Princess and the Frog

On Saturday Karen had a special Princess party. She and I went over to a friend's house and had a princess tea party and then went to the movie The Princess and the Frog. It was so fun, all the little girls dressed up like princesses and had a lot of fun together. We had Karen use her bride dress from Halloween and she dressed up like Belle getting married. It was fun to hear comments as we took her to the movie, most of which were "what a beautiful princess". It was a cute movie. Karen got scared in some parts, but she was brave sitting on my lap. Here are a couple of pictures. My little poser.

Christmas visitor

On Saturday our ward had a Christmas breakfast at 8:30 am. We didn't quite make it on time, in fact we got there quite late and found only a few mini muffins and hot chocolate left. It wasn't much but it tided us over, our own fault for being late. Then they had a dance contest which we also missed, but we made it in time for a special visitor.

Due to scheduling conflicts the real Santa was unavailable and we had a very skinny substitute, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Michael was very enthusiastic but surprisingly Karen was very scared and didn't want to go see Santa. She's been the one that has been begging me to go to the mall to see Santa and so I thought she would be excited, but she was definitely NOT excited and very scared, she made sure to keep her distance.

Michael on the other hand was very excited and surprised us by sitting right on Santa's lap and not crying or anything. Though he didn't want to look at him, he definitely wanted to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. We were very surprised when Santa asked Michael what he wanted and Michael said "Everything". Santa was surprised to and asked if he could be more specific. Michael didn't understand and thought Santa wouldn't get him what he wanted. He told me later that Santa had put him on the naughty list. I couldn't help but laugh and try to explain what "specific" meant. Aren't kids cute.

Anyway, here's a cute picture of Michael on Santa's lap and another of him trying to peek up at Santa.

8 years

Today I have been married for 8 years. My wonderful husband has started it off great! As I left to take Karen to school, Karen pointed out that I had a note on the door that said Jen. I recognized my husband's writing and was a bit surprised because lately it's been my daughter writing me all kinds of notes. I wondered what it could be. Obviously it is our anniversary, but I also thought it might be a note reminding me of some appointment or something he needed at the store. I also considered it might be a treasure hunt of some kind and maybe he had gotten me a present or something. But what I found was infinitely better. When I got home I opened the note and found a long love letter. Thankfully it was typed so that I could read it all easily, but it was the first love letter he's ever written to me. It was so beautiful and eloquent, I never realized how good a writer my husband is. It was so sweet it made me cry, in a good way of course.

I've always been sentimental and kept notes and letters from some of my past boyfriends and it's been true with my husband too even though he hasn't written much to me, usually just cards or quick notes or something. This is the first real letter he's given me and I love it and will keep it in a special place.

December

I love the month of December. After Thanksgiving I really get into the Christmas spirit! This year we were able to put Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving. This being our first Christmas in this house, I've enjoyed figuring out where to put all our decorations and seeing everything in new and different spots somehow makes them seem new again. I especially love listening to the holiday music and hearing all my favorites again. The Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel and Lifetime are also fun and make me happy.

Traditions and parties make the season complete. Seeing the lights at temple square is one of my favorites, though it's also the coldest. On Sunday we had the opportunity to go downtown and hear Neils' mom sing at the assembly hall, which was beautiful. We went a bit early and walked around looking at the lights and the Christus statue. I actually took the camera this time and got a few pictures though we look a bit silly all bundled up in coats and hats. The kids really enjoyed it and didn't want to leave.

The only thing I don't like right now is that I pinched a nerve in my neck and I don't know how. I can't look to the left and it hurts to move in certain ways. It was so bad I went into the chiropractor and got an adjustment and found out more about it. He says it could take a couple weeks to a month to heal and that I can't drive for at least a week (since I can't turn my head). He gave me a neck brace and it's a pain in the neck (pun intended), though I don't have to wear it all the time gratefully. When I don't have it on, the kids love to pretend their neck hurts too and they like to put it on their neck. It's cute. The biggest pain is that I can't drive. I have so many little errands and things I usually do during the day while Neils is at work, I never realized how convenient that is until now when I can't and have to wait til he gets home or have him do it for me. Oh well, keeps me humble and grateful that I do have that convenience when I'm well. And it makes me grateful for a wonderful husband who will help me out and do all those little things for me.

Busy November

November has come and gone so quickly I can hardly believe it! Yet we were very busy this month. Karen and Michael both got haircuts.


Don't you love their poses. I cut their hair myself, but it didn't turn out so great so we went to "the haircut store" (as Michael likes to say) and got them fixed. I tried to let Michael have a bit longer on top, but he didn't like it on his forehead and scratched so much he scratched sores on his forehead, so we had to cut the front short again. Oh well, he still looks cute.

The next picture just turned out so cute I had to share. I love his beautiful brown eyes that look so much like my mom's.

We got our first real snowfall this month and so had to get out all the winter wear. Karen found her beloved earmuff and decided to model them for me. Isn't she cute?

We then got ready for Thanksgiving. We did a few homemade decorations. It was fun to see the kids have fun. Karen also did a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving in her kindergarten class. It was really cute and I totally forgot my camera (uh duh!).

It was our first time hosting Thanksgiving at our home. We weren't sure if everyone would fit or how it would turn out, but it turned out great! Things were a bit tight, but dinner was delicious and we had a lot of fun playing games and talking. I'm so thankful for my sisters and their families for making it such a wonderful holiday. And again I forgot to take pictures, oh well.

That weekend we were able to get all the Christmas decorations out and put up the tree. We had a lot of fun and the kids were so excited to see everything. They found two french horns and started blowing in them with all their might. We had to explain that they were just for decoration and not real. They had fun tooting away anyway. Michael also found some Christmas stockings and decided they were great new socks and put them on (you can see them on his feet here). It was so funny but he looked so cute!


Well, we are excited for Christmas this year. I've nearly finished the Christmas shopping and we just finished planning all the fun things we are going to do this month for the holidays. Hope you all have fun plans too!