Mom!" After a long pause "And when you don't be nice to me I even still love you."

Ella: Thoughtfully "I really want a Nintendo DSi for Christmas, but they're really a lot of money... I don't want you and dad to spend all your money on one so that's why I'm going to ask Santa for it."

Happy Snow Day!!!

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Thanksgiving at the Farm

On the day after Thanksgiving, we had another holiday celebration with my family. We had another huge meal and then enjoyed an afternoon playing around the farm and playing cards inside.

The kids went exploring outside after dinner. They were gone for a little while, when I decided it was time to see what they were up to. I found all of them in the barn with Uncle Lance watching a cow that was having a calf. Most of the kids have seen this before, but it's always pretty cool when we are at the farm at the right time to witness the arrival of a baby calf. The cow was having trouble delivering and Lance was attempting to pull the calf. It was a big calf for a little cow and it was going to take a little more help. So, when the situation became critical, I joined my brother in the pen and helped him pull the calf. It's been several years since I've pulled a calf, but it was fun helping my brother (and the cow) out! Though, if I had known I was going to end up in a cow pen, I would have worn different shoes to the barn!

Here are a few pics from our day.

The crew in the barn:
The calf just born and it's mommy licking it.

Claranna hanging out with Great Grandma Ruth at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Ella and Uncle Lance on the skid loader.

Checking back to see the baby calf taking its first steps.

Ella and the kitten she unsuccessfully begged to bring home.

The sun setting at the end of a great day at the farm.

A short video clip of the just born calf:

Claranna's 1st Thanksgiving

Claranna wasn't feeling the best on her very first Thanksgiving, but all in all we had a great day of celebrating with Mark's parents, his sister Jenny and her family. The kids watched the big parade together. Claranna needed a closer look so she moved herself a bit closer to the TV.

Just hanging out!

Playing with Grandma O. Claranna has an open mouth in all of these pics because the poor baby was so stuffed up she couldn't breathe through her little nose.
Hanging out with Aunt Jenny, Jack & Grandma

Cute cousin Jack!

Happy Cousins:

James, Claranna, Ella, Jack & Alexis

Me hard at work in the kitchen...

Ella couldn't wait to eat on of the drumstick. Though she discovered this was rather hard to do while missing her front teeth!

With so much to be thankful for...let the feasting begin!

Harvest Time

In mid November the weather finally cooperated and Grandpa Jim was able to get to work harvesting his corn. As usual, all the little grandkids had their turn in the combine. Claranna didn't actually ride in the combine this year, but she was in the field several times to drop off or pick up a big brother or sister!

Ella's Glasses

Ella's glasses took six days to arrive. She was so excited to finally get them and says she can see much more clearly. She is so cute in them! Though, I think her excitement for wearing them is starting to lessen a little bit already.