The same night as the dance recital, Princess Libby had a party to celebrate her birthday at Riverside Gymnastics. I for one was very excited to have a party at some place other than the JumpZone. Don't get me wrong, they have tons of fun at the JumpZone but it seems like all the recent parties have been there. Let's just say that all the kids had a blast at the party. Josh had so much fun jumping on the trampoline and Emma loved running down the lane to jump in the pit of Styrofoam pieces. She got brave enough to try and hang from the bar over the Styrofoam pit but once she got out there, she quickly realized it was a big mistake. It was a great night and both kids were exhausted, which was good since they needed some sleep as the next day was bringing an early wake-up so we could catch a plane to Arizona.

Dance Recital

Emma had her winter dance recital on the 17th. We drew a good number this year and Emma's class was the third performance. Of course, Emma wanted to stay as long as possible afterwards and we almost made it before we had to leave to get to an appointment at home. This year, they danced to "." Unfortunately we didn't get any video of the performance because somebody (me) forgot to charge the camcorder. At least we got some photos and Emma did a great job although we couldn't really see her face since she had it turned to watch Karsen (one of her teachers) in the wings. After the performance, Emma was gifted with a beautiful bouquet from her Daddy and took the time to oblige Brad with some photos.

Grace Christmas Program

We packed a lot into the week before Christmas so I'll try to catch everything up in chronological order. We started off the Friday before Christmas with the program at daycare. Unfortunately Josh had to sit this one out since he had run a fever the day before and was home from school. He did get to come along and watch the other kids although he was most interested in his big sis. This year Emma got to play an angle in what was advertised as "the best, shortest Christmas Program in Town!"

She certainly made a cute little angel and enjoyed singing the songs they had been practicing for several weeks. One of the hymns that they sang was "The Snow Lay on the Ground." The refrain is repeats "Venite adoremus Dominum" four times. Emma had been singing that at the house and when they got to the end of the song, she decided she wasn't quite done so while everybody else had stopped, Emma sang out "Venite adoremus Dominum." At that, Ms. Colleen said they could sing it one more time and we had one final refrain from "The Snow Lay on the Ground." After the program, we had time to visit with teachers and friends with plenty of goodies that the kids enjoyed.

Outtakes! - Photo Overload

Clark Griswold?

This photo reminds me of the scene from Christmas Vacation where Clark is ready to throw the electricity to his brilliant outdoor display only to have nothing happen. Thankfully our lights worked!

Emma Story

The other night on the way home, the kids were on the lookout for Christmas lights. As we drove past a vet's office, I pointed out that the vet had lights. Emma then wanted to know what a vet was so we explained that it is a doctor for pets. She then told us that some day, she wants a cat and if it gets sick, we'll take it there. I told her that I had had a cat before and did take him to that vet when he was sick. She wanted to know if he had gone to see Jesus like their fish Franklin from school. I told her that he had and this next part is the good part. Emma then asked if an Angel had appeared to me and told me that some day I would have another cat. I told her that an Angel had not appeared so she said it was too bad that she wasn't there because she would have held up her Angel and told me that some day I would have another can and if it got sick, we would go to the vet. I think we need a cat; Brad disagrees! I told Emma she needs to work on her Daddy!

Wordless Wednesday - In the House