We Love Christmas!!

Showered with Gifts

The Kids sure gave us a lot of presents this year for Christmas. From their school we received 2 gorgeous candles--both which were presented to us with a poem. I really treasure these types of gifts!

Krista's gift was a project from her First Communion class and our great friend Michele G., the group's catechist.

Erik's gift is a project from his pre-school class.

They also showered us with BEAUTIFUL drawings and the cutest SONG!!! They are both in High School Muscial 2 'mode' right now so Erik has on his Troy Bolton Wildcats warmup on, and they also have High School Musical microphones in hand. It was so cute! We loved it!!!! Here's a clip of the "show".....

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I still need to sort through the Christmas photos and find my favorites, so stay tuned!!! ;)

AND last but not least a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!!! We wish you continued happiness and peace in 2008...May all your dreams and wishes come true!!!

Christmas Eve Photos and Recap

Here's how we spent our Christmas Eve

Krista's First Communion class did a play for the Chistmas Eve mass. Krista had a small text to read and did a wonderful job. Luckily we got there early enough to get a good seat. (Krista is in a red dress on left in photo above. On right in photo below).
Upon returning from mass, we noticed Santa had filled Great-Grandmother's sleigh! This was a wonderful tradition that was always so dearly cherished on Christmas day at my Grandma's house. When I went to the US for the funeral my Mom gave me the Santa sleigh which is to be placed in the center of the dining table on Christmas eve or day (in our case Eve). After noticing that the sleigh was full, we then received a phonecall from Santa that there was an early delivery at the doorstep...The kids all got new Christmas PJ's and stuffed animals! They were so exited!
Warm and cozy in their new PJ's!!!
Dinner time!! What was on the menu? My Mom's Christmas eve tradiation, a wonderful chicken, ham and noodle caserole with white sauce and sauteed almonds! The secret's in the butter cream sauce. Yum!

So, here it is our NEW family Christmas tradition: SEE BELOW!

The Sleigh!!! All loaded up with goodies for the kids.

Time to open the gifts on Great-Grandmother's sleigh!!! The kids sure had fun doing that. It will be a fun tradition to contiune!
Finally a photo taken of the heads of the household (sometimes!)..This one is courtesy of Krista.

Christmas!

Christmas was magical! They all are! The excitement on Christmas eve and morning really can't be beat! The fun thing about it is this year is that both Krista and Erik are really getting old enough to enjoy the GIVING spirit too! I love to see the kids excited over giving gifts...very wonderful! The kids didn't want too much this year...very reasonable! Both lists were easily filled by Santa (to the tee). I told them that this year they needed to ask Santa ONLY for what they really wanted, and to not go overboard-- or else he might not grant anything.

Erik's List:
1. Basketball Uniform
2. Soccer Uniform
3. Police Costume
4. Penguin Costume
5. Elf shoes
6. Cowboy bullet belt
7. Cowboy spurs
8 Penguin stuffed animals
9 Puma sports clothes
10. Indian warrior breast plate

Krista's List:
1. MP3-MP4 player
2. American Girl doll bed
3. Katie Kazoo books
4. 2 Ron Dahl books (The wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six more; The Magic Finger)
5. Her French grammar text book
6. Super Mario brothers for Nintento DS
7. Scrapbook pages

Kaitlyn's List:
Anything soft and cuddly!!!

So stay tuned for photos from the big event! The kids had a blast and so did we!!

Kid's Christmas Portraits

The Christmas Elves

Yesterday I picked up the portraits we had done at the mall last weekend. There were a few keepers. It is so great to see them all old enough to SIT STILL for a few moments ;)

Next is my favorite of them together:

So, on behalf of our family...we wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Let it be filled with love, happiness and continued blessings for the year ahead!

Krista 8 1/2 years
Erik 5 1/2 years
Kaitlyn 19 months

Christmas Eve!!

Wow, is it really going to be Christmas Eve tonight? How did this time pass so quickly? The kids are REALLY excited about Santa's impending visit...Kaitlyn has NO clue though, but I'm sure she will love the chaos tomorrow morning.
I wanted to post a few pics of Kaitlyn in America on Santa's lap alongside a picture of Krista at the SAME age, in the SAME dress, at the SAME mall with the SAME Santa. Kaitlyn looked so cute and also like such a big girl there on his lap! Initally I sat down with her and then moved away. She was really brave and really didn't seem to mind being alone with a bearded stranger. He pulled out a Christmas coloring book so she probabably assumed he was going to read for her. At the same age Krista wouldn't sit on Santa's lap alone for even one second.

Europa Park at Christmas-time

We have a wonderful theme park located just across the border in Germany called Europa park. They have fantastic Christmas decorations everywhere, and the kids always enjoy their yearly visit to the amusement park as part of their holiday festivities. It was a clear, sunny day and just perfect for being outside! The kids had a blast and Erik even had his photo taken with Santa (Krista didn't want to bother him!). Here are a few photos of the fun....

Christmas Ballet

Christmas Ballet 2007

(*Krista is 2nd from left in pink)

Krista had her annual Christmas ballet performance in the Civic Center last Saurday. It is a meal and show sponsored by the Mayor for all the elderly residents of our village. She looked so pretty in her fancy tutu. I had a chance to take some nice group photos of the children in the ballet school.

Krista is dancing on POINTE!!!!

We are excited to present Krista's NEW ballet pointe shoes! For all who are unfamiliar with ballet, a ballerina begins in simple leather slippers, until she has acquired the strength and training to learn to dance on point (on the toes). They are very special shoes that allow the ballerina to dance on her toes. Here is a link about pointe shoes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_shoes.

It is really exciting for Krista to go on pointe. Her teacher asked me the other day if I would approve of Krista going on pointe because she felt she was ready. Krista was so happy!!! Krista is dancing with the older girls this year, who are are all already on point, so it seems appropriate for her to also begin. The usual age is around 10 years with 4 years of experience...but her teacher said she was ready so that is that!! She was SO excited yesterday when she got her new shoes. They are satin and are SO beautiful! Can you belive they cost one hundred dollars!?! Yes, very crazy! Now I have to sew on the the ribbons and elastic. She is going to look like a REAL little ballerina now ;)

Is this TOO funny?!

I thought this was hilarious!!! Erik can REALLY move ;) Toomas, Krista, Erik and I were laughing SO hard when I put this clip to music!!!

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Back in France

December 2007 USA

Well, we made it back to France...safe and sound from our long journey to America! It was pretty much a whirlwind of a trip, but we are so thankful that we were able to go for Grandma's funeral. It was a beautiful service and really allowed for closure for me. It was so nice to be surrounded by friends and family, as we recalled and celebrated Grandma's life.. It was also nice to share the warmth of the approaching holidays together. Kaitlyn had some very quality one on one time with my parents too, while Toomas did a FANTASTIC job back here in France with Krista and Erik. I think he now has a further appreciation of the juggling act I have with the activities! So, all in all it was wonderful. Tiring but very necessary for me...to both share and receive support from all of the caring individuals who loved and knew Grandma.

Complete Dance

Last night Kaitlyn, Erik and I popped by the gym to see the progress the girls have made on their dance. This time I got to see it from start to finish, so now I won't feel like I'm missing anything being away for the telethon on Saturday. She is REALLY excited. Today we went out and bought big, fluffy, pink and white pom poms for the show. She can't wait!!

I hope the gang survives without me. I will sure miss THEM! A week and a half will seem so long I'm sure---but I know once I'm there the time will pass quickly. It will be really nice see everyone, and to spend some quality time together remembering Grandma.

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A Cute Dance!!

Krista's Gymnastics Club is preparing a dance for the "Telethon" which will take place next weekend. The Telethon is organized to raise money for sick individuals. There will be a whole afternoon of presentations and activities and Krista's club will participate. Donations will be accepted in person or by phone. They have been working on this dance for a few weeks now. It is REALLY cute!! I'm sad I will miss the show due to my trip to America. I'm going to sneak back on Wednesday before I leave to see the dance one last time in person before I go. Here is a small clip of part of the dance. ENJOY!

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