Stage 1-Get an 8 foot tall, 300 pound Douglas Fir into a water-tight metal wash basin and get it inside the house. (Protect carpet with towels and tarp.)
Stage 2-Leave the country for a week right before Christmas and let the girls decorate the tree.
Stage 3-Wait for Santa to leave Christmas presents under said tree. (Mission accomplished.)
Stage 4 will be documented for the next week or two. This phase includes un-decorating the tree, removing it to the garage at night and driveway during the daytime for the next week or so to acclimate the tree to being outdoors, then planting it in the backyard. We'll see how this goes but we're going to do the best we can; it would grieve the lord of this vineyard to lose this tree.
In between all the decorating, the girls made a gingerbread village. Here are the various pieces for the houses.
They're much more creative than I ever will be. The stones lining the steam (blue frosting) are honey roasted peanuts. The Christmas trees are small waffle cones covered in green frosting. We enjoyed looking at it for a couple of days, and have enjoyed eating it since.
Joanne has been getting crafty again this holiday season. Here is a quilt she made this month.
As things get more competitive, there's less time off, even during the holidays. Here are the girls at their most recent meet, where Madeline was selected to swim in a relay in addition to her other individual events.
On Christmas Eve we went to our Elder's Quorum President's house for snacks and a live nativity. Though he has five boys, the two families together resulted in an equal number of boys and girls, so our shepherds were all female. The part of Baby Jesus was played by baby Jared who was born in October, and was quite content to hang out in a laundry basket, which his mom informs us is not a terribly uncommon event.
After the Nativity was over, the ruckus began. This consisted of the adults eating more cookies and Chex mix than necessary, while the little kids wrestle-tickled Jessica.
When the ruckus was over, we came home, watched a movie and then went to bed to wait for Santa to come. He came through in fine fashion. Jessica got a new scarf, hat, mitten combo, and the final few dollars she needed to save up to get her long-desire iPod touch. It has been ordered and should arrive soon.
Emily also received some money toward a future iPod, and a stack of Judy Moody books, which went over well with her.
Madeline got some fabulous Harry Potter accessories -- namely Luna Lovegood's Spectra Specs and wand. Oh, and also a little cash to add to the savings for an iPod.
Santa was likewise good to Joanne, bringing an extra-large griddle and a new purse.
Not pictured: Matt, who received a number of tools, and a new, skinny belt to hold up pants. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and hope you did as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment