Christmas Eve

We were very blessed this Christmas! On Christmas eve day we had Jeff's sisters and their families over to our house for lunch and a gift exchange. The kids had a blast playing with their new games and toys. 

We relaxed as a family of four for the rest of the afternoon and then Jeff headed out to Christmas shop (nothing like the last minute) while the kids and I got snugly in Christmas pajamas in front of the fireplace. We watched a movie together and before we knew it, daddy was home and it was time to go to bed so Santa Claus could make an appearance at our house. 

Elizabeth's First Dance Recital

Yesterday was Ella's debut performance dance recital. She got lots of love and well wishes before taking the stage from her little pal, Henry. 

This one is my favorite! 

Ella was very excited to wear eye shadow, blush, and lipstick for her special performance. But, she was very impatient having to wait her turn to dance on stage. 

She really liked watching all of the performers who danced before her, though. Their were awesome ballet routines, tap routines, and tumbling/gymnastics routines. 

Finally it was Ella's group's turn to dance. The six girls in her group took the stage and danced to a cute song called, "Tiptoe Elf." Ella did better than I expected and followed her dance instructor pretty well, it was actually much better than her dress rehearsal last Thursday. She did pick her nose as one point, however. That's a three-year-old for you. They do what needs to be done whether on stage in front of hundreds of people or not. 

She is the fourth from the left. She's kind of hard to see in these photos, but that's an iPhone camera for ya. 

I am so glad we enrolled Ella in class this fall, because she absolutely loves it and has learned and progressed so much in the past three months! It's so fun to watch children enjoy participating in something that is so fun for them. 

Thanks to those who came to watch her: Gramme, Papa, Brett, Keith, Lyndsey, Henry, Kris, Jami, Eva, and Zoie! She loved having so many people there to cheer her on!!

Early Christmas

 Tina and Vivi came over on Thursday and we did a kiddo gift exchange since their family will be at the coast for Christmas this year. 

It's Vivien's first Christmas so it was super fun to watch her open her first Christmas gifts!

We got her this adorable little doll and a couple other things. 

Ella was super exited to get to open gifts early too!

She loves her new wooden cookie set so much she hasn't put it down for three days!

The cousins cuddling together

Yesterday she made cookies for hours. Literally. 

Gettin' Creative

This year I decided to make some food gifts for friends and loved ones for Christmas. So I found a couple of cute ideas on Pinterest and made them myself. My mom had a bunch of mason jars sitting empty in her garage so I cleaned them up, bought new lids, and was able to create these Christmas cookie jars for pretty cheap and they're so pretty and festive. I found the tags and striped paper covers at World Market and they were the perfect addition to write the directions for making the cookies. 

I also found these bottles at World Market and decided to infuse vodka with lemons to create Limoncello, which is an Italian alcoholic beverage. I think they turned out pretty great as well. 

Then, because I was already feeling so domestic, I decided to make my own elderberry syrup as well. I ordered some dried elderberries and boiled them with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, strained them, then added honey to the mixture. I made it just in time to help Jeff fight off a pretty nasty flu virus and to (hopefully) boost the immune systems of the rest of us!

I also finally hung the artwork I had been collecting since summer in our hallway. You see, last summer, Jeff was scratching a mosquito bite on his back as he was walking to our bedroom and while doing so, he accidentally knocked a picture frame off the wall which fell and broke and chipped our molding. That spurred me to change the look of the hallway art (which was all family photos in black frames) to something more whimsical and pretty with a lot more color. 

I found art at several places, mostly at our local antique store which has the prettiest things ever! I am still looking for a large 'G' to place in the middle of that empty frame and it will be finished!

Immaculate Conception Tea

Last Sunday Ella and I attended the Immaculate Conception Tea at Holy Redeemer to benefit those traveling to Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day. It was a lot of fun and Ella's first formal tea. We dressed up, I put on my pearls and Ella wore a hat and we dined on yummy scones with jam, finger sandwiches, delicious desserts, and tea, of course. We both really enjoyed it and I was even lucky enough to win a facial at a local salon. I cannot wait to get pampered!

Kiewit Hawaiian Luau

This was the second year that Jeff was invited to attend the Northwest District Meeting as the Mechanic foreman for the Columbia Shop. The theme this year was a Hawaiian Luau and we had a blast! I donned my most Hawaiian looking dress and Jeff and I both received leis at the door. 

I took a quick selfie before the party started in our hotel room bathroom. 

Then we went to the Heritage Ballroom and enjoyed an authentic Hawaiian dinner complete with ahi tuna, roasted pig, and poi. 

After dinner we had an awesome show with a fire dancer...

and hula dancers. Also, at one point they called up several employees to "volunteer" for various stunts: playing the drums, hula dancing and such which had the crowd in stitches!

After the entertainment and a presentation by a senior employee of Kiewit we went to a smaller ballroom to continue the fun. I sat with some of the Columbia Shop wives while Jeff went to the dance floor where the prizes were being raffled off. Each couple only got one ticket this year, so Jeff put ours in the bucket to win the iPad Mini. 

Imagine my surprise when he came back to our table with it in his hands!! I honestly couldn't believe it! Ella and I attended a tea last Sunday and I won a facial, then we win an iPad?! I cannot believe our good luck lately, especially since we honestly never win anything!

I love my husband so much, he works so hard to support our family and I love that his company rewards his hard work with fun evenings like this. 

We enjoyed the rest of the evening with his co-workers drinking, dancing, and laughing. Then around 1:00 a.m. we headed upstairs to our room and crashed. 

It was a fun and memorable night!