Santa Clause Came To Town...

Last night, before the girls went to bed...they got to open up a few presents. They first got to open a new Christmas book that we got to read right before bed.

Next they got to open some new slippers from Mom and Dad...

Addison got "Perry the Platypus" slippers from Phineas and Ferb.

Zoey got some Lightening McQueen slippers... unfortunately I didnt get a good picture of her in them.

And to the Grandmas out there...Addison is NOT in her Christmas pajamas because she refuses to really wear any other kind of PJs except her "princess" nightgowns. But I can say that she has worn them!

After their slippers and book, we let them open up there gifts from their Uncle Kim and Aunt Julie.

Zoey got this bouncy Turtle thingy that plays music and she can bounce up and down on it. She love it!

And they really scored big with Addison when they got her a new Rapunzel doll, complete with animals that will braid her hair!

Thanks Uncle Kim and Aunt Julie----you made 2 little girls pretty HAPPY!

After we all went to bed, Santa Clause had made is presence known by leaving this beautiful scene for us:

And to show you what it looked like with the lights ON:

Our morning started out by Cooper the Dog receiving his Christmas gift from Santa....a candy cane shaped bone, and another over sized bone to chew on. Here is Cooper waiting patiently for Mike to take the plastic off of it....he was one happy dog all day long, content with his new bones.

This year, the girls slept in PAST 7:30am! Although, most people would find this lovely, it was kind of annoying that we had to WAKE them up to see their gifts. We were awake before the girls were! I only say that it was annoying because the ONE morning we wanted them to actually be up early---they SLEEP IN! Mike and I would've loved to just let the girls keep sleeping, except our Church Service started at 9:30am, and we have about a 20 minute commute to church...therefore, we had less than an hour to get them up, open up presents, eat breakfast, and get dressed for church. It was a pretty hectic morning.

After finally getting the girls to arise...it was fun seeing their faces light up when they saw all the presents.

Addison's Wishlist this year consisted of just 2 things: Princess Charm School and a Chugginton Train Set. She has been pretty set on receiving these very 2 things for awhile now. Santa must have thought she was a pretty good girl this year, b/c that is exactly what she got. She was one happy little girl.

Opening up one of the gifts...

Princess Charm School!!!

Zoey's wishlist consisted of: anything that makes noise or that Addison is playing with.

Here's our ZoZo opening up one of her gifts...

Santa also new that since we are new to New York, he thought he would get us some sleds for when it actually decides to snow here. He also completed our "snow gear" collection with some Snow Shoes for Mom, Dad, and Addison. It is something we are hoping to get into this year---again, when it decides to actually snow.

Our final gift list we recieved:

Dad: snow shoes, Harry Potter movies, and 2 new XBox games

Mom: snow shoes, new WARM LL Bean slippers

Addison: Princess Charm School Barbie, Princess Charm School Dormitory, Chuggington Train Set, Snow Shoes

Zoey: the Little People Singing Jet Plane, Chugginton Train Set, Bike Helmet

Both Girls: Doctor's Medical Kit--for their dolls, Playdough, Picnic Basket complete with dishes

All of Us: New sleds

We scored pretty big with the man in Red. We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did!! Ours was pretty relaxing since it was just the 4 of us hanging out. We are kind of sad that this time of year has now come and gone, but we are excited to move onto January for the arrival for the 5th member of our family. 2 1/2 weeks left!!!!!!!!!! (I am not counting or anything). We still havent decided on an official name for our little guy, but I think we finally have it down to a couple of names. But you are just gonna have to wait til January 11th to find out what it is...unless he decides to come earlier--which I am totally OK with!

Merry Christmas Everyone and here's to an awesome New Year!!!

Baking Cookies for Santa....MERRY CHRISTMAS

We hope everyone has a happy and joyful Christmas. This year we are just hanging out with just "us" here in New York. It has been way laid back and uneventful--but we are liking it that way. With me being 2 weeks away from D-Day with Baby Boy...we thought it would be wisest to just stay here for Christmas.

This evening we baked cookies for Santa and are preparing for his big arrival tonight. We have been tracking him on www.noradsanta.org Its fun to see Addison really get into Christmas this year. We hope everybody has been good this year and gets everything they asked for.

We are also grateful for the birth of our Savior. Its nice to have Christmas on a Sunday this year so that we are able to attend our church service for a special Christmas message. Sometimes we get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas and forget about the "true meaning" of it all. So I am quite glad that we get to go to church this Christmas day. Merry Christmas!!

ps" Ash and Justin had their baby today---WELCOME BABY LUCY TO THE FAMILY!!

Our Year in 2011

Although I managed to get Christmas Cards out---shockingly. I did not manage to get our annual Christmas Letter done. So once again, I am relying on the blog to share with you our 2011 year.

JANUARY--

**Addison started going to preschool for the very first time. She attended the First Presbyterian Church Playschool.

**At the end of the month, Mike was able to travel to the Dominican Republic for a Medical Mission Trip with his class. He was gone for a week, he learned a lot, was able to put his French to use to communicate with some of the people there and now has a memory of a lifetime.

FEBRUARY--nothing exciting. Just Valentine's Day, which can be exciting for some people.

MARCH--another uneventful month. We did manage to make another trip to Memphis to visit the zoo. We went quite a bit since we were members there.

APRIL--

**We were able to travel down to Houston, TX to stay with my sister, Emily for about a week. The entire Hall clan was there. We had a good time attending Disney On Ice, visiting the Houston LDS Temple, eating at Rainforest Cafe in Galveston, TX, and enjoying some time on the beach there. It was fun to see the city and to see what Houston had to offer.

**Mike flew up to Rochester, NY for an interview at the Linden Oaks Surgery Center for a possible job----they liked him.

**Lynsee turned 26 yrs old on the 18th, and our little Zoey turned the big ONE on the 30th---man time flies! She got to celebrate with a Minnie Mouse Cake and she loved each and every bite of it.

MAY--

**Mike turned 35 on the 2nd.

**We found out we were expecting our third child--Due in January 2012

**Addie had her first Preschool Program

**Addie had her very first Dance Recital and she was Oh-So-Adorable in it!

JUNE--

**Mike and I, drove to Charlotte, NC to drop the kids off at my parents house, and then we flew on up to Watertown, NY for another job interview at a hospital. It was a nice getaway from the kids, and it was all the the hospitals dime which made the trip even better. While there, we were able to drive up through Canada as well and admire its beauty.

JULY--

**we celebrated our Country's Birth by hanging out with some close friends of ours in Jackson.

**We found out that we were expecting a BOY

**On July 28th, Addison had her first dentist visit and it did NOT go well.

**July 30th, 2011---a very happy Happy HAPPY Day for us!! Mike GRADUATED from Union University with his Masters Degree in Nursing, specializing in Anesthesia.

AUGUST--

**Mike passed his boards the FIRST time and officially became a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist!!!!

**on August 16th, we officially moved into our townhome in Victor, NY---a suburb of Rochester.

**August 29th: Mike officially started at the Linden Oaks Surgery Center

SEPTEMBER--

**Addison started Preschool at the Penfield Village Nursery School

**September 14th: Addison turned 4 years old and we celebrated by going to Chuck-E-Cheese and having a Princess Cake

OCTOBER--

**we were able to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather and colors for the first time here in New York.

**the girls got to go Trick-Or-Treating---Addison was a Pirate, Zoey a Parrot

NOVEMBER--

**Addison started playing Indoor Soccer for the first time

**we traveled on down to my parents house in Charlotte where we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with the entire Hall Clan

DECEMBER--

**We spent Christmas here in New York....first time spending the Holiday with just "us". It was very quiet and low key, but we enjoyed it that way

**AND here we are today, December 31st, the last day of the year being grateful for everything that 2011 has offered us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

The Christmas Tree Farm

(12.3.2011)

Saturday, Dec. 3rd, we headed out to Stokoe Farms again. I blogged about this same farm back in the fall time when we went to their fall fest. Well every December, they open up their farm again to the public for their Christmas Trees. We actually didnt get a Christmas tree b/c we had already put up our "pre-lit" tree. But we wanted to check it out anyways, b/c it was FREE admission, and they had some things for the kids to do there. After our visit, we are convinced that we are going to go back to getting a "real" Christmas tree.

It is really fun how they do it....you get into their farm for FREE (which, in the fall time you dont). Then you can either walk, or ride on their wagon pulled by a tractor out to the Christmas Tree part of the farm. They give you a saw, and you head out to pick, and cut your very own Christmas tree. Then they will haul your tree back for you to the front of the farm, shake it, tie it down, and even help you load it onto your car. Not too shabby of a deal! Although we didnt buy a "real" tree this year, we took the girls on the hayride, let them go down the slide, climb on the hay fort, and they got to pet some donkeys and sheep at the their Nativity scene. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to make it a tradition every year now to head out to Stokoe Farms and select our very own REAL Christmas Tree.

Here's Addison going down the slide. This kid is hilarious...she drew quite the crowd b/c everytime she went down the slide she would scream "WAAA-HOOOO" really loud. And she was the only kid doing it...pretty funny to watch.

Addison riding the fake "reindeer/horse"

Zoey on the fake animal

Addison on top of the hay fort....as you can see it was a gorgeous day, despite the cold.

Zoey's turn for a picture...

The girls petting the animals

Zoey was having a blast...she thought it was hilarious when the sheep kept trying to lick her---I just found it gross.

Our Addison....and Zoey still trying to give the sheep kisses.

Me and zoey on the hayride.

Zoey in the middle of the Christmas Tree Farm

Me and my girls. As you can see, there are a lot of trees to choose from and they were all GOOD Looking trees.....I am not sure how people can decide on just ONE!

Thanks Stokoe Farms for another good time!!!!!

We Made a Gingerbread House

Like many people, we got to do a Gingerbread House this year. It was so much fun this year with Addison as she is getting more and more into Christmas traditions. We had a good time as a family decorating our little house this year. I thought the final outcome of it turned out fantastic.

The girls excited about the Gingerbread House

Mom hard at work on the Gingerbread House

Dad hard at work

Addison hard at work, making "snow" with the frosting

Zoey was hard at work, as well. She was our official candy taster--hence the green streaks on her face around her mouth.

The girls with the final product...as you can see, they are sort of all hyped up on sugar

The front of the house...

A side view