Christmas 2009

Grandpa and Grandma Bowen and Aunt Lisa SURPRISED the kids and flew here for Christmas. They had a lot of fun. Kell had lunch with grandpa and Grandma at school and thought that was pretty cool. Grandma and Lisa made sugar cookies with Abigail. I hope they enjoyed it as much as Abigail did. I really appreciate there patience to let Abigail help, she is always begging me to help out in the kitchen, but I'd rather do it myself. All four kids really liked having them visit, in fact, not too long after they left, Abigail asked David if she could go on an airplane to visit grandpa and grandma.

Grandma, Lisa, and Abigail making sugar cookies.

Christmas Eve

Since we moved far from family we have been trying to make some of our own traditions during the holidays. Every year we try to get together with friends and decorate either gingerbread houses or big snowman cookies. This year we decorated big snowman cookies with our friends, so on Christmas Eve the kids decorated gingerbreas houses with Grandpa, Grandma, and Lisa. another trdition we have started is breakfast for dinner on Christmas Eve. I make breakfast casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls. This works out great for Christmas morning because instead of making a nice breakfast, we eat leftover cinnamon rolls.

Another tradition is the kids ornament exchange. Instead of exchanging gifts, the kids buy an ornament for one of their siblings each Christmas and they get to open it and put it on the tree Christmas Eve. The kids love this, and I really enoy seeing what they pick out for each other. They also get to open there Christmas pajamas, here they are at the top of the stairs Christmas morning sporting there new jammies. We didn't want Grandpa, Grandma, and Lisa to feel left out, so Grandma and Lisa got Mary Jane slippers and Grandpa got Christmas socks. I also got Mary Jane slippers (which I really love), but I forgot to get David some socks, so he'll have to wait until next year.

Christmas Day

We were all very blessed with wonderful gifts this christmas. Cole got an automatic nerf gun, Mario Cart R/C, indoor soccer ball, and a tabletop foosball table. Kell got Star Wars toys, Nerf gun, Toy Story Figures, and a Dragon (he told his class that was his favorite gift). Abigail got digital art studio for the computer, Mulan barbie doll, Londa (18" doll from g-pa and g-ma that she named), and sewing kits. I got Fiesta dishes, shepherds for the Willow nativity, sweater, and perfume. David got a cordless drill (he's already used and loves), cmall camp burner, and a Mario Cart R/C. As a family we got a WII. It was fun to play bowling with Grandpa, Grandma, and Lisa. It was nice to receive all these gifts, but the best gift this year was to have family come visit.