Christmas Celebrations with Family

Christmas is always a busy time because all of our families live close by.  We are lucky that we get to see everyone, but by the time Christmas is over, we are exhausted!  

Christmas Sunday before church

(and we were on time, without David even being home all morning!)

Christmas at Grandpa and Mary's

Christmas at Oma's

Brothers

Girl Cousins

I love these candid shots...

We played the chocolate game and were sure the kids were going to get sick 

from all of the chocolate that they ate!  :)

Kylie has been singing for us every year since she was three years old.  

I love it and am so glad she is willing to share her talents.

Milk and cookies for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer too.

Can you tell that they are ready for bed or what?

I love that Chad left a note for Santa so that he wouldn't 

forget to leave something for Bella.

This is the first time that our tree died before Christmas morning.  We didn't get it any earlier 

in the season either.  And, we thought that it was the most fresh tree we had ever had.

Apparently not.

Yes, I made them take a picture.  They were dying to

go downstairs to see what Santa left.

Kylie's very first piece of technology...and Ipod Touch.

She was just a little bit excited.

Homemade waffles for breakfast with Oma and Ryan.

Christmas night at Grandma's house

The kids found out that they were getting Disneyland passes from everyone for Christmas!

We are so blessed in our family and we know it.  We are thankful every day.  Looking forward to next year's holiday season.

Christmas Wishes Really Do Come True

For as long as I can remember, our kids have always wanted a dog.  I was always afraid of the extra responsibility that having a dog would bring.  Having three kids was enough.  :)  I have always told them that when they are older and can help take care of the dog, that we might get one.  Cameron has since grown to LOVE animals and wants to be a vet some day.  I felt like I was depriving them of a great opportunity to care for something that they love.  David and I decided that this Christmas would be the right time to get a dog.  We started researching dogs online, because Chad has some allergy issues with dogs.  Christmas was getting closer and we still hadn't decided on anything.  

About a week before Christmas, a black lab ended up on David's campus at school.  This is something that happens frequently.  But for some reason, David bonded with this dog.  I got a text message that day with a picture of the dog saying, "Would you be mad if I brought her home?"  I kind of freaked out for a second and then I looked at the picture.  This dog was so sweet.  I had some extra time that day and so he asked if I could come meet her in one of his classrooms (where they were hiding her for the day).  If we weren't taking her home, about five other staff members wanted to!  I walked in and she immediately came over to say hi. She was so gentle and calm.  She was clean and well taken care of too.  I was pretty sure she belonged to someone else.  

We decided to look into it a little bit more.  If it did work out that she could be our dog, we wanted to wait until Christmas morning to surprise the kids.  A teacher friend of David's offered to take her home for us until we could figure things out (so nice).  I picked her up at the school the next day, and off to the vet we went. She had a collar, but no tags attached.  Signs had gone up in the area to make sure she didn't belong to anyone. I was fairly certain that she would be ours.  But then, the vet found a chip inside of her that made me think otherwise.  :(

I called David and he sounded so disappointed.  They immediately called the two phone numbers listed on her records.  One was no longer valid, and the other had a voicemail box that was full.  They said to take her home and they would keep trying to locate the owner.  In the meantime, we took her back to the friend's house until Christmas morning.  While she was there, she got a thorn in her eye and we needed to take her back to the vet.  We went back again and spent $150 for her to have surgery to remove the thorn.  At that point, I was really hoping that she was going to be ours.  :)

The law says that after ten days of trying to locate an owner and having a dog in your possession, then they are legally yours.  Because of her medical issue, we knew we couldn't send her back to the teacher's home. After talking on the phone that day, David and I decided to bring her home that night and surprise the kids so that we could take care of her and do what was required to get her eye back to normal.  I waited around the corner in the car with the dog until the kids got home that night with David.  Once they were inside, he texted me that I could come home.  I remember praying a lot as I sat in the car that night.  Praying that we were making a good decision, praying that she would be a good dog, and that I could handle all of the responsibility, care, and dog hair that would become a part of our home.  :) 

The kids response as we walked in the door was priceless.  It's too bad that you can't play a video in a blog book.  They screamed and looked at me in shock.  Kylie started crying and made me cry.  I don't think that they ever thought that they would get a dog.  It was a great night.  Here are some shots of that night when she first came home.  We named her Bella.  That's what they had started calling her during her time at David's school and the kids liked it.  She is seriously the best dog.  I'm not sure how she ended up with us, but we are so thankful that whoever had her and trained her, didn't want her anymore.  We were never able to get a hold of anyone and no one even called to see if she was found.  A free dog at Christmas time for our family was an amazing gift!

First time at the dog park a few days later.

Irvine Park Santa Train

One of the best Christmas traditions that Grandma started back when we just had Kylie is going to the Irvine Park Santa Train.  The kids love it.  Even now that they are getting older, it is always something to look forward to.  The kids write a letter to Santa every year and they give it to him there.  He is the REAL Santa and the kids know it.  I love watching their faces light up when they meet him.  It is so great.  This year my mom went with us and I know she enjoyed it too.  

Waiting for the train...I love all of the lights.

Ready to meet Santa and pass on their letters!

Cousins!

At the end of the night, we always listen to a story from Mrs. Clause.