CHrIstMAs 2009!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas for us always begins on Christmas Eve at Mom's house. Martin and I arrived around 1pm....the girls were already there because they got to have a fun slumber party at Grandma and Grandpa's the night before. The 23rd is our wedding anniversary, so Mom picked the girls up (suitcases and all) about 10am on the 23rd and took them shopping and then back to her house for baking and decorating. They were so excited! Martin and I were excited too because that meant that we could enjoy a nice anniversary evening together (hello PF Changs!) without the girls. Plus, we needed some time alone to get everything set for Christmas (if you know what I mean). It was wonderful. We stayed up late wrapping and preparing Martin's famous Nicaraguan chicken relleno dinner steamed in banana leaves. We woke up Christmas Eve morning and had the luxury of having coffee and watching the news -- no girls means no interruptions! Heaven! Well, we got ready and headed over to Mom's where we found the girls dressed in some new skirts and new Christmas shirts (thanks to grandma!) and they were frosting cookies with Aunt Kristi. They were so excited to show us everything that they did with Grandma -- and they must have been busy because they had about 6 kinds of cookies and sweets made!

After frosting the cookies, we all got ready and headed out to the Children's Mass at St Mary's at 3:30pm. It is always a wonderful Mass and a nice celebration for the kids -- it's so fun to see all the beautiful children dressed up for Christmas. Our girls, or course, were shining so brightly in their dresses. They truly are so beautiful, inside and out! Below is a picture of me curling Sofia's hair. Audriana had her hair curled too, before we headed out to Church.

Sofia ready for Church!

After mass, on the way back to Mom's house, we ran across this house (in Mom's neighborhood). It was amazing and I just had to take a picture of it! We we got back home, Audriana got into her Christmas pajamas, but Sofia wanted to keep her dress on for a bit longer. We had our traditional Chili, then settled down to open a few family presents! Uncle Mike came over to join us, too.

Mom always makes enough chili to feed an army! But it is so good, we all go back for seconds!


Me and my beautiful angels.

We loved opening up Mike and Jackie's gift bags because they were full of homemade goodies! They gave us grape jelly (from grapes that they grew in their backyard), pepper jelly, cherry jelly, bread and butter pickles, and lots of different kinds of homemade chocolates and candies. YUM! I got a new Miche bag shell from Kristi, and a waterpick from Mom and Jay (Martin and I have been wanting one!). Todd and Pam sent all of us all a tower of candy to enjoy, as well as gift cards for the girls. The nicest card came from them detailing the many items that they bought and gave to needy children in Arkansas. They also sent soccer balls to children in South America. The true spirit of Christmas is giving to those who are less fortunate and it made us all feel so good to know that they had done so much (in our name) -- it was a wonderful gift.

Having fun with the camera -- Sofia wanted to take a picture of all of us......

Then, Audriana got to take a turn taking a picture of us..... my family is such good sports!

Then mommy got to take a sweet one of the girls......

Then Kristi took this great picture of the whole family....

After the girls opened up all their gifts at Mom's house, we headed home so they could go to bed. After all, they needed to be asleep so Santa could come! Aunt Kristi decided to spend the night with us so that she could be here when the girls woke up. They were excited to see their first gifts from Mom and Dad on their beds -- new Christmas flannel sheets! Aren't they cute?!? They were excited to get to sleep together so Aunt Kristi could have the top bed and sleep with them in their room. They LOVE their Aunt Kristi!

It's kinda hard to see in this picture, but Santa came soon after the girls went to sleep!

Here is the note he left the girls after he enjoyed their cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer......

Audriana got a Nintendo DS from Grandma and Aunt Kristi -- she was so excited and it was the favorite gift for sure! In fact, as I sit here writing this, she is next to me playing it. We had to establish some playing rules right away.......

Christmas morning with gifts from Santa.....

Sofia got a new towel with Kitty's and her name on it from Mommy!

Daddy dressed up for the festivities, too! Nice, babe!

Even Jenny and Mom came over to join us and had fun watching the girls open gifts. Kristi had been up since 5am when the girls woke up. Since she was sleeping with them in their bedroom, she tried to get them to go back to sleep (until 6am at least!), but didn't really have any luck with that. So we all got up, made some coffee, and let the girls go through their stockings and open up a couple of gifts while we waited for Mom, Jenny and Mike to get here. I also made a really good sausage and leak casserole that I put in the oven so we could all feast on a yummy breakfast. Mom made cinammon and orange rolls which rounded out the meal.

Daddy getting ready to wrap the chicken in the banana leaves for steaming (takes about 4 hours).

Audriana got Heeley's from Santa and practiced on the kitchen floor.

Sofia got roller skates from Santa and practiced on the kitchen floor, too!

Steamed Nicaraguan chicken in banana leaves.

Our Christmas dinner was so good. Made with love by Martin -- hours and hours of cutting up all the vegetables that makes up the relleno (baby corn, green beans, potatoes, green olives, carrots, bell peppers, celery, onion, raisins, capers, saltine crackers, and pork). Mom and Jay went to Mike and Jackie's for dinner, so it was just us and Aunt Kristi. We also enjoyed a green salad (I recreated my friend Joye's salad), white rice and french bread with the chicken. It was such a great day. Very peaceful and relaxing. The girls were very happy and played the whole day. We all had a lot of fun playing Sofia's new Curious George board game that Aunt Kristi gave her, as well as her new DVD Bingo game. Audriana really loved her Star Wars Lego set that Uncle Mike gave her, plus her Heeley's and of course, her DS. Oh yeah, she also really loved her new fishing pole that grandpa gave her! She is excited to go fishing again this Spring/Summer.

The day after Christmas we all headed out to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, the Squeakel! We joined Angie, Matt and the boys, Jenny, Kristi, Mom and Jay. We went out to the new theatre at Airway Heights and loved it. Hardly anyone was there! Nice! The movie was good, but the first one was better....isn't that always the case? Merry Christmas everyone!

Fun Christmas Festivities!

We wanted to really celebrate the season this year by taking time to get out and see things that we have not seen before. One of the things we did was see a Christmas light show that someone had built themselves (at the red barn on 31st and Glenrose). It was a computerized show and once you drove up to the barn all you had to do was park and set your radio to 99.7 to hear the music and watch the lights go on and off. It was spectacular! We also went again to the Christmas Creche at the Morman Church on 29th. They have hundreds of nativites set up from all around the world. Fun kids activities and live music really make the night special. Another night took us up to the Conservatory in Manito Park where they had transformed their greenhouse into a very festive wonderland! There must have been thousands of lights that adorned every single plant that was in there -- hundreds of poinsettia's made it so beautiful. It was amazing and the girls really loved it. This past Saturday Joye, Kristi and I took the girls to see the Nutcracker Ballet downtown. It was exciting for the girls to get dressed up for the show and they really enjoyed it. The music was beautiful and the dancers were just mesmorizing! So glad we did that. After the show, we all drove home to where Martin was waiting with his famous Nicaraguan Chicken dinner. Joye, Sid and Maria came and the girls were able to celebrate by opening their presents for one another. It was a special night with our special friends. Joye brought green salad and Kristi brought the french bread and it all went perfectly with the Pollo Relleno and arroz. Tonight (Dec. 20th) a local Presbyterian Church was advertising a "live Nativity". It sparked our curiosity, so we got our boots and raincoats on (it was a foggy and drizzly night) and went down to see it. I'm so glad we did! What a wonderful sight to see Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus. There was an angel, too! The girls loved the live animals, including a baby camel, some goats and some horses. They had hot cocoa for the girls and a little bag of cookies for families to munch on.

All dressed up and ready for the Nutcracker!

Maria and Audriana in their seats -- waiting for the show to begin!

Sofia with her Nutcracker program.

Just an awesome picture of my awesome sister! Love the new haircut!

The most precious thing in our house at Christmas time is the Nativity set that Martin and the girls lovingly put together. This is a tradition from Nicaragua -- one that Martin is passing on to our girls. Trees are not as popular as Nativity scenes in Central America -- where not all homes have trees, but they all have the Nativity scene set up somewhere in their home.

Martin spent hours preparing his Pollo Relleno and rice. It was amazing, as usual. Another tradition he is handing down to me and the girls.

Now on to the Live Nativity Scene!

Hot cocoa was provided -- it tasted so good! It wasn't a freezing night, but it was just cold and rainy enough to really savor the warmth of it.

Not a very great picture......but you can get the general idea of how this was set up. They had a bonfire in front of them keeping them warm and toasty. It was too bad that it was raining, but it almost seemed to enhance the overall feeling of it.

A baby camel!!!

Ok....the next pictures are just some cute ones of Sofia. I found these old fashioned pink spongy curlers and Sofia had been wanting me to make her hair curly. So, after her bath one night, and when her hair was still a bit damp, I loaded them into her hair. I had no idea that she would actually sleep in them and get through the night without having me take them out. She woke up and wanted me to take them out to see her curls. It worked! It worked wonderfully!

BEFORE.......

AFTER!

Sofia's Montessori Christmas Program

Martin and I were so proud of our Sofia today. She sang her little heart out to each and every Christmas song that the group sang. At 4 years old, I had no idea that she knew all the words to these songs! Throughout the past few weeks, we have heard her humming and singing a few songs here and there, but we had no idea of the strength and pride that she would have during the concert. She did so well! She loves school and is such a good Montessori learner. We love you, Sofia!

Sofia and Mrs. Pipella

Sofia and Addy

Sofia and Hannah

My angel and me

Daddy giving Sofia a congratulatory hug....

Sofia and the Rossi twins, Isabella and Sophia

Sofia and Grace

Levi and Lauren's beautiful wedding

Our cabin at Elkins Resort

The drive up from Spokane was beautiful and it began snowing just as we arrived!

Entrance to Elkins Resort

Such a gorgeous site -- Priest Lake

Grandpa and the kids reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" to pass the time before the wedding.

What a hot couple!

Grandma and Grandpa all dressed up with their littliest grandkids at their side.

Why is it that when kids see bunk beds, they all have to pile on top of it? The first thing they wanted to do was to climb up to the top bunk.....captured a very cute picture, too!

Another wedding for Audriana and Ryan -- first it was Christine and Jeff's wedding, then it was Elizabeth and Steven's wedding, and now Levi and Lauren's wedding. They are pro's now!

The kids on our way out the door to get to the church (Micah still not feeling good here)

A beautiful wedding and such a beautiful couple -- inside and out.

Kylie (5) and Sofia (4) were inseperable! What fun they had together!

The kids with Levi and Lauren

We were so happy to be able to attend Levi and Lauren's wedding this past weekend. The wedding ceremony was held at St. Blanche Catholic Church near Priest Lake, ID. The reception was at Elkins Resort and was absolutely stunning. Speaking of stunning -- Lauren was the most beautiful bride. What a sweet couple they are! We were lucky enough to stay up at the resort --sharing a cabin with Mom and Jay, and Lisa, Scott, and the boys (more on that later). Martin and I and the girls drove the 2 hours up from Spokane on Saturday morning and met Mom and Jay at the cabin (#30). We settled in and got ready for the wedding. The girls looked adorable (see pictures!) and were so excited for the upcoming festivities. The Sandbergs were driving all the way from Ephrata (over 4 hours away) and got there about 1:30pm or so. The kids were so happy to be together. Noah had been sick, but was feeling better, but little Micah was now feeling sick. In fact.....poor thing did get sick....all over the top bunk! Poor little thing, he was just miserable. We all got to the church, but Lisa and Scott made the decision to pack back up and drive all the way back home to Ephrata. We were all so sad to see them go, but we all understood that it was probably the best thing. In hindsite, it really was the right thing to do because Micah continued to get sick, and then Ryan began to feel sick. He and Scott did get sick the next day. Even though they had to leave, and it wasn't the weekend that we thought we were going to have, we still had a fabulous time. We really missed the Sandbergs, though! Audriana was so sad -- she is not one to share her feelings very much, but she whispered to me that now she didn't have anyone to dance with at the reception! Broke my heart!! Sofia was sad to see Noah go, too, but she still had little Kylie to dance the night away with. Kylie is Jay's great-grandaughter and is 5 yrs old and so precious. The girls had a lot of fun together. Martin and I enjoyed the wedding and really enjoyed the reception, too. The dinner was amazing -- beef tenderloin, roasted veggies, caesar salad, mashed potatoes and baked tomatoes. So good. Mom and Jay were having such a good time and they looked so good all dressed up. It was the perfect setting up in the Elkins lodge - especially with all the soft snow that had been falling since ealier that day. Lauren had it decorated with pinecones, evergreen garlands, and small white twinkling lights all over. Breathtaking. After dinner, cake and some socializing, Martin and I took the girls back to the cabin to get them to bed, and Mom and Jay soon followed. It was nice that the 4 of us were able to relax together -- just sitting and talking for a couple of more hours about the evening. What a great night.

The next morning, we had Mom and Jay open their Christmas gift from the kids. The girls and the Sandberg boys had spent some time together at Polka Dot Pottery a few weeks ago and made these really special Christmas plates for Grandma and Grandpa. Of course, the plan was that we would all be together to see them open this special gift, but it didn't work out because they had left the night before. The sentiment was still there and they loved the plates so much. He's a picture of all 5 plates......