Haylee's Play

The last day of school before winter break, Haylee had a play put on by her class. The play was about how we are all different and we recieve different blessings from what we believe it. These were the 3 beautiful trees.

Haylee chose a beautiful tree instead of an old rickety tree.

Then she came back as the beautiful angel that taught the kids about each of the holiday traditions.

Here is the best I could get of the whole cast.

And she posed for the camera.

I was so proud of her. She even had a wardrobe change. Someone else was supposed to be the angel but they didn't come to school, so Haylee filled in. She was amazing!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning, Dave and I woke up about 430... to no creatures stirring, not even a mouse. So... we tried to hurry the excitment along and we turned on the Christmas lights and opened Haylee and Trent's door. An hour passed before we heard some rustling. Finally about 630, we hear the kids go in the room. About 7, they ask Dave if we can open presents... FINALLY! When we gathered in the living room, they had taken all the stuff out of all the stockings.

So, while I cooked breakfast, they cleaned up the mess and woke Laycee and Logan... who were not happy about getting up early. At breakfast, Haylee looks and the cinnimon rolls and says, "I thought we always had monkey bread on Christmas." I guess I will not take the easy way out anymore. We do always have monkey bread, but I didn't feel like making it when I went to the store on Wednesday, so I didn't buy the ingredients. Leave it to Haylee's impeccable memory to leave me feeling guilty about our less than traditional Christmas breakfast.
We finally got around to opening presents. This is the only present Laycee would open. After this, she kept shaking hear head no. She didn't want to open presents, so we gathered hers together and had a hurried opening session in front of her later in the morning. She loved her presents though.

Logan loved opening his because each one had a ball and he was equally excited about each ball.

Later in the morning, I caught Trent jammin out on Logan's guitar.

Haylee looked adorable in her American Girl Kit outfit... Thanks MOM!!!

And of course, they played ALL day with their new Nintendo DS... again, Thanks mom.

Laycee and Logan fought over their poppin pals toy.

We cooked turkey, green beans, corn, and stuffing for dinner. And the kids began to wind down after their long day. Laycee fell asleep in my arms about 7 which never happens.

So I sent her to cuddle up with Haylee and finish watching Flushed Away.

All in all it was a good day and we were pleased with their level of gratitude. Thanks to all our family and friends who brought the kids a little more christmas cheer this year!

Christmas Eve

Chistmas Eve has been a day for us to sit at home together ever since we moved here. We have grown to really like it. Dave got off work about noon and we all went home for a few last minute chores before quiet time. We cleaned the house, and then I finished up Laycee's Christmas present. Each bag progressively got better since I had never done this before.

After quiet time, we changed into PJs and all sat around for a fun movie. I love the newest version of Miracle on 34th Street.
Dave made "1000 calories of pure goodness", aka, eggnog and whipped cream. Can you say.... GROSS! It is a mixture of two of the things that I really don't like.

Logan was loving his eggnog and Santa Clause.

And Laycee loved chillin on her belly in front of the TV.

Laycee and Logan have been sick, so they were ready for bed early. So we ate some tacos for dinner and cleaned up again and off to bed with thoughts of sugar plums dancing in their head.

Merry Christmas

We wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I am hoping to be able to post yesterday's pictures sometime today, but no promises. So, if I am not able... I wanted everyone to know I am thinking of you!

Primary Song

On the 13th, we had a church Christmas party. It was with the Italian branch. There was a choir and lots of good food, plus an appearance from Santa, but we skipped that part because I was TIRED! So, here is what the kids did.

The big kids put on the nativity... there was a song that I was going to post, but blogger would never update it, so here is the picture.

And Laycee stood like a cool girl with her hands in her pockets.

Tree Lighting Ceremony

I hate how blogger keeps messing up the order of my pictures! So... you get to start at the end of the evening and move backwards. After Haylee's crying session because I didn't want to stand in line for a carriage ride, we made a compromise. Pull out the bed, watch a movie, and drink hot chocolate!

First I had to tell Trent Santa wasn't real to get him over there, and then Laycee and Logan start wailing. No good pics this year :(
They all loved story time with Mrs, Clause


Before seeing Santa, we went to do some activities. We decorated houses, played toss, and made pictures frames.

I was excited to start of December with a little holiday fun. I am way delayed in posting these, so this was really nearly 3 weeks ago lol.

Help

I told him to stop getting out of his high chair by himself!

Painting

Laycee can be so clingy sometimes and the other night I was trying to cook dinner and clean up the house. She would not leave me alone, nor would she stop crying. SO I diverted her attention to watercolors. She loved it. She really likes to color and paint, so this was perfect for a last minute and much needed distraction.

Giggles

Laycee and Logan rarely do anything but fight with one another. They like to pick on each other and fight, but they are not much for playing with and laughing with each other. I hope one day they grow out of it, but we will see. Anyway, I heard them laughing during lunchtime the other day and and I was clearly intrigued by what they were doing. I mean, they are on opposite ends of the table and they were eating lunch. I decided to peek in and see for myself. Much to my dismay, I found them making a huge mess of...

yup, you see it, apple juice and orange soda! Oh it was a MESS!
Laycee knew once she saw me that she was in trouble, so she tried to escape to make it all look like Logan's fault. Let me tell you, she really had me fooled this time lol.

Decorating

On the 1st for Family Home Evening, we decorated the house. Here is the Tree before being fluffed and decorated.

The kids and Dave string more lights on our fiber optic tree. Dave loves lights and I don't care as long as I don't have to do it.


Trent puts on some decorations.

Haylee is an amazing helper and so selfless. She started helping Laycee instead of doing it all herself. Laycee LOVED it.

And Logan admires all of their hard work.

And as a special surprise, we got some in house entertainment to share with you all.

I love the holidays and decorating. This year has been a little harder because we are anticipating all of the work to follow with the move just 6 weeks away. But, we did what we could to brighten the home with a little fun.

Our Feet Are Cold

It is a known fact that Italians don't know proper temperature control of their homes. As a result, we are completely hot in the summer time and freezing cold in the winter time. Well at the beginning of this winter season, we couldn't figure out how to get the house to warm up. They replaced the thermostat and it didn't seem to be working. We opened all the radiators and we were all still in 3 layers of clothing. Well, the kids feet weren't being kept warm with 2 pairs of socks, so I splurged at the PX on a necessity. THey had these fuzzy Crocs. They have been amazing, and Laycee and Logan LOVE them.

But there are rules. which none of the kids are fans of. They must be worn with socks, AND they can only be worn in the house. That is the hardest rule becuas they want to wear them everywhere. But those are the rules because I want them to last through the winter.

Black Friday

I know I know, I am super behind on my blogging, but look at the bright side, now you get to check my blog everyday and see something new for the next week! Bonus for you lol. Anyway, for black friday this year, we "camped out" lol... (got there at 630) to be one of the first 100 customers so we could get a $20 gift card. Why do we do this you ask? Well, we LOVE black friday even though we don't buy anything. And between Friday and Saturday, we get $80 in gift cards. Now, I have to admit that I will miss Getting money for Black Friday, but I am looking forward to the variety of more that one store!!

Logan and Laycee enjoyed some candy canes while we waited.

Thankgiving

For thanksgiving this year, we got together and played volleyball in the morning. Then met up at Julies for thanksgiving dinner. The kids put on a small show and we even had a male chior and some dancing. It turned out to be a great night topped off with the Warewolf Game (THANKS Joe and Lynnae, we love it!) and some Guitar Hero. Hope you enojoy some of the photos we got.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Switzerland

A few weeks ago the members of the church traveled together (well in a caravan of 5 vehicles) up to Switzerland to attend the temple. We were so excited to go one more time before we left Italy. So, here it the whole group of us that went.

This was one of the pit stops. We mostly stopped here to stretch our legs and let the kids out. And out they were. Laycee enjoyed her time flying through the air... until she puked in the car a half hour later and still 30 minutes from the hostile. Eww did it stink and there were no baby wipes in sight and we were not about to stop a 5th time on a 6 hr trip.

She also enjoyed some time exploring around with Taylor.

I LOVE this picture. It was so perfect to catch Logan with the tractor that he was so excited about.

We finally made it to the hostile. The hostile is right across the street from the temple. A hostile is group style sleeping basically. There are 6 single beds in a room and you rent per bed. It is the most afforable way to travel in Europe. We bought the whole room so we could all just stay together. Anyway, this is the dining area downstairs. Michelle and I kept all the kids while the rest went on to the temple.


Then we took the kids outside to play at the park.

After the kids had all gone to bed, the adults ventured downtown to Bern for some yummy Doner Kebabs and a little siteseeing of the town. Since it was night time, we didn't know what everything was, but we took some pictures.

They are playing chess with these large pieces!

We woke up in the morning. Went to the temple and took the long drive back home. On the way home, we went close to Interlocken. It was a nice scenic tour... since I looked at the map and accidentally went the long way. But no big deal, we made it home without any more puking. We were greatful to do this one last time.