The Dollmans arrived late on December 22nd and promptly hit the hay after the proper greetings were given. The next day brought the Sams side after lunch. We thought this house was nice and big when we moved in but it quickly proved to be smaller than we thought! Yvonne, Nicole and I went to the commissary before noon to do some shopping. I had no idea what would please everyone and I'm so glad I brought them along because I would have failed miserably. Not everyone lives on granola, I guess. The 23rd was the last minute dash for Circuit City and Target for stocking stuffers and Gary's Ipod. Every year I say I'm going to have it all done early and every year ends up with the same errands.
Helen and John were brave (or crazy) enough to invite everyone to their house for Christmas Eve dinner. We whipped up some appetizers, a pie and made a casserole to contribute to the feast. It was great, lots of food and a nice big ham (or two!) The kids really enjoyed having a mini Wii tourney in the downstairs room while the adults did their boring thing upstairs. It was nice to see everyone together.
Mia pulling the blanket off of Daniel
Morning with Grandma
Jessie, Mia and Mimmy
Lets do PopPop's hair
Smashing!
Daniel, Yvonne and Nicole at Helen and John's
Caden is such a ham!
I have no idea what Jessica was teaching Mia in this picture
Getting snuggles in while she can
Mia and Erin building...then demolishing
Mom and Aunt Susie
Having fun with the Wii
The Feast
Cheetah and Gary have a moment
Dad, Uncle Mark and Mom
They play so nicely! Mia and Erin with the magical pony
The Not-So-Kiddie Table
Christmas Day
Grandma reads a morning story before going down to discover the goodies
Jessie takes her downstairs
Going the wrong way!
Oooh, What's over here?
SCORE!
Mia's new dollhouse
Mia and Pinkie Pie have been inseparable ever since.
She thought the nesting snack boxes were great. They have neat illustrations of animals...or monsters. The jury is still out on that one.
The girl loves gift cards!
The cheeky shirt from Chris and Angie
Yvonne with the scrub shirt I made. It ended up being VERY over sized. I didn't realise how generous the pattern was. We took it in after the opening of gifts finished.
Apparently Jessica REALLY wanted a skirt made of ties!
Mia with her shirt that Chris and Angie gave her. Nobody got a picture of me with my hoodie!
Phyllis with her purse made from Nigerian fabric she purchased at one of their first overseas stations in the 60's or 70's. She gave it to me a couple of summers ago.
Opening the first part of what turned out to be a new CPU. 300gigs and dual boot baby!
Gary liked his Ipod nano. His is black, and the one I got on my birthday is purple. They are so cute together!
Looks like Santa had to get creative when he couldn't fit the Wii in my stocking!
Hugs all around, starting with Mommy
One for Daniel
One for Jessie
One for Nicole
One for Grandma
One for Yvonne
One for Pop Pop
Pause to survey the damage
A hug for Mimmy
The whole family has a Wii experience
Jessie models the skirt in it's unfinished form. It's a bit shorter once I added the rest and realised I had to cut the waist to match the shortest tie!
Mia wallows in the loot
Jessica's 22nd Birthday!
We went to Carlos Miguels (our favorite place to eat)
I made fun of Yvonne and Phyllis for taking pictures of food, but this actually looked neat!
It's the type of place where they hand feed you Sopapilla on your birthday!
There were several attempts to visit Pikes Peak but the cog rail couldn't go past 12,ooo due to snow on the tracks and the next attempt was foiled because they arrived at the gate a half hour after they stop letting cars go up. Apparently you couldn't make it to the top that day anyway. I'm getting the impression that it's an attraction that is more suited for a summer visit.
One for Pop Pop
Pause to survey the damage
A hug for Mimmy
The whole family has a Wii experience
Jessie models the skirt in it's unfinished form. It's a bit shorter once I added the rest and realised I had to cut the waist to match the shortest tie!
Mia wallows in the loot
Jessica's 22nd Birthday!
We went to Carlos Miguels (our favorite place to eat)
I made fun of Yvonne and Phyllis for taking pictures of food, but this actually looked neat!
It's the type of place where they hand feed you Sopapilla on your birthday!
There were several attempts to visit Pikes Peak but the cog rail couldn't go past 12,ooo due to snow on the tracks and the next attempt was foiled because they arrived at the gate a half hour after they stop letting cars go up. Apparently you couldn't make it to the top that day anyway. I'm getting the impression that it's an attraction that is more suited for a summer visit.
Garden of the Gods is always open though!
Yvonne, Nicole and Daniel on the balcony of the visitors center
The Sams Clan
No idea where she learned to pose like this
You can't see the wind that is trying very hard to knock them down
Mommy was sick on the 28th so Mimmy and PopPop took her to the playground while I slept. Mimmy was also feeling icky, what a trooper!
Sushie for my birthday...the chopstick nose pick!
Mommy and Mia at the salon
Gary took his family up to see Seven Falls lit up for the holidays. Mia and I stayed home with the Sams, since it was their last night in Colorado.
The Broadmoore at Christmas
After another failed attempt at doing Pikes Peak, they went to the Cliff Dwellings
Yvonne, Nicole and Daniel on the balcony of the visitors center
The Sams Clan
No idea where she learned to pose like this
You can't see the wind that is trying very hard to knock them down
The amazing balancing rock
Mommy was sick on the 28th so Mimmy and PopPop took her to the playground while I slept. Mimmy was also feeling icky, what a trooper!
Sushie for my birthday...the chopstick nose pick!
Mommy and Mia at the salon
Gary took his family up to see Seven Falls lit up for the holidays. Mia and I stayed home with the Sams, since it was their last night in Colorado.
The Broadmoore at Christmas
After another failed attempt at doing Pikes Peak, they went to the Cliff Dwellings
Mia tries to play the Jeep game. I'm not teaching this one how to drive.
Thats all folks!
No idea why it leaves this much space. I feel like I'm wasting a chopped down virtual tree.
Thats all folks!
No idea why it leaves this much space. I feel like I'm wasting a chopped down virtual tree.
1 comment:
I absolutely love the skirt of ties! It's beautiful and ingenius! I made a table runner for my in-laws to match their newly finished dining room. I just used 5 different kinds of coordinating ribbon. It turned out really well. My mother in love actually thought I had bought it from a boutique. I felt pretty good about it. I'm completely thinking about no longer buying gifts for people and just making them stuff. Like most of the people in our family love the homemade bbq sauce Neal and I make, so they get that for Christmas. Everyone loves food as a gift!
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