WASHINGTON CHRISTMAS
2011
Ward Christmas Party!
Arlee loves to go up and dance whenever she hears music. First she went up and then Zoey, the little one in white went up too. They were so funny up there and didn't seem to make the performers nervous either. I guess you could say, They are pros!
After dinner and musical numbers they had a very special visitor... SANTA!!!!!
She was excited to see him and wave to him, but as you can tell, when it came to actually sitting on his lap or anything- she didn't want anything to do with him. This doesn't surprise me when I think about our previous encounters with the man in the red suit.
Now she is just acting like she is bored out of her mind. Notice the YAWN!
The 17th of December we took my mom to Leavenworth, Washington to see the lights. I guess this is like our Gardener Village and Temple Square that we had in Utah. It is a 2 hour drive from our house. When we left it was foggy and in some parts on the drive rather hard to see anything. After about an hour the fog was gone and we could drive a little bit faster. The plan was to get there before 4:30 PM when they turned the lights on. We were there to see them turn on the lights, but we were still waiting to find a parking spot. The place was packed. It is a small town with no large parking lot so as you can imagine this was a task. Once we found a parking spot we walked for a bit before getting to the best part of town-where all the action was happening. We stopped for a few pictures before continuing our tour of the lights. This town as mentioned in a previous blog is set up in Bavarian style. It is a code that the buildings have to meet in order to be in the town. Looks pretty cool in the day and night time.
Don't mind my eyes... Hans didn't count and I didn't care to keep trying to keep them open I guess. :)
I thought, since I wasn't at church, I would take a few pictures of Lydia. Just to give you reference of how big/little she is I added the remote.
Sunday dinner. My mom taught me how to make her delicious roast. It tasted so good and was so easy to make as well. I couldn't wait for dinner! Smelling it while Hans, my mom and Arlee were at church was torture!
Since my mom was leaving for Utah the next day and it was only a week before Christmas she decided to have us open her and my dad's presents.
Arlee got Tinker Bell and Terrance-man fairy
and pjs.
Hans got Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3 for his birthday (2 days later).
For Christmas- pj pants and a dress shirt.
Arlee getting her pjs on.
I got some red handles for my Miche bag
and a favorite movie of mine- Confessions of a Shopaholic. After I opened this movie Hans asked me, "Can we delete the recording on the DVR now?" Haha.... I guess so.
I also got a speedometer for my bike. I am always wondering how fast I am going.
Thank you for the presents mom and dad we really do enjoy them.
Notice that bling on her finger? I guess she has some growing to do.
Mine and Hans' rings on her toes.
The next day we took my mom to Seattle to go home. Before taking her to the airport, we heard lunch is the time to go eat at the Space Needle. Doesn't cost as much this way.
Let me tell you about it. An adult has to hit a min. $25. The cheapest Entree that you can get there is $23, which is a delicious hamburger. My mom and I both got it and a drink and loved it. We also met our $25 min. Hans got a Salmon sandwich and loved it too. You get bread-delicious yet again! after lunch you can go up to the observation deck and look around, take pictures, etc. During lunch they will come around and take a picture of you and your table for free. The give you a card that you can send the pictures to your email, print them, send them to other people via email.
This is the picture that they took of us. Turned out a lot better than the one that we had the waiter take with our camera.
Valet parking is $8 if you eat lunch.
Now if you don't eat lunch and you just go up to the observation deck it is $18 per person valet is $15 and surrounding parking lots are $10. You don't get a free picture of you and your guest(s) and if you get hungry a hot dog is $7 with no drink, fries, bread, awesome waiter or a comfy place to sit and relax. Not to mention nurse a baby.
As you can tell I say get the lunch, but this is definitely not something to do all the time, since it does get expensive.
Oh yeah, while you are eating the dining area rotates. It takes 47 minutes to make a complete rotation. You have an hour and a half at your table and until 11 PM on the observation deck. Pretty cool huh?
Picture I took from the table. Every table gets a window.
Arlee and my mom checking out the view, but turned for a picture.
My mom burping Lydia
All of us on the observation deck
Nice view!
Hans and Arlee using the free telescopes
My mom with Lydia
After lunch we took my mom to the airport. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself. I didn't cry this time saying good-bye, but I am sure there will be another time that I do.
After dropping my mom off we headed for home. After getting to North Bend Lydia wanted to nurse so we pulled off the freeway and ended up on this road. Looks pretty cool. I have to admit it kind of spooked me out. I felt like I was going to be mugged at any second. We didn't though so that was much appreciated. Don't ask me why I felt like that, but I did. Seemed like it should be in a movie or something.
While we were stopped Arlee had a snack and watched her movie. Hans moved some things around and burped Lydia and I took pictures of spooky forest roads.
Much like when driving to and from Leavenworth there was a lot of fog. Makes for a pretty sunset. Seems like we were in heaven when you can be above the clouds.
Just to put it into perspective on the visibility! the car in front of us is only about 3 car lengths away.
We finally got home and relaxed a bit. Some of my friends came over for their baby fix. She found out that her baby was born (foster care child and then going to adopt her) earlier that morning. She was expecting her to go into labor a long time before that due to the birth mothers previous pregnancies, but she didn't Lydia and her soon to be Monroe are 2 weeks apart. Anyway, they have her now and she was only 5lbs 3oz when they took her home. They are adopting her older brother pretty soon and she will follow after.
The day after we dropped my mom off it was Hans' birthday! The BIG 2-9! We started the day with sleeping in, opening presents, getting ready for the day, cleaning up the house, skyping his mom, going out for dinner and coming home to have the Moons over for his birthday cake. We invited a few others, but they had conflicts.
Lydia sandwich! MUAHHH!
Hans chose Outback steakhouse for dinner and it was pretty good.
The girls with Hans and his bday cake. We didn't get the Moons or me in a picture, but we were so glad that they could come over and celebrate with us.
Lately, Arlee has been a little obsessed with chap stick, which she calls PAP-STICK! If I leave my purse down more than likely she will find the chap stick and use it without asking. When she does it herself it ends up like this. (picture below) This had to be about the 3rd time that she got into my purse and did this. Now I have remembered to put it up. : )
For Christmas Eve we were invited by Saimi Parsons to go to their family party. Hans and I were thankful for the invitation and frankly it was freaking me out just thinking of it only being the 4 of us when I am use to a lot more. We had so much fun with her family. They are always so friendly and welcoming. I was actually shocked with the way Arlee is with them. She wasn't shy at all. She would even talk to their boys which are my age. It was a great night with them and we are so grateful for the invitation. We took over the Danish Rice Pudding and had some fun with that. Saimi's mom won! I thought it was my year, but I was mistaken. She won the prize.
This is how it works:
You have the pudding and inside the pudding are pieces of almonds. There is only one WHOLE almond that gets placed into one of the bowls. The person that ends up with that bowl has to keep their WHOLE almond a secret. You have to keep it in your mouth until everyone is finished. This is a task just keeping it in there without chewing it up while eating the rest of our pudding. Now, while everyone is eating their pudding they are looking to see if they can tell who has the WHOLE almond. If they are caught the one that catches them gets the prize. No one high-jacked the prize this year. It was a great time and everyone enjoyed it. Hans and I were looking forward to the left overs, but we forgot to put it in the fridge so no left overs for us. Still smelled good in the morning, but I wouldn't eat it thinking I wasn't going to be sick soon after.
The next pictures are of Christmas and don't mind us... we just woke up.
It is a tradition in my family to sit on the stairs from youngest to oldest at the top until DAD turns the lights on the Christmas tree. Then we are a loud to go and see what Santa brought for us. Arlee first stopped at the door. Where she looked out the window and asked, "Where's Santa?"
After looking for Santa she ran in the family room and looked for her stocking. She screamed, Santa brought me Nala and Simba! She kept telling us that is what she wanted when we would go to the store for her birthday, but it looks like SANTA beat us to the punch. I guess we will have to think of something else.
Arlee loves her laptop
Kung Fu Panda movie and toy!
Snow White barbie from the Peters
Lydia got some socks from her Great Grandma Chico. Thank you Grandma!
A dress from the Sloan family
Daisy Duck from me and Hans
A really cute unicorn book from Great Grandma Chico (my mom's mom) That is what we called her, but it is really Edge.
After opening presents we hurried and got ready for church. Here are the girls in their Christmas outfits.
After church we attempted to get some family pictures in our outfits. Thank goodness for timers on cameras, but I still think I would like to get some professional ones done. Any takers in Yakima?
Look at my handsome man! Why the heck does he look so professional and calm with 2 girls?
The girls- Arlee holding Lydia. My little mother in training.
Last, but not least- LITTLE MISS! I just love her little face.
I am so grateful for this time of year. I think with having Lydia so close to Christmas I have been more effected this year. She is truly a blessing.
Thank you to the Moons for inviting us to spend time with them and their family on Christmas Day. We are so blessed to have such great people to spend time with up here in Washington.
To the family and friends that we didn't see. We love and miss you all. We hope you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
