The holidays are upon us! How the time has flown. We’ve been incredibly busy trying to keep up with the girls, make and wrap presents, prepare for the holidays, and attend all of the festivities of the season.
First, we started with a trip to the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols:
[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MFceJP5M1WI/UM4y2HHneoI/AAAAAAAAFUg/HQlP4L5XSWo/s144/DSC_0087.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5822647273441950338″ caption=”Grace inspects Dad's work” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0087.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-od_YBLMymu0/UM4zTewgZII/AAAAAAAAFNQ/Ir0UYqZiHOE/s144/DSC_0091.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5822647778003674242″ caption=”Grace helping put the star on the top” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0091.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-sJcUWY8D3tg/UM40YRE_N5I/AAAAAAAAFVM/NZ9qocc9vfA/s144/DSC_0119.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5822648959742457746″ caption=”Look at the monkey!” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0119.JPG” ]
Then it was recital time in the Janes household. Grace has been learning new songs at school, and she decided to share them for us.
“The month of November:”
[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Z-9Yu_W5o44/UM4ajP0sYdI/AAAAAAAAFMU/kMGQig8S9-o/s144/VID_20121204_182510.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/WinterMisc2013#5822620561081917906″ caption=”"The month of November" song by Grace Evelyn” type=”video” alt=”VID_20121204_182510.mp4″ ]
“The month of December:”
[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Q3ADfjrXeHs/UM4yMHdvRqI/AAAAAAAAFMo/RYy4s0UhnuU/s144/VID_20121216_112222.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/WinterMisc2013#5822646551980230306″ caption=”"The month of December" song by Grace Evelyn” type=”video” alt=”VID_20121216_112222.mp4″ ]
Along the way, Grace and Madelyn got an elf who we lovingly named “Sam”. Sam gets into trouble quite frequently playing pranks around the house. He started out by drawing their names in flour on the counter, then he hung Grace’s underwear on the mantle, and most recently replaced the kings and animals in the manger scene with dinosaurs.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XvTg-NBJQwk/UM41SO-8MTI/AAAAAAAAFVo/xZSeRSESlGA/s144/DSC_0162.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5822649955612635442″ caption=”Sam's first night in our house, he wrote the girl's names in a flower mess on the counter” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0162.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-uke5edzz-bA/UNEsFz9-7wI/AAAAAAAAFWI/PjRM8nG3LWM/s144/DSC_0398.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823484271527915266″ caption=”No no Sam!” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0398.JPG” ]
Next came the annual visit to Santa. This year we changed it up a bit and tried out Merle Hay instead of Bass Pro. Aside from Madelyn’s overwhelming fear of Santa, the experience was pretty good. Grace perched herself on the very edge of the chair and stayed long enough to tell Santa EXACTLY what she wanted: “A Cyclone cheerleader dress that twirls.” And to top it off, Grace was brave enough to try the giant bungee trampoline.
[pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cOjxJ8h1-kU/UNGSt6I9eNI/AAAAAAAAFXo/UcJ88tVyKEA/s144/VID_20121208_180136.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823597110565370066″ caption=”Grace jumping at Santa's pay yard” type=”video” alt=”VID_20121208_180136.mp4″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ccSnvOzyIKA/UNGS40FGf0I/AAAAAAAAFXw/EAgpbTsG2cQ/s144/DSC_0488.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823597297917132610″ caption=”Grace preparing to jump at "Santa's Playyard"” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0488.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FpGPzgZqWL0/UNGWoZXwyBI/AAAAAAAAFaU/N6D3J2o4eQw/s144/DSC_0508.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823601413916248082″ caption=”Weeee!” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0508.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-kBGbaEXjg3w/UNGXYxWya_I/AAAAAAAAFa8/czUrrWyQ_mc/s144/DSC_0524.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823602244988333042″ caption=”When is it our turn?” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0524.JPG” ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-f3RvsT-kDa4/UNE_hDrBK-I/AAAAAAAAFYU/GtRcXYd4qaA/s144/DSC_0560.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823505630320733154″ caption=”"I'm still not happy about this"” type=”image” alt=”DSC_0560.JPG” ]
To round off the preparations, the pre-school sunday school class participated in the annual Christmas program:
[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KYg8EOq5xsQ/UNEoXoIhhlI/AAAAAAAAFUQ/t2e9dtdZrvc/s144/VID_20121216_100313.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/103369115986217518663/ChristmasPreparations2012#5823480179542034002″ caption=”Grace singing "Jesus loves me"” type=”video” alt=”VID_20121216_100313.mp4″ ]
As we look forward to the week to come, we wish you the best this holiday season. All of the photos are below, or you can view them out on Google+
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