The Family Picture

It's always interesting trying to get a family picture with a self-timer camera. My nephew jumped right up and said a nice big "cheese." Very cute:)

I sure love my big family and we are having a great time:)

Merry Christmas!

Rachel went ice skating with friends while Erin Joy and I watched.

Santa came a day early to our house because we are flying to Idaho/Utah on the 25th (plane tickets are cheaper that day). Our Christmas Eve was December 23rd. Every Christmas Eve, the girls get new pajamas and a book inside their kitty pajama bags.
I love the "flip flop" slippers with Rachel's painted toes:)

The girls had fun on Christmas Eve making craft projects with their early Christmas presents from friends.




We don't have a chimney so we leave a magic key on the doorknob so Santa can come in.


We found a lady bug in our house on Christmas Eve!!! Alive!! That means good luck for somebody...hopefully us:)
I have been telling every Santa we see that Erin Joy wants her two front teeth for Christmas. It really embarrasses her. It worked!!! Her teeth have been missing for several months, but we just noticed today that they are indeed starting to come in. Wow!! Santa really came through!! What a fun Christmas surprise!
Hermy, our Christmas Elf, answered one of Rachel's letters about what treat Santa wanted on Christmas Eve. He responded that he gets tired of cookies and would really like chips and salsa. Score!!! Santa LOVES chips and salsa and was so pleased to have them for his midnight snack. The reindeer enjoyed the carrots.
Our stockings were very full...
Santa truly unloaded his sleigh at our house. Good thing he came a day early so he'll have room on his sleigh for other presents.
Checking out the stockings with our cat who was especially pleased with the catnip in her stocking.
So many presents...what a mess of wrapping paper. I think Santa needs to come back and clean up this mess.

Window markers...
I seem to recall one of my children falling out of the window doing something similar...

Erin Joy was happy with her "Flaries." She has wanted them ever since she watched the silly Barbie movie "Barbie and the Fashion Fairytale."
Rachel was very happy with her FurReal walking dog.
I was excited that they spent most of their time playing with the "pet vet" kit that Santa spent too much money on. For several years, Rachel's favorite thing at the children's museum was taking care of the stuffed animals at the vet clinic. That was a few years ago though and she isn't as interested in it as she was when she was 4-5 years old. I was so glad that they spent so much time playing with the kit and having fun taking care of their stuffed animals. It was fun to watch them and listen to them play.






Merry Christmas everyone!!

Saying Good-Bye

My children are very sad that today is the last day Herman Joseph Cuckcoo, our Christmas Elf sent by Santa, will be watching us. Hermy has been such a fun tradition. This year the girls have loved writing him letters and getting letters back from him. Santa Claus will be coming to our house tonight because we are leaving for Idaho/Utah on the 25th (plane tickets are much cheaper on Christmas day because most people travel before the 25th...not us...we look for cheap tickets!)

Anyway, both girls told me they would rather have Hermy stay and Santa not come. Well...all good things must come to an end. Santa will come tonight and he will take Hermy back to the North Pole where he will rest until the day after Thanksgiving. He will be back.

I'm happy he's leaving. He is tired of answering all the letters my girls write to him:)

He is currently hiding in the Christmas tree...his traditional last hiding spot so Santa will be able to find him when he leaves presents. The girls wrote their final letters to him and placed them carefully in the tree.

I really love Christmas too. The anticipation and the preparation is most of the fun. I'm sad it is ending too. Good-bye Hermy! We look forward to your visit next year!

Zoo Day

Today's adventures led us to the Woodland Park Zoo with some of our friends. We saw a few of the animals enjoying their Christmas presents. The snow leopards got pinatas which must have been filled with catnip or something. The gorillas got wreaths and bags filled with cranberries, apples, oranges, and other fruit. The penguins got frozen ice wreaths filled with fish, and the birds got stringed popcorn. Every day different animals got different gifts. Next year, we'll have to watch other animals with their presents.

The snow leopards leaping for their pinatas were our favorite.

Carkeek Park and Bellevue Botanical Garden d'Lights

There wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning so we just had to go to a park. It has been so cloudy and rainy lately that our little sun-break was wonderful. By the time we got to the park, the clouds had rolled in. The rain held off until we were leaving the botanical garden display. Perfect! (For today that is...tomorrow we are going to the zoo...could be a little wet...)

Here are a few Carkeek Park pictures followed by light pictures:

After Carkeek Park, we walked through the Bellevue Botanical Garden d'Lights display. It was really beautiful and fun. The kids really enjoyed it this year because they were given a scavenger hunt paper and had to find various animals. They began by finding the spider.
No garden in the Northwest would be complete without a slug! I love the trail of lights it leaves behind:)

There is a parrot on the branch...it is just hard to spot.

Monkey...

Alligator...
River... (the lights blinked and moved to make the river look like it was flowing...pretty cool)
Salmon jumping a waterfall...









"Don't stand so close," Rachel grumbles just as I take the picture. She then gets mad and stomps off.

"Rachel, get back there, be nice, and stand by your sister," I demand.
Erin Joy's feelings are now hurt. She won't smile.
"Please just stand there and pretend you love each other." That's as good as it gets....