New Years Eve Under the Mistletoe

It is now becoming a New Years Eve tradition not only to visit Newberry but also for Grandpa to find a piece of REAL mistletoe adorning one of the trees outside. Here we are putting that special mistletoe to good use!

Some Zachary Firsts

There's nothing like experiencing your first Yule Log at Grandpa's with your Auntie Noelle! : ) ... and watching lots of football! (We could not BELIEVE how much Zach was interested in football on TV!) And Leia loved being a "little mamma" as she held Zach and watched him bounce in his bouncer.

Grandpa & Zesto

I just have to record a very special moment that the girls often have with their Grandpa. Often he asks the girls if they'd "like a Zesto," which is another way to ask them if they'd like an ice cream cone, ... the same soft serve that Brian loved when he was a little boy. The girls love them too, ... but they love their Grandpa more! : )

Newberry New Years Eve: Tom Summer's

One of Brian's favorite restaurants from his youth, Tom Summer's was one of the first places suggested by Grandpa when we arrived for New Years Eve this year. (Gotta love Grandpa's face in this picture!) It wasn't the girls' first time eating one of these famous burgers, ... but it certainly was Zachary's! I just love how he's asleep clutching his little giraffe named "Sophie"!

Annie's Montessori Bells

Considering that Mamma made Montessori bell ornaments at HER school in the 70s and Leia made Montessori bell ornaments at Artgarden Montessori a few years ago, I promised Annie that if she didn't make Montessori bell ornaments at school this year, we would make them at home. Annie made many other fun holiday things at school, but no special bell ornaments, so Mamma got to head up this fun project at home. I'm SO glad we did it: glitter included! : )

Sledding w/Auntie April & Oma

After some searching (and some eventual snow-tube popping), we found the perfect tiny hill right in front of Oma's and Papa's house! A perfect spot, ... Papa could even watch us from the front window! April had a blast with us! And, as usual, ... Mamma was out longer than anyone else. Ha! Still, there was plenty of time for eating snow and for penguin slide! : )

Stay & Clay

Although Daddy had to return home before nightfall (to escape the dangerous re-freezing overnight) in order to get to work, the girls and I stayed over. Lots of fun playing with clay this morning. I had to heat the clay in the microwave for a minute in order to make it malleable. The girls turned this into a funny refrain: "Cookin' the clay like bacon. BACON! Cookin' the clay like bacon. BACON!" I guess you had to be there. Ha! But you didn't have to be there to see such artistic talent in Leia as she made a perfect clay fruit bowl (as well as other fun winter items).

A Late Christmas at Oma's & Papa's

Our original Christmas dinner was foiled by the eight inch snow, so we gathered on the 27th to enjoy a holiday with the Compare family. The girls got all sorts of wonderful gifts: bunnies, Disney figures from Tangled (the new Rapunzel movie), and even Kitty & Bunny, Oma & Papa Calico Critters (but you'd be surprised at how excited Leia was over the new set of lincoln logs)! Another Oma & Papa tradition is to give a blown glass ornament to the girls, specially designed to represent one of their favorite activities of the year. This time, Leia Rose got a special "Cheer" megaphone to celebrate her cheerleading joy (of the past year) and Annie got a school bus to celebrate her very first year of school. Leia's favorite gift was a VERY special, homemade by Oma, Immaculata school uniform for her American Girl doll!!! Auntie April and Uncle Ben joined us today, of course. (And I love that April's special Christmas print featuring our special Advent prayer is in the background of their picture.) And it was funny to end the night with Leia being so very interested in Brian scratching off his Christmas lottery tickets. Ha!

Sporting the Kitty & Bunny Hats for Great Grandma Betty

This year we pooled the money from Great Grandma Betty, Jane Revuelta (our special friend who was originally my Spanish teacher from high school), and our neighbor Albert Suttles (as well as some from Mamma), ... and bought the girls special bunny/kitty accessories: hats, scarves, mittens, and socks. Here are the girls sporting a few of their wares.

This is How Much We Love Grandma

After eight inches of snow on Christmas Day, thanks to parking the car on View Drive and thanks to our new snow chains, we were able to make it out to plowed roads in order to get to Uncle Alan's and Aunt Cassie's to celebrate a late Christmas (as planned) with Grandma and Grandpa! It wasn't easy for our little girls to hike the 1/4 mile to the car, but they did it! (And after doing the same thing to get to school in the future, I told them they could tell their kids someday that "they walked to school in the snow, up hill both ways"! Ha!) And what a wonderful family celebration awaited us! The entire family (including cousin Zachary!) and gifts featuring Star Wars and Bunnies!