"Being a family means you are part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what." ~Author Unknown



Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Christmas Day

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Santa came, but he left some “suggestions” for improvement. Winking smile

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The little girls were up sooner than Adrienne would have liked.  Don’t let this fool you though, she was thrilled with her gifts!  She has an expensive dance shoe bill coming up, so she didn’t expect much for Christmas.  Her Lucy outfit and Hunter boots were a total surprise!

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She had to try them out-outside!  Lexi got her IPhone!  I have to admit I’m happy she’s got a phone again!  Her other contract ended about a month ago, and I miss being able to text her!  

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Sof(Thank God for the cheap kid) had asked for a phone too:)  Just the play kind though!

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We had a relaxing morning with Sal.  We ate a nice big breakfast and hung out till around noon.  Then Sal headed out.  We cleaned up and got ready to go to Em’s. 

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Mom, Dad, and Grandma arrived with a van sleigh full of toys!  It takes a long time to open all those packages!  Lexi got a Karaoke machine, which has provided lots of entertainment for everyone!!

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Grandma Jackie loved the photo book of her birthday party that we put together for her. 

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The rest of the night was spent singing with the kids on the karaoke machine and eating!  I didn’t take many pictures, but we were busy enjoying ourselves.

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Sof gave Grandma a little lesson on YouTube.  Something that is so normal to Sof, is mind blowing to Grandma!

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The next day everyone came to our house for lunch.  Grandma had only seen the new house once, and I wanted her to see the decorations.

IMG_7508It was nice to have one more meal together before they had to get on the road to home.

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Emily gave Adrienne a book she’d been wanting.  She opened it up Christmas night and started reading it right away.  By the time lunch was over she had finished it!

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Once everyone left, we weren’t ready for the fun the end.  We loaded up the kids and went sledding.  After a little naptime of course:)

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Sof was totally able to keep up with the big girls this year!  She was going down and climbing up on her own!

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And so ends another beautiful year in the story of our life.

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Christmas Eve

It was a such a nice holiday this year.  I was super organized ahead of time, the girls helped a ton, and Mark did the grocery shopping.  All that made it a very stress free time. 

In fact, we went out the night before!  Adrienne was meeting some dance friends at a restaurant for a birthday celebration, so Mark, Sof and I sat in the bar and ate.  The girls brought Sof a piece of cake and balloons!

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The next morning the first thing on my list was working out.  I counted cookies in my head the whole time!

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Sof was out of her mind excited!  She was dancing all over with her balloon:)

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The house was ready, minus the kitchen!  So all that was left was getting us ready.  Like always, the girls looked perfect!

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We had a nice crowd to start with, and enjoyed the usual eating, drinking, and chatting. 

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Mark pulled out the lottery tickets again, and Sal brought the poppers!

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After awhile we were left with just our little regular group.  We carried on with our usual routine of dinner and presents.

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Sof got a tea set from Grandpa Culley.  She loves it and spent the rest of the night serving tea!

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Lexi loved her bouncy chair(so did everyone else!).

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The best gift of all though, was the automatic mopper from Mark to me!  I’m in love.  It’s everything I need in a man.

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Mark and Sal ended the night with the moose mugs, and the kids set up the cookies for Santa. 

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We were lucky to have Sal spend the night again this year.  Everyone went to bed happy and excited for the next morning.