2011 December

The first week in December I faced a month with final projects and tests for my three classes, two Relay meetings to coordinate, a Christmas performance to prepare the kids at church for, two songs to learn to perform on Christmas day at church, I hadn't bought a single Christmas gift for any of my family, and I even felt too overwhelmed to think about celebrating at family gatherings.  I had to start taking things one day at a time but planning at least a week in the future to stay on top of it all.  So, to try and be more efficient, I invited all my family to my house for Christmas instead of traveling from place to place.  With that in mind I hit to ground running. I had meetings or practices every other night.

The first weekend was the Christmas parade in Tracy and our Relay wanted to be in it.  We tried to get the material and support for a float but instead settled for a decorated truck and some walkers. Friday night, a group of us met at my home to make all the decorations and handouts.  While I was doing that, Karl and Natalie were at a Daddy Daughter Ball for a church activity.  They had a blast dancing and being silly! The next morning I took my fourth big test for my science class, it didn't do so great.  Later that afternoon, I helped decorate the truck for the parade and that evening my family and I met up with the Relay group downtown to walk in the parade.  It was SOO cold but a lot of fun and even though we didn't have a great display, it was a great first time for us.

Survivors in the back of our truck

Getting ready to walk in the parade!  Karl carried Kylie almost the whole way.

Nat and I handed out candy canes and Relay flags with our event date and website.

The girls were big troopers out in the cold for a couple of hours.

The next day I made my holiday cookie boxes.  I tried to keep it simple and only made four different treats to fill 18 boxes.  It took me until Monday evening to complete and then Natalie and I delivered them to our friends.  Then I got a call from the bishop to give talk in church.  Sure, no problem. I also decided to crochet a baby blanket for a dear friend that was due that Friday. But first I had a committee meeting to do. 

I had decided to throw my committee members a Holiday party and decorated the room with holly and lights.  We had cookies and cider while opening gifts that I had prepared, each with a "gift" that American Cancer Society gives to everyone freely.  It was fun and educational but a lot of work!  I took a more hands off approach for the meeting later in the week since I had finals that week and my huge test that Saturday.  After my final (33% of my grade!), Karl and I went Christmas shopping for the family.  We quickly found out that most of the stuff was cheaper online so we had a date of it and headed home to shop online instead.  That night we had our ward Christmas party which they asked me to play a part in.  It was very cute.  They had everyone "board the plane" to fly to the North Pole and I was the stewardess.  We had a "crash" though and I had to act out the whole thing.  We had "crash" in Hawaii and had a luau.

The next day, Sunday, I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting.  It was a really emotional experience for me.  My topic was "The gifts Christ has given me".  Thankfully it went really well and people were touched. That night our family sat down and stuffed Christmas cards together.  This year we sent out about 90 cards!  So many wonderful people have touched our lives.

Little David Knudsen covered in the blanket I made for him.

With finals and Relay meetings finally done, I started to breathe a little.  I got out the Christmas decorations, we decorated the tree that had been sitting in our house for a week undecorated, and got ready to home the family over for the holidays. It was a good thing because it turned out that the family party needed to be moved up a day early. I also had the nursery graduation at church to plan.  It was go time.

I rearranged the furniture, made yummy treats, finished making the gifts and games for the family party. For the nursery kids, I made graduation hats out of construction paper, thank you Paige, and printed and laminated suns and future sunbeams with adhered clips on the back. Saturday people starting arriving in the morning and we played games and ate food all day and into the night. The cousins had fun and everyone pigged out on the all the delicious holiday treats everyone brought. The next day, the primary kid's Christmas performance went great and then the nursery graduation went as well as could be expected for a group of 2 and 3 year olds.

Our messy table with all my projects going at once!

Kylie tried on the hat and sun clips - she is so silly!

The nursery kids eating cookies after the graduation.

Mom and Dan snapping shots at my family goodie exchange!

Deana and Jon's family hang out all day, so fun!

Even Dad and Kathy drove out to join the group.

Leah gave out the coolest gifts to us sisters.

Grandpa Wilson spoiled everyone and we were so glad the Agbayani's came too!

Our game of Carcassonne (not sure if this one was the before or after party one - we did both!)

 Done.  Just Christmas day left to go but otherwise, I had a week just with the girls and another week with the whole family at home. (Or so I thought.) I stopped checking my computer, I left my phone in my purse, I turned on the TV and watched movies all day long while I cross-stitched.  I didn't cook, hardly cleaned, and just left the girls to do whatever they wanted.  I didn't prepare or plan anything.  I let the Christmas gifts arrive via UPS, stacked the boxes in my office, and closed the door. Well, by day 3 we were all bored stiff.  We finally left the house and went down the street to invite family from church to come over for a play date.  The girls had so much fun and I finally felt like a normal mom again. That's when I really gave in to stop saying I was "too busy" to visit family for Christmas.

Kylie and her friend running circles around the park.

Kylie was like a machine! She was lapping everyone.

Getting warm after playing at the park.

Then my best friend Danicia flew into town! I went right over to visit with her all night and had a much needed night of laughter. We met up for lunch the next day and she came over to visit with the girls. On a whim I called up my sister to see if she was busy.  Nope, so Karl and I packed up the kids and headed to Roseville for dinner and a night of games. Christmas Eve arrived and I had to get busy.  All day long I prepared food.  I had sugar and chocolate chips cookies for Santa, prepared 6 appetizers dishes for Christmas Day at Karl's family's house, and made dinner to take to my mom's house.  We drove out to Concord and spent a lovely evening with my mom and Dan.  Once Karl and I got home, we got the girls in bed and finally opened the boxes of gifts and starting wrapping.  With hot apple cider and cookies to keep us going, we wrapped and wrapped and wrapped.  The last gift and stocking were stuffed by 2am.

Carcassonne after dinner.  Thanks for "sharing" Jon = P

Kylie trying out Santa's cookies.

Mom busy in the back while Kylie pigged out.

Kylie loved opening gifts without anyone else "helping".

Thanks Santa!

A short 5 hours later, Christmas morning arrived.  This was the first year Kylie was really able to take in Christmas and probably the last Natalie was any belief in Santa.  She calls us parents "Santa's helpers".  It was a wonderful morning of watching them enjoy not only opening their own presents but seeing them excited to watch others open presents they had picked for them. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then had to quickly get ready for church.  I left Kylie with Karl as both Stephen and Chris were due to arrive during the only hour of church that day.  I performed both songs that I had prepared and was crazy nervous! The songs seemed to be well received though and I felt good about one and okay about the other.  It was a beautiful program with all the numbers.  When we got home, both boys were there to open presents and say hi.  I quickly packed up the car with all the food and gifts and we were off to see Grandpa Bajada and the family.  We got there just after 2pm and it was a good thing I prepared so much food.  We ate and visited for hours and had dinner after 6pm.  It was so fun to open gifts and play with the girls.  I have to admit that I was beat.

After opening presents and getting breakfast on the table, I took a 15 minute nap.

Playing with her Christmas spoils in the mean time!

Kylie loves this little dog.

One of Karl's cool presents he picked out - the image drys and disappears!

Christmas Day spread!

Kylie couldn't wait to bite into this M&M covered apple.

You can see how much she loves being with Stephen.

The Bajada cousins!

The next day I tried to relax.  The girls opened some of their toys but it wasn't long before we were back in the car on our way to Grandpa Wilson's house where loads of cousins were waiting to play.  We were especially excited to see the Andreadakis family after not seeing them for a few years.  We weren't disappointed.  The cousins played and played all evening long.  We peeled them away well after 9pm and headed home. 

Singing carols before leaving

The next day of our vacation, Karl said we were staying home! Funny, I can't remember what we did. Most likely ate leftovers and played games. The night we went out to dinner with the Andreadakis family at my favorite restaurant.  In the morning, I drove out with the girls to go with my mom and the Andreadakis' to Berkley and San Fransisco.  We went to the Hall of Science and Muir Woods.  Natalie and Kylie had so much fun with their cousins.  It was a very busy day for us parents!  Seeing the kids playing and making memories together made it all worth it.

Outside the Hall of Science at Berkley

The girl in orange isn't ours...

These two were peas in a pod!

I love the look Kylie is giving Christopher, lol.

Nicky was so cute with Sarah doing a puppet show for Grandma Root.

Kylie cried when I had to pull her away from the dinosaur "nest".

They explored how roller coasters worked.

Watching the balls roll around was memorizing!

Kylie is trying to "smile"! She waited so I could build a tower as tall as her.

Poor Dave had to run all they way back to the car
 to get Sarah's tennis shoes.  We patiently waited!

Posing for the camera - only as boys can do!

This is a perfect shot of how the interaction went with the kids.
Poor Christopher needed a pal!

Nicky was very excited about the trees and hiking.

Kylie, not so much. 
She did warm up at the end and Sarah had to run to keep up with her.

The next day we were all on the road again to Uncle Dan's house.  It was Dan's birthday and we celebrated Kylie's birthday too.  She had so much fun!  Even though there were mostly adults, there was a girl Natalie's age and Chris' older girls are always ready to play with Kylie.  She didn't want to leave even though we didn't get out of there until LATE.

You had to be there but he unwrapped his own camera left at Fred's Christmas Day. Hilarious!

Kylie wouldn't put this cute bear down.  She even sleeps with it!

She really loves her Uncle Dan.

We had been telling Kylie that her birthday was coming up and she kept talking about having a birthday party.  Well, I hadn't planned one for her since we did one for her half birthday in June.  So I quickly sent out an email to her little friends from nursery and on Friday morning I went to the store to throw together a birthday party.  It just so happened that some of her cousins stopped by that morning right when she woke up!  She is so happy!!  Then after lunch her friends starting coming over and they played and ate cupcakes.  It was a short party but just enough for her to really feel special.  I actually forgot to sing her happy birthday so everyone stopped eating their cake and sang to her.  When everyone said her name, she got the sweetest look on her face and you could see how much it meant to her.

Kylie was a dancing queen, she was SO excited!

Party ready in an hour! The kids frosted and decorated their own cupcakes.

Two of my friends, Barbara and Lynne. 
So great to come with their little ones on such short notice!

Danicia showed up as her mom dropped her off. 
Kylie ditched her friends to play with her!

Getting ready for cupcakes!

I can't believe I forgot to sing to her!  My brain was truly fried.
She really didn't noticed and had her favorite M&Ms on her cupcake.

We opened gifts after all the kids left crying.  Kylie loved all of them!

Nat got to show off her new electric scooter from her dad, Steve. 
Danicia is such a goof!  Love you!!

Nat got this house from her Grandma Williams and the girls LOVE it.
(It is still sitting in my living room!)

The next day, was New Year's Eve, and yes, we had another party.  Natalie's new friend from school has a wonderful family.  We got together at our house and had tons of yummy food and played each others favorite games.  It was so much fun.  The kid's played all night!  Kylie made it until 11:15pm and then just couldn't keep her eyes open.  The other kids went all the way! 

New Year's Day we all slept in.  Church doesn't start until the afternoon now but I'm not convinced it's a good thing...  It was very exciting though because all the kids were in new classes with new teachers.  Of course for us it was really special because Kylie is now in primary instead of nursery.  She did really good even though she is the youngest.  They song happy birthday to her too!

Well, that's it.  It's taken me 8 hours to do it, but I've caught up.  Now to just keep up!!