Christmas Day 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas...quiet, low key and filled with tradition. We delivered some cookies to our neighbors, played family games while listening to Oma's Christmas and German music, and had a delicious Korean dinner on Christmas Eve. We also read the Christmas story in the Bible, carolled, and talked to loved ones far away on Christmas Day. Here are Kris and the kiddos on Christmas Eve. (If while looking at the pictures you wonder why I'm not in any of these, it's because I didn't like the ones taken of me, and because I'm the one creating the post, I get to decide what goes into it, right? Also, Kris took a ton of video footage, and I know that I am in it a ton, so no worries.) Kourtney made reindeer food in class and we had another package left over that Nana sent last year. The girls decorated our front lawn with oats and glitter. It worked like a charm. Santa found his way to our house!
Alyson, Kourtney and Ellary made and decorated cookies for Santa and left them out before going to bed. No wonder Santa is such a big, jolly man.

7:30 am Christmas morning and the kids could hardly wait to come downstairs.

This is a picture of Alyson and Kourtney reading a letter they got from Santa. They both asked Santa for beta fish this year. Knowing that the Allee family would be out of town for a few days following Christmas, he gave each of them a gift card to buy their own when they got back from vacation. Alyson and Kourtney each have a beta fish now. I can't remember Alyson's purple and blue fish's name. Kourtney named her white fish Sparty. She has green rocks in his tank. How many other "Sparty" pets do you think are out there in Michigan?

Random picture of Ellary looking cute.

Alyson and Kourtney saved up their money to buy a present for each other. Alyson put together a sewing kit for Kourtney and Kourtney bought Alyson some scrap booking items. Great sisterly love!

Santa must know that Kris has a good sense of humor. He put a Dilbert calendar and a big joke book in Kris' stocking along with some of Kris' favorite candy and Banangrams, a fun word spelling game.

Alyson and Kourtney were very thoughtful this Christmas. They saved up some money by doing chores around the house to buy Ellary a present-a Dora the Explorer Backpack.

I think we can almost officially say that we are a running family. It's rubbing off on the girls. You may recall a post in December about Alyson running a 5K. Both girls occasionally go on runs with Kris, and before my eye surgery Alyson ran with me two days out of the week. It seemed only fitting that one of their gifts be some running clothes-a great idea their daddy had. (P.S. Kourtney and Alyson merged their Christmas P.J. bottoms from last Christmas with their nightgowns from this Christmas. Good try, girls!)

Nana and Papa Bear got the kids each a Pillowpet. What a great gift! The kids each picked the animal they wanted, all except for Keegan. I got to choose the puppy dog for him.

Ellary loves her unicorn Pillowpet. She also loves her Minnie Mouse costume she found at Kohl's on clearance while we were shopping about a week before Christmas. Ellary is obsessed with "Micki Mouse Club House". She wore her costume for one day, then I hid it away and wrapped it up for Christmas. I love her age!

Kourtney's choice was a penguin. She sleeps with it every night.

Alyson chose a dolphin. I think it most resembles a filleted fish when it's used like a pillow. Cute but rather funny.

Keegan received this tube and a connecting tent from Santa. It kept him entertained after all the presents had been opened. It has also kept him busy many hours since then.

Later Christmas day we picked up Sister Oade (she spent Thanksgiving Day with us too) and we met some friends to caroll at a local nursing home. I regret that we didn't take pictures because it was a great experience and one I hope we remember for a long time.

After carolling we came home and finished making dinner. We stuck with tradition and Kris made a delicious prime rib roast.

Later that evening we finished the day out by watching "A Christmas Story" and opening presents with Sister Oade. She was very generous. And I think she liked the dress we gave her because she wore it to church the next day.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Thank you, everyone, who made an effort to make Christmas special. Your kind words and acts of service were greatly appreciated.

Christmas Countdown

Our Christmas countdown started rather early this year-way back at the beginning of November. Our church began preparing for a Stake Christmas Concert and asked that the Primary children from all of the wards in our area sing for 30 minutes. A lot of time and effort went into preparing for the occasion. CD's, and music were sent home and they gathered to practice 6 Saturday mornings. It was less laboring and more fun than it sounds. Alyson even performed a violin solo to "Christmas Bells" in the Church Children's Songbook. Then Aly and Kourtney sang a song together also in the Children's Songbook "Who is the Child?" Kris and I are very happy that they tried their very best to be ready and that they did so well. Preparing for this event really set the tone for the rest of the holidays and we focused greatly on the true meaning of Christmas because of it.

Alyson had a holiday party the last day of class before winter break as well. Her class made a craft, had goodies, played bingo, and then her teacher, who is very proficient at the piano, and has one in her classroom, played as they all sang songs.

Kourtney also had a holiday celebration in her class. They made reindeer food, played games and had some yummy snacks. It's definitely one of the more fun parties of the year at school.

We have some great friends who throw a Christmas party every year. This was our second time going, and it was as fun as the last year. Lots of yummy food and good friends, and Santa made a grand appearance again sharing stories about the night before Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Gott family, for your hospitality.

This is our friend Kate helping Kourtney make a reindeer ornament. She and her husband throw this party every year (you may recall reading the post about their Christmas party last).

Keegan had a difficult time wanting to sit on Santa's lap. This was the best he could do for now. Maybe Keegan will be interested in the big, jolly fella next year.

All of the children got a candy cane and book from Santa, but I think they liked listening to him tell stories and sitting on his lap best of all.

Here are all the children who attended the party.

Ella had the time of her life in her little Santa outfit.

One Wintery Evening

Monday evening the kids and I braved the cold and met Kris at the end of our street where he gets off the bus when he rides home from work.
It was so cold that Kris, in spite of having non-tread dress shoes on, picked Ellary up in his arms and jogged most of the way home. I, on the other hand, had to brave the cold again after getting home and realizing that Keegan had lost one of his shoes on our little adventure. Shoe was found, safe and sound.
Kris and I are trying to eat more healthy, so this week we have had two salads for dinner. The first was a grilled chicken salad with orange slices on the side (shown here on Monday night). The second was on Tuesday, a lean ground beef taco salad, no tortilla chips or shell (like I said, we're trying to eat healthy).

Here's our little guy chewing on an orange slice. Great combo with our grilled chicken salad (the orange slices and salad that is!)

After dinner, the girls had a sweet treat. Oma bought these advent calendars with chocolate in the windows for the girls in Frankenmuth, Michigan two years ago when she visited us for Christmas. We didn't use them last year, I think we just wanted to hold onto them a little longer. The girlies have enjoyed counting down the days until Christmas and remembering Oma.

Then for family home evening we got crafty. One of our Christmas traditions is making a gingerbread house. We started this tradition two years ago when Nana, Papa and Oma came to visit us. We actually went to the trouble of making our own gingerbread that time, and boy, it took a very long time. I'm not sure any of us knew just what the process was to make the stuff. It was a fun and memorable experience. Since then, we have wimped out and bought gingerbread house kits, with the gingerbread pre-made, icing and candy included. Yippee!

Kris shared his fantastic icing and decorating skills with us, compliments of his work experience making ice cream cakes at Dairy Queen during his youth.

Here is the end result. Doesn't it look yummy? Ellary sure thinks so. See the little gum drop window next to the door? Ellary stole 5 gum drops the very next morning and had them eaten before anyone could stop her. Oh well!

Daddy's Boy

Keegan has become a bit of a daddy's boy lately. He gets so excited when he sees Kris. They are great buddies, just the way fathers and sons aught to be.

We thought Keegan wanted to wrestle with Kris, the way he crawled toward him when Kris sat on the floor in our bedroom, but Keegan only wanted to snuggle.

Jingle Belle 5K

Kris volunteered to help out with a 5K race called "Jingle Belle" in Lansing on Saturday. Kourtney stood on the first corner of the race with Kris as they helped direct all the "Belles" down the race course. They huddled to keep warm and Kris tried to teach Koco how to whistle as they braved the cold. They make a great team. (The time on the clock has no reflection on our run time. That's just the time that lapsed from the start of the race to the time we left to go home.) Alyson and I actually ran the race. I've taken some time off from running, and Alyson didn't train at all either, but we had a great time. And guess what? Alyson did awesome! She ran the 5K in 31:04, that's a 10:01 average pace per mile. She beat her Grand Junction Gold's Gym 5K race time by more than a minute and she actually trained for that race. Good job girl! Her next goal is to shave a few minutes off her 5K time in a race this summer.
Koco on the corner watching all the girls go by.

Alyson and me at about .5 miles (the first turn and where Kris and Kourtney were standing).

Alyson and me on the last turn again where Kris and Kourtney were standing.

Sunsets and Snowfalls

We enjoyed a very beautiful sunset one evening last week...

And then...

It snowed!

Look closely. You can see the white stuff in the air. This was our first snowfall of the season. And although it came later than it did last fall, it's still difficult to believe that the cold is here to stay.

The Cat's Meow

If only it were Halloween, Ellary would be prepared. One morning last week, I went up to Kourtney's room and found that the dress-up clothes bin had been dumped and its contents strewn throughout the room. The leotard that you see Ellary wearing was new to me. Apparently Nana gave it to Kourtney when she last visited but it was too small for her. So, Ellary put it on, found these cat ears, and wore it for the rest of the day. Good thing we didn't have to get out of the house otherwise I don't think I would have been able to get it off her without making her upset. What a cutie. Better yet, Ellary does a very good cat impression. She hardly stopped meowing long enough to let me get this picture of her.