We come bearing gifts...

Some of the gifts we gave this year...

Mark's new Indians jacket...



Neighbor Larry's new tee shirt...



Super cute tees made by my friend Charisse for nephews, Payton and Wally.



And one gift we'd like to receive! If only they were full bottles. Hmmm.

Merry Christmas!

Before...



After ...







We are having a great holiday. Spent Christmas Eve morning at brunch with new neighbors/friends, the Joergensons. Then we had Christmas Eve dinner with old friends, the Donohos. It's nice to know that we have many adoptive families that welcome us into their homes on these special holidays.

School Parties

Friday was the big Winter Party Day at Hardy Oak. With all three kids having their parties at the same time, I'm lucky if I make it to all of them!

First up - Sarah's party. Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Diamond. Mrs. Diamond is a big Longhorn fan (as you can tell by her shirt) and we gave her the Longhorn-colored necklace she's wearing. She also has a daughter named Sarah Elizabeth who goes to UT!



Chicken nuggets and grapes before the onslaught of sugar.



Next was Ethan's class. Here he is with his friend Averie. Averie's big sister Jillian was in the same kinder class as Jacob. Somewhere, there is a picture exactly like this of Jacob and Jillian!



Lucas usually scores a drink and cookie at each stop!



Ethan's teacher, Mrs. Pompa.

School Parties (cont.)

On to Jacob's party...

Ran into our neighbor Arleen in the hallway. Lucas ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Then put his head on her shoulder. I know he was tired - it was nap time! So she held him while I ran outside to Jacob's classroom. Half of the 4th grade are in portable classrooms out behind the school, as are all of the 5th graders. On the way to Jacob's portable, I saw our ex-neighbor Trey, playing around with some kids. They were doing chest bumps for whatever reason, so I snapped these two pics, not realizing what I had captured until later! hahaha!!!!




Yeah, that was his own son, giving Trey a knee to the groin. Got to Jacob's class as they were playing bingo.



Here's Jacob with his teacher, Miss Rinn.



And when I went back into the school to get Lucas, here's what I found! He was so zonked out, he was snoring!

Jennifer Massey Designs Christmas Party

For the JMD Christmas party, we all met at Jennifer's house for a cookie exchange before heading downtown to the Chart House restaurant at the top of the Tower of the Americas. Jenn had to figure out a way for us all to meet at her house because she had hired a limo to take us there and to look at holiday lights!



Yvette was terrified of the glass elevator, but she made it to the top by thinking about Denzel Washington and we were able to enjoy a lovely dinner.

Treasa, Jennifer, Chelsea, Maria, Yvette and I.



The restaurant spins - but it takes an hour for it to go completely around. We got to see lots of holiday lights from way up high and then drive amongst them on the way home.

Nutcracker Tea

My friend Tori and her daughter Lillian host a Nutcracker Tea every year. Tori breaks out the real china, orders tea from England, makes scones and finger sandwiches and gives lovely framed keepsake photos as parting gifts. It's really a sweet, special afternoon and here were are ready to leave the house.



Talia, Sarah, Mollie Kay, Lillian, Cassidy and Paige's daughter, who's name escapes me.



My gorgeous place setting.



Sarah, right before she refused to eat any finger sandwiches, scones, etc. She did have a chocolate croissant and a brownie, so luckily she didn't starve (insert eye roll here).

Kylie's Birthday

Right from the Nutcracker Tea, we went to Kylie's birthday. Kylie is one of Sarah's preschool friends who we don't see very often anymore because she goes to a different school. Several of the preschool posse were there - Camryn, Lexie, Kaelie, Lakyn...it was good see them all.



Birthday girl and Sarah.



Decorating cookies.

I'll show you a White Christmas!

When I worked downtown Minneapolis, my favorite billboard was for Weber grills. It showed a picture of a grill and a giant digital temperature reading. The billboard read "A perfect day for grilling!" every day of the year - no matter what the temp. This is my friends' grill in their backyard yesterday!



The Twin Cities just received up to 24 inches of snow. One of the top five snowfall records in history! Roads were closed, the airport shut down, and there were not enough shovels to be found.

And then...watch this amazing video of the Metrodome roof collapsing!

http://www.youtube.com/e/AAyLX2hY7E0"

The Vikings game has been postponed to Monday and will be played in Detroit even though we play the Giants! Crazy!