Christmas Day...

Last devotional in the Advent Jesse Tree..

Our Christmas breakfast tradition... cinnamon rolls!

The screams, the chaos, the laughter, the joy.... :)

        

Mochi, tired and asleep with her Christmas bone... :)

December.

In previous years, we had a tradition in which we purchased the Christmas tree and decorated it and decorated our home after biggest sister's birthday (which is the 6th).  We started this tradition so that her birthday would be somewhat "separate" Christmas and tree-decorating was something we can look forward to do after her birthday celebration.  This year, we seem to not be able to wait that long... Maybe it's because the girls are older and they're excited about Christmas... Bryant brought out the Christmas bins today and we started decorating...

It sure is starting to look a lot like Christmas around here... Now let's see if we can wait to buy the Christmas tree...  ;)

Family Photos

It's that time of the year... Thank goodness for Christmas cards, which reminds me to take family photos.. otherwise it would never be done. ;)  And thank goodness for my brother who is a talented photographer, who is always willing to take photos for us.  We found a beautiful park in Orange County, and spent just a short time there doing a photoshoot by the lake and on a hill.. Biggest sister was excited and cooperative, but it's not easy taking photos with a 3 year old, 15 month old and a dog.  But it was accomplished and I can't wait to see the photos! :)

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day for us this year was unusually busy (typically we just go to Poppa and Nana's house and spend the day there)... But this year we left our house early in the morning to head down south to visit our friends first...then we spent the rest of the day visiting family.. Although we were wiped out by the end of the day, it was well worth seeing and spending time with our friends and family that we love so much!! 

Yummy breakfast, then jumping on the trampoline!

 

Meeting up with my family at the beach!

 

 

Thanksgiving feast with Poppa, Nana, Uncles, Aunts and cousins!

We are so thankful for all of our friends and family that we had the opportunity to see this Thanksgiving... And we continuously give thanks to our Lord who graciously and lovingly provides, guides and protects us every single day...

Friday Nights.

Friday nights are known as "Family Nights" around here.  We started this tradition about a year ago... Every Friday, the girls KNOW that we will spend together as a family and do something fun.  Whether it's playing board games, watching a movie, going out to eat or getting a dessert...we make it intentional to spend quality time together.

The girls look forward to "Friday Night Famiy Night" EVERY week.

This past Friday I took the two big sisters to a free Watoto Choir concert that a friend invited us to at her church.  It was the girls' first time listening to a performance by children from Uganda.. and they were absolutely amazed...  During the concert Biggest sister turned to me and said, "Mommy, I love their voices.. I've never heard it before."  She was dancing to the beat of the drums and music... and watched in awe as the orphan boys and girls sang beautifully in their colorful attire.  I was envisioning her dancing and singing with them in Africa. :)  We hope and pray that someday God will allow our whole family to go on a mission trip there! 

After the concert, I surprised them and took them to a nearby Starbucks where we all enjoyed our cakepop and vanilla steamer with soymilk (the girls' favorite drink)!

I love that the girls can EXPECT something every Friday night.  This tradition brings us closer together as a family and we are building wonderful memories every week.  We'll try to continue this tradition as long as we can. :)

Thankful Tree.

Thankful Tree. 

The idea came from here on Pinterest.

The girls and I grabbed some sticks and berries from our front yard and put them in a glass vase to make the tree. 

We cut out leaves from card stock and hung them on the tree with pieces of fabric.

Each leaf has something we are thankful for..

Big sister scribbled on her first two leaves, "Daddy" and "Mochi" (our dog). :)

Biggest sister drew faces of ALL of her close friends. 

So simple and easy.. and a great way to remember and write down all that God has blessed us with. :)

A Week Early...

Our neighborhood does trick-or-treating a week early.  It is actually a brilliant idea.  One street is blocked off so that the little ones can go door-to-door safely (while it is still light out) and they also have different vendors with games and goodies.  One of the things we look forward to is a vendor that brings all different types of reptiles.. snakes, lizards, iguanas, frogs, turtles, even tarantulas and baby crocodiles!  You can see and touch most of the animals!  It may be creepy for some... but I prefer this over ghosts and goblins!

Though she has never seen the entire movie before, big sister has always liked Cinderella. And this year, she gets to be one. :)