All I want for Christmas ...

All I want for Christmas is my two front (right of center) teeth!

Before going to the Black Nativity at the Intiman, the family went to Buca de Beppo for dinner. SOOOO good, and such a great time. I wish we could do it more often. Did I mention Shannon and Nate are hams?

The real Santa

We finally visited the REAL Santa yesterday (he likes the Tacoma Mall). The girls got some extra time while the mall photographers changed batteries. Elena wanted to make sure Santa knew she had "picked" out something special for him too. Emma just kept rattling off all the things she wanted (none of which she wanted two weeks ago, while Santa's elves were at work, by the way).

Grandpa Will

Will is quite the riot. He doesn't say much, but grunts his answers quite a bit. Here is a shot of him trying on grandma's glasses.

The Walkers (my sister and her family) are home for Christmas from St. Louis!! Man, have we missed them. We got to spend a day shopping - and Lucy got to spend the day attached to Emma's hip. It was very cute.

Emma performs

In the middle of class, Mrs. Hobbs announced "Emma would like to sing something now!" Apparently, she does this quite frequently. She proceeded to sing "A Manger is his throne" - one of our Christmas concert pieces. The class listened intently while they ate cake and then clapped at the end. Quite our little performer.

A day in 1st grade

I (Stacie) got to spend an entire day with Emma at school as a volunteer. It was wonderful to see my cute kiddo in action (and realize that she really is just as wonderful as her teacher says). Her teacher Mrs. Hobbs is a one-of-a- kind. She loves those kids and teaching more than anyone I have ever known. She even secretly told me she'd do it for no pay. The weather was terrible, so they had indoor recess. Mrs. Hobbs quickly whipped out the foosball and pool tables! I had to snap this shot for my dad - because he used to have to skip school to get to the pool hall!

The Living Nativity

One of our local churches did a "Living Nativity" this year, reinacting the town of Bethlehem. They had food to try, were taking a census, and even warned us of Herod's evil plan. We went with our friends The Conan's - a very memorable event.

A day downtown

We usually try to make it a tradition to get down to Seattle every year during Christmas. This year, Santa rode the monorail and passed out candy canes! (Santa is Elena's best friend because of this fact). Abigal didn't know what to think. And Emma just kept analyzing his beard to determine if he was the "real" Santa. She decided he wasn't, because he looked too different from the "real" Santa we visited last year. Ah, to have a kid with a memory like that. Anyway, it was a great day - Pike Place for breakfast, the miniature Christmas train at Seattle Center, and shopping at Westlake. Then that evening, the parents babysat while Ross took me to the Michael W. Smith Christmas concert at Overlake Christian. It was incredible! Melinda Doolittle from American Idol sang, as did the Catinas. In addition, they had a 65 piece orchestra. A great day!!

Our "Christmas is Forever" show was a huge success. Emma sang with the children's choir and I (Stacie) sang with the adult choir, including a trio and quintet. We both love singing so much - it was a very joyful night! The whole family came - including my cousin Joni, her hubby Jim and their twin boys. After the show we all went to Clover Leaf together for pizza and beer. Fun times!

Hosanna's Christmas Party

Emma had fun performing in her school's Christmas show. She was an angel (wisely selected, mom and dad think).

Chapel Hill (our church) recently put together a children's choir. This last Sunday was the second time they performed with the adult choir (in which Stacie sings). Emma is in the front row - pink dress. It was hard for me (Stacie) to hold back the tears and get my own notes out as I watched my sweet 6-year-old sing her heart out for the Lord. Our big combined concert comes up this weekend. We'll perform the show "Christmas is Forever" on Saturday and Sunday. It should be a lot of fun.

Saturday was a huge day for Ross. We went to his company Christmas party at the Tacoma History Museum. And he soon found out that he was voted "Employee of the Year". He was humbled to the point of tears. Here's a pic with Ross and the two owner of MVP Physical Therapy - Pat and Mike. Way to go Ross!!!

Tree Time!

We had a fun time going to Mitchell's Tree farm in Gig Harbor to pick out our trees with Jodi, Jeremy and Abigal. I couldn't believe how fast we found our tree! (We usually take a LOOOOOONG time). Emma basically said "I like this one." And surprisingly, we all did too. After getting our trees, we had hot cider and candy canes by a fire. And then, as we left the tree farm (cue the music), it began to snow. It was a great day!

It was a lot of fun getting our 10 foot tree into the house!