Christmas 2008

These pictures are a bit out of order. I can't seem to remember to download the most recent first and go backward in order to get them in the right order. Oh well, you will get the idea. We were lucky enough to have our Grandma Nila come and spend the Christmas Holiday with us. What a treat. Unfortunately for her I procrastinated most of my holiday preparations (baking, holiday cards, letters, gift wrapping, etc.) until she got here. Since I had been very sick for the months leading up to Christmas (oh, have I never mentioned that I am expecting our 4th baby?--Surprise!) I kept putting things off saying, "Oh, I'll do that once Nila gets here". Somewhere along the way it never really registered that she was only coming two days before Christmas, until she was actually here that is. Lucky for me, she is a great help with the kids and just pitched right in on all of my projects. Really she is the one who kept me on track. Thank you Nila! I am not sure how many books she read to the kids while she was here, but they LOVED it.
Nila and the kids also started a book where they drew pictures of some of their favorite things. Owen could draw for hours, so he particularly loved this project.

Thanks to tips from our friends Jeff and Shelby and Jenny and Scott, we put Kate's pack and play in our closet for the week (our guest bed is in Kate's room). It worked like a charm! We only had one night where she woke up during the night, otherwise she slept during nap time and at night just perfectly in her cozy new "room" The only trick was every day I would find more and more of my clothes in the crib with her, until the last day when she completely emptied that bottom shelf and was swimming in the clothes. We will definitely do this again! Thanks for the tip...we owe you one!
Kate loves this dress-up from Nana and Papa. She asks me to put it on her daily and I am thrilled to see her girlie side!
Happy Davis with his Transformer Jet!
The kids and Grandma were blocked off from the family room and the LOOT Christmas morning.
We spent Christmas Eve with our dear friend Miss Loretta, her mom (Miss Carol) and dad (Mr. Pete). Once again they spoiled our kids with their generosity and their love.
Owen is still talking about how he and Grandma got Daddy with snowballs on Christmas Eve morning. Thank goodness they went out when they did, that snow melted fast!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Thank you all for the cards and gifts you sent and the goodies you delivered. And of course, thank you Grandma for spending the week with us. We miss you already!