Christmas Day

Good Morning!

Notice the red tool in Liliana's hand... it is a tape measure... they each got one the night before ($1 from Home Depot!)... they love measuring tapes and were measuring everything they could and they even slept with them..........and........

We seriously have the SWEETEST HEARTED kids in the whole wide world... look at what they were doing to their presents first thing on Christmas morning!!!

Heart-melting SWEET!!!

Daddy couldn't believe it when he saw Mommy hand the kids each a cookie for a breakfast appetizer!

Our kitchen walls really are NOT watered down split pea soup colored!

The tiny Christmas tree craft we made on Christmas Eve.

I put Elia in the sweater, hat and blanket Mary from church made her. Mary is 90+ years old and is amazing! She is fashionable and does not seem her age at all! She is so inspiring and as sweet as sugar, vigorous and full of life! I want to be like her when I am 90! :o) We are so blessed to have something handmade by her. Yes, I did get a tad carried away here on the photos... hehe...

We were so much looking forward to having our neighbors over for Christmas dinner and fun (we are so blessed to have so many wonderful neighbors), but had to cancel due to the pink-eye outbreak in our home... we had a wonderful time nonetheless...

Polar Express

An attempt at a Christmas 2010 finale photo before bed...

Fall Festival...

Fresh, crisp, cool fall air...apple cider...sugar on Noah's finger from the most delicious hot fresh donuts ever...

Hayrides....

Pumpkin Patch...

Unlike Noah who tried to lift one giant pumpkin and realized it was too heavy and not worth the effort, Liliana tried to lift just about every pumpin in the patch!

She worked so hard to find the right pumpkin...

Many of them were still green...lots of rain this summer...

She finally ended up with the perfect tiny little green pumpkin...I don't have a photo of it...have it in the kitchen on the window sill...will take a pic tomorrow...

Here she is taking her first bite of the hand picked apples...

The kids were jammin out to the live music...too cute! Liliana kept asking me if the guys playing were real...she thought they may be like the display at Yankee Candle...LOL...too sweet and innocent!!! Love it! She was tickled when the piano player would smile at her as she stood there waving at him while he played...awe! Noah danced all over the place!

My exact words while taking these next two photos:

"Where'd Noah go?!"

"There he is!!"

Under an apple tree...

Friends...Noah and Manny...

The cutest!!!

My Five Most Favorite Things About Christmas

1. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service! Definitely! It is my most favorite service of the year. It is so special, simple, beautiful and sentimental. If is a service where time stands still and the only thing spoken of or sung about is our Precious, Lord and Savior, Jesus! No announcements, no fillers, just Jesus. This is what Christmas is all about. I thought of something the other day as I was thinking about the whole Santa bologna... I love my birthday and if some big dude in a red suit tried to steal my birthday, I would not have it! So, why do this the day we celebrate Jesus' birth? :o)

2. The special memories made with family. The whole Christmas routine for us as a family is all new because our children are so small, but there are some traditions I look forward to starting this year since Liliana is almost 3 and old enough to help bake cookies, etc. I will post about these new traditions after Christmas.

3. Christmas music - love it!

4. Our Christmas Family photo. This always seems to be a good time to snap a good picture of the family all dressed up together after the Christmas Eve service.

5. I love all of the funny new Christmas movies that come out every year. Elf is one of my favorite and of coarse, It's a Wonderful Life... not funny, but love it!

There are so many things I love about Christmas! I love the business of the mall, the special seasonal scents at Bath & Body works, the lights and decorations.

Yankee Candle Factory

We LOVE the Yankee Candle Factory! I guess it is a tradition for us to go every fall (we have so far - 2 out of 3 and we have only lived here years). :o) This year we went with the Keenagers. We had a blast!