Cole Camp Christmas

We headed up to Cole Camp for an early Christmas this year.  Emma and Josh had been obsessed with the idea of snow so imagine their delight when we arrived in Cole Camp and there was a little snow left from a couple of days earlier.  I was thrilled because it was a little snow and still nice and warm (little did I know what was coming out way).  They immediately wanted to head out and play in the snow and had the best time; Josh was the recipient of many a snow ball courtesy of his big sister.

 

Emma wanted to have her photo taken in front of the Christmas tree after church on Sunday morning.

Uncle Dale was the target of many tackles by Josh but Uncle Dale had the upper hand!

 

Garret, the silly elf, made his triumphant return with some new accessories.

After showing a great deal of patience throughout the day, the kids finally got to tear into their presents and scored big time!

 

 

 

After the children were nestled all snug in their beds, the adults got to open our gifts, which involved some silly moments and blackmail photo ops as is generally the case when Garret is around.

Cole Camp was a great start to Christmas!

Christmas Cookies

Since we were heading up to Missouri to celebrate an early Christmas on the 22nd, we worked in cookies the afternoon of the 21st.  This was our 3rd year of cookies with the kids and I have to say that the floor was a little cleaner afterwards; hope springs eternal!  Emma and Josh have very different thoughts on cookie decorating.  Emma subscribes to the "no part of the dough should be left uncovered" philosophy while Josh subscribes to the "less is more" philosophy.  I think Josh completed 2 1/2 cookie sheets before Emma even finished one.  Unfortunately for Emma, covering every inch and then some doesn't work so well since most of it falls off.  Emma also made extreme use of the red hots, which she doesn't eat so pretty much, her cookies were inedible in her mind.  Josh, on the other hand, loved eating all the cookies Emma decorated.  I am hoping that next year I can convince her to go a little easier.  Baby steps but looking forward to next year's creations already! 

Josh's Christmas Program

The Christmas program billed as the shortest in town was the Friday before Christmas.  They changed things this year so that the program was mid-morning followed by lunch.  The program is performed by the junior and senior class followed by songs with all the other classes.  Josh got to be a Wiseman in the program and did an amazing job.  He was also pretty much the cutest Wiseman.  What was special about this program was that this was the first time that we have seen Josh sing along rather than just sitting there and we know he knew the songs since he had been singing them for weeks. 

After the program, we divided and conquered.  I stayed to have a pizza lunch with Josh while Brad headed over to spend some time with Emma at her school Christmas party.  Emma did not know that one of us was going to try and be at the party so she was very excited and loved spending some time with Daddy.   

Christmas Party 2

Both kids were invited to another Christmas party at our friends Caroline and Emily's house.  I got the added pleasure of taking Josh's buddy Ross to the party.  Having two boys in the car was definitely a different story than having Emma and one of her friends.  They are just so silly and spent a bit of time hitting at each other and talking in their crazy Josh-Ross speak.  The kids had lots of fun doing crafts, eating treats, dressing up in costume and running around outside.  We can always count on the Kolbs to be great hosts and provide lots of fun!

 

 

 

Gingerbread Houses

We made an attempt at gingerbread houses again this year since it was so much fun last year (especially the eating the candy part).  Unfortunately, I didn't do as great a job with pre-assembly of the houses so they didn't last long after the decorating was complete much to Emma and Josh's dismay.  Lessons learned for next year.  While they were sad that their houses fell apart, the kids did have a great time and made some amazing houses this year.

Christmas Party 1

Emma got invited to a Christmas party at her friend Heidi's house a couple of weeks before Christmas.  Heidi's Mom and Dad had crafts, food, and a visit from a jolly old man dressed in red.  Emma had a great time with all of her friends and was so excited to see Santa.  When he asked what she wanted for Christmas, Emma gave the standard answer that she wanted a scooter.  He asked if there was anything else and for the life of her, she could not think of one thing.  I will say that a scooter was number one for both Emma and Josh for months and beyond that, they were happy with whatever they received. 

Andover Place

Emma had a second opportunity to perform her recital dance the Thursday before Christmas at Andover Place Retirement Center.  Emma did a great job again and thankfully no spots this time.  We did take Josh along again so were treated to the "boys don't dance" along with all the questions about why the residents needed walkers, wheel chairs and canes.  Good thing he is so cute!  They both did want us to trade in our Rav 4 for one of the big vans they had their to transport residents.  Sorry kids, not going to happen!