The Holidays

Sometimes I don't blog because I think I need to have loads to report and that we lead a kind of boring life so there isn't much to report.  Not really so.  I just have to wait for a few weeks of stuff to add up.  This summary is about our last 3 or 4 weeks.

For any of you Moms out there you know that when you are pregnant, you keep track of time based on how many weeks pregnant you are.  This summary starts with me at 33 weeks pregnant.

A few days later, Grandpa Rod arrived for a visit.  We didn't do a whole lot while he was here but we DID go to the Children's Museum and had great fun!

First was the Firetruck.  Ethan had fun dressed up (as he always does) until he saw other kids who weren't dressed up.  I had no idea that all started so early.

Then we went to the Assembly Plant where you can make cool things from recycled materials.  Check out his face, this is him concentrating and trying really hard to punch a hole! Too cute.

Then it was off to the Bubbles zone.  Ethan's favorite! We spent quite a bit of time in here making, popping and chasing bubbles.  By the time we left, Ethan had so much bubble mix in his hair when he took his tub later in the evening we didn't need any soap!

We had some time at the ABC board.  Josh made up funny sentences while Ethan spelled his name and played with the shapes.  Then on our way out, we had a snack out on the playground.  Ethan also got his first taste of a tire swing.  Grandpa does a great job pushing!

For Thanksgiving we spend it with our Family by Choice (our neighborhood Burberry Way Family).  First is brunch at the Boot's house.....

Then it was dinner at The Bergquist's house.  Sorry, no photos of that.  Thanks so much to both the families for being such gracious hosts each year!

Of course, we decorated our house for Christmas!

Then we spent a WHOLE day making a Gingerbread Firehouse for our yearly Burberry Way Gingerbread House Decorating Contest (didn't used to be a contest but it is now!).  Thanks so much to Rod for taking so much time to painstakingly draw the schematics for our house! We tied with the Boot's Campground for first place this year.

The kids also have a "contest".  As you can see, it's kind of a big deal around here! A tradition that Misty grew up with has become a tradition for our Family by Choice as well.  Thanks for passing that on, Misty.

The next week was pretty tame....34 weeks pregnant.....

We went to the Downtown Denver Parade of Lights for the first time since living in the area.  It was really fun.  We bundled up to stay warm but thankfully this year we had pretty warm temps compared to recent years past.

Afterward we had dinner at the Paramount Cafe on the 16th street Mall.  We even got to see a group of Break Dancers spontaneously appear and disappear just as quickly!

We hosted a Goodie Exchange.  This is the 3rd year we've done this but this year I decided not to limit it to cookies.  Here is the table set for decorating the several dozen Sugar Cookies Ethan, Josh and I baked.  For some reason (pregnant brain...I swear it's worse this go-round) I didn't take ANY pictures of the party.  Sheesh.

We decorated our FAKE Christmas Tree.  Yea, this year we didn't get a permit to cut our own.  Hopefully next year.  The fake isn't my favorite.  Too perfect and not smelly.

A snapshot of our Family Christmas Tree.  I love all the ornaments on here.  Each one given to us by someone we love.

Forgot to add this one earlier.  Ethan was taste-testing the Fudge we made for the Goodie Exchange while we were testing Christmas lights for his tree.

Somewhere in here should be another pregnancy shot but we forgot to take one for week 35.   Josh headed back to work so we adjusted our schedule again and missed it.

36 weeks pregnant.  Not looking all that different but somewhere in my 35th week she "dropped" which is both good and bad.  I have the ability to eat too much again since my stomach isn't quite so squished (bad), I have to pee 8,000 times a day instead of 6,000 (bad),  it means she is getting ready to make her debut (good).

Last weekend we had a Kid's Pollyanna Party (Secret Santa) for our Burberry Way Family.  Misty and Bob did an awesome job with games and the gift hunt.  The kids (and adults) all had a great time! I used this party as an excuse to make more Sugar Cookies (my favorite cookie)! I had never taken the time to decorate with any detail but this time I knew I wanted one cookie for every kid and a giant snow globe like one I'd seen in a book or magazine recently.  I am by no means really good at this (I've seen people do amazing things with icing!) but I had a great time doing it and seeing the smiles on people's faces makes it so worth it.

That same evening we went to Cherry Hills Community Church for their Christmas Show.  It was a great time full of music and dance.  Ethan's favorite part? "The marching band" a drum line played a version of Little Drummer Boy that was just AWESOME!

Our Holiday activities aren't over yet.  On the agenda is still a Progressive Dinner, our usual Christmas Eve Fondue at the Bergquist's House and New Year's Eve at the Turecek's House.  Hopefully (most likely) Josh will be home for Christmas and we will celebrate our last as a family of 3.  And some time around the New Year we will be welcoming our Baby Girl.

From my family to you and yours - a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.