Merry Christmas

We had an awesome Christmas Day. The kids sort of slept in (everything is relative when you get used to someone getting up at 5 am every day) but were anxious to see if Santa had visited once they were awake. Addy actually woke up first so she started right into her stocking, she was lucky enough to have gotten a singing Elsa doll from Santa so we were lucky enough to listen to her all day. And if that wasn't enough entertainment she also got a microphone so she could really belt out "Let it Go." Cameron got a talking Olaf, Seahawks gear and dump trucks. Both kids got legos so Brian and I spent the day trying to build things while the kids tore them apart. Cameron's favorite activity was filling his dump truck with legos and then dumping them all over the house. On second thought, maybe the choices for presents weren't so great after all. Oh well, it was an entertaining day. 

Addy's favorite thing was coloring and decorating her shrinky dinks and then watching them bake in the oven. So much fun!

Christmas Eve

We had the kids open their gifts from Grandma & Grandpa Evert on Christmas Eve over Skype. The kids were thrilled to open their presents and it was a great way to start Christmas Eve because then they had lots to play with for the rest of the day. Highlights for Addy included Frozen pajamas & calendar, princess & star shirt. Cameron's favorites were Thomas the Trian, train shirt, Olaf and slippers. We enjoyed our fondue dinner and even made it to a candlelight Christmas Eve service that evening. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Trolley

This year our town started a Christmas Trolley that ran every Saturday through the downtown. Cameron couldn't stop talking about it so we braved the rain and rode the Christmas Trolley. It was super fun! They played Christmas music and went on about a 30 minute route through the city. The kids loved it and we got to be on the first stop of the day!

Superhero Christmas Pageant

Last Friday night the kids had their Christmas pageant at school. There is something particularly special about seeing 1-5 years olds put on a Christmas pageant. This year's was especially cute because they had a twist on the traditional Christmas nativity scene and added Superheros to the mix. (The explanation was Jesus is our Christmas superhero). It was adorable. In the mix with Mary, Joseph, the wisemen and angels were Batman, Superman, the Hulk and our very own Wonder Woman. Addy was cast as Wonder Woman and looked awesome in her costume! The play was a little hard to follow (they had some ambitious teachers) but entertaining nonetheless and they did an awesome job with their songs, which included "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", "What Child is This" and "We Wish you a Merry Christmas." I got a little sad realizing that this would be Addy's last Christmas pageant at this school.

Cameron's class also performed and also had some ambitious goals. They were supposed to do a tap dance, but it wasn't clear that there was actually any dancing taking place. I also had low expectations for the songs considering I'd never heard Cameron sing any of them (but he did know most of the words to Addy's songs). It was adorable anyway and especially funny when Cameron went up to the microphone several times to yell, "Hi Daddy!" We definitely have a performer on our hands.

The end of the show did not disappoint when Santa showed up! I thought for sure Cameron would be excited but apparently he only likes "grocery Santa" because he wanted nothing to do with him. Fortunately Adelyn was not afraid and she went up to him. Afterwards Cameron declared, "I only like grocery Santa, not gym Santa."

It was a thoroughly entertaining evening! Once I figure out (read- once Brian shows me) how to edit video I'll get that posted. Trust me you do not want the unedited version..it was a long evening:)

 The kids before heading out to the pageant. 

 Addy in her Wonder Woman glory and below with Clara the angel. 

 Cameron couldn't take his eyes off the microphone (more later in the video)

 I love seeing Wonder Woman and Superman next to Mary and Joseph.

 This time Addy was all ready for Santa, but Cameron did not like "gym Santa"

SnowFlake SnowFlake Dance!

We got the video from Addy's recital loaded into the computer. Correction- Brian got it loaded. He then showed me how to upload it to the blog. It was too big for one file so I had to break it up in two. Here she in in her tap debut. Act 3 of 22.

I love My Papa

The kids had a great time with Papa and of course took advantage of him reading them lots and lots of stories. The weather was great while he was here and we enjoyed some beautiful views of the mountains and ferry boats. Cameron wore his "I love my Papa" shirt and kept yelling "I love my papa!" it was adorable. Addy and Papa put the Frozen puzzles together and we enjoyed a delicious crab dinner. We've decided a mid-December trip might need to become an annual thing.

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

It's official, Addy's song for the holidays needs to be "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." On Sunday she lost her 2nd front tooth and is up to 4. Lucky for her the tooth fairy still came to visit even with Papa in her bed. I can't believe how quickly she is growing up!