Our Little Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent at Tim's and Sally's home with the whole Duffy clan. We had a blast playing games, eating dinner, and reenacting the nativity.

I took this picture on my phone... I may be biased, but these three are the cutest Angel, Mary, and Joseph I've ever seen!

Thanks for the fun night Duffy's!

The next day was just the four of us. It was a nice, relaxing day. The girls were beyond thrilled to see what Santa gave them and open their presents under the tree.  

Shae's favorite gift was definitely her Brave Dress! 

 They opened a giant easel from Grandma and Grandpa! This gift has already received plenty of use.

Nathan, being the Backcountry fan that he is, loved his t-shirt coordinating with a new onesie for  Baby Grant. Thanks Brad!

Annie's favorite was probably her Dream Lite Pillow Pet... Thanks Katie!

 Santa may have jumped the gun to get this girl some red lip gloss... her face has looked like this for days. Always reapplying! :)

I took this last picture on my phone... definitely captures the joy!

It was a great day.

Thank you to everyone for the sweet gifts! The girls were spoiled. 

I am grateful for the chance we have to celebrate Christ's birth every year. He led a perfect life and is a perfect example for all. It's something that should be celebrated daily! 

Merry Christmas!

IT FINALLY SNOWED!!

Being the snow lovers that we are, we have been waiting and WAITING for this day to come!

This morning we woke up to an inch of snow... I know, only an inch, but for Seattle, it was amazing! We ate breakfast as quickly as we could then made our way outside.

The girls had a blast.

 SNOW!!!

Working on her own little snowman...

 "Look Mom! Snow!"

The finished product :)

 Snow angels...

 Rolling down our small hill...

Chasing me down with snowballs... she thought she was "so funny" every time she hit me. Her face says it all.

After about an hour and a half, it started raining a bit. So, we made our way inside for some hot chocolate. So heavenly. 

Let's hope we have a white Christmas! Come on Seattle... you can do it! Yay for snow!!

The REAL Santa

This Santa did not smell like beef and cheese. He was the real deal and the girls agreed one hundred percent.

Carol Ann invited us to go with them to see Santa in Nordstrom Bellevue Square. The girls loved spending the afternoon with Amy and Emily. Shae was completely ok with sitting on Santa's lap. She even took the time to tell him she wanted a "Brave dress".

 Posing with their candy canes after Santa... notice Shae's is already half gone.

 Down the escalators, per Annie's request. Amy and Emily were posing as "Buddy the Elf" experiencing his first escalator ride... had to snap a picture.

Thanks for the fun afternoon, Jenkins girls! Annie declared on our drive home, "Carol Ann, Rod, Amy, Emily, and Daniel are so nice. I know Santa will bring them all LOTS of presents this year".

I had to agree :)

Snoozing Shae

Nathan snapped this picture of Shae, the other day, while she was napping. She loves wearing dresses with pockets.

Oh how I love this sweet girl.

Ward Christmas Party

Last week was our ward Christmas party. We ate some ham, enjoyed a few musical numbers, and talked with Santa.

The primary singers were my personal favorite. I may be biased :)

Shae wanted to sing up there so badly.

She decided to sing along. Annie teaches her all of the songs.

Proud of my big girl.

And Santa... who Annie is now convinced was an elf coming to represent Santa. She immediately noticed the fake beard. This didn't hold her back from listing off her Christmas list to him.

 This is as close as Shae would get to Santa. She was terrified, to put it lightly. I'm shocked I got a picture of her looking at him! She must have sensed it wasn't the real Santa too :)

 The sobs subsided once the candy cane was opened.

 We have been blessed with an amazing ward during this transition in our life. They have been nothing but compassionate and helpful. It has been a pleasure getting to know everyone.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great weekend.

The best part about it was the fact that Nathan didn't have to work, at all! We had him all to ourselves. It was glorious.

The Jenkins spent the weekend in Whistler, so Wednesday evening, we headed out to their place in North Bend to "house-sit" AKA - have a nice, quiet get-away.

Thursday, we joined up with the rest of the Duffy clan at the Guptill home for our Thanksgiving feast. I brought the rolls... I doubled the batch. We ended up with five gallon size zip lock bags left of them. Rolls for days!

Katie and Lindsay made these adorable Turkeys...

Classic Grandpa.

Glued to the football game... Shae was more interested in Mickey Mouse's Christmas.

 Playing games...

 Pie Time!

 I have so much to be thankful for - My family, friends, but most importantly, my Savior.

I have felt very blessed this Thanksgiving.

Friday, we ventured over to the North Bend outlets and did a little Christmas shopping. 

Saturday, the Buie family came into town to visit us! It was so nice to see them and meet their newest addition, Baby Eden. We could not get enough of her. 

 Despicable Me... gets them every time. 

 While the kids, Gena, and I stayed at home, Nathan and Spencer went golfing... just like the old times.

Thanks for the pic, Spencer!

Once the boys came home, we headed outside for a little stroll.

 It was so nice catching up with Gena! How I have missed her.

 Here are a couple more pictures from my phone...

Thanks again for coming Buies'! And thank you Jenkins' for letting us stay in your home!

It was a fantastic weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!