MERRY CHRISTMAS
From
Kelly, Toomas, Krista, Erik, and Kaitlyn
Merry Christmas everyone!! We hope your Christmases were very merry! We had a WONDERFUL and fun Christmas with the kids. We didn't have any outside relatives with us to celebrate this year, but at least we did have one additional new member in our family this Christmas.. and a new house to break in as well! It doesn't get much better than that!!!
We had a really fun Christmas Eve this year too. Krista had a role in the Children's Christmas Eve mass in our village. It was wonderful to see her participate this year. We very much enjoyed the mass and all of the songs the children had prepared (Kaitlyn didn't seem to enjoy how long the mass was however!). When we came home we had a delicous dinner (a traditional recipe from my Mom) and enjoyed a BIG fire in the fireplace! Erik was worried that Santa wouldn't be able to come down with the fire going. Then Santa actually called us on the phone, and left 2 gifts for the kids at the front door! That was really exiciting....Afterwards the kids headed off to bed in anticipation of the big day.
Christmas morning came very early...Erik woke at 3:30 a.m. but we managed to keep him in bed until 7:30. The morning was the usual whirlwind of wrapping paper strewn everywhere and screams of joy and delight....Of course we took lots of video and pictures to capture each special moment. Kaitlyn sat in her playpen and watched the whole thing---we didn't hear a peep out of her for 2.5 hours!
The kids said it was "thier best Christmas ever!"...the ultimate sign of a sucessful Christmas! We are so glad they had fun. Being a parent is perhaps more fun than being the kid who gets all the presents! I just love watching their joy!
Krista's top 5 gifts:
1. Tamagotchi (a little digital pet to take care of and help grow)
2. A NEW big girl bike
3. Diddl bathing suit and towel
4. Littlest Petshop toys
5. A notebook that I had personalized with a photo of her from ballet!
Erik's top 5 gifts: 1. A BIG stuffed teddy bear with a scarf
2. His new big boy bike
3. A pirate pop-up castle
4. Wooden pirate ship
5. Pirate ship for the bathtub
Kaitlyn's top 5 gifts:1. puppet toy
2. bath seat
3. teething toys (numerous and all appreciated!)
4. Giraffe doudou
5. Clothes
Baby's First Christmas (with yogurt beard)Toomas and I had a pretty laid-back Christmas. We got only a few gifts for each other--among the top 3 were a digital forhead thermometer, a new coffee machine and a new toaster (matching). We're getting pretty domestic---with all those BORNING gifts ;)
We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well. Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and blessed 2007!
Okay...so before we hit the New Year, I'll round out my blog with the promised photos of Christmas Day. We sure had a ball and it was so much fun seeing the kids go crazy with excitement. This is the first Christmas where Kaitlyn understood what was happening. She had SO much fun and it was neat to see her as "one of the big kids". In some ways I can't believe she will no longer be the "baby" of the family...but when I see her so grown up I know she will do great as a big sister. As for favorite gifts this year... Mine was a card I received from Toomas and the handcrafted gifts from the kids. Krista's favorite gift was the Wii and the Disney edition of Monopoly, for Erik it was his prized "Torterra Ex" Pokemon card and albums, Kaitlyn's was her Princess Pop-Up Castle and Toomas' was his new snazzy GPS. I took a ZILLION photos (as always) but never know which ones to put up on the blog. I remember really resisting the digital era of photography, but I know that I have many many more moments captured now that we are digital. Looking back (although just one week ago) it warms my heart to see the joy in these photos.
