Christmas Day

Christmas morning with kids is so much fun. My kids didn't have much under the tree because they got their puppies a couple of weeks ago and their other big surprise was awaiting them in the backyard. Despite the fact that they didn't have much to open they were excited and grateful anyhow. It was so sweet.

So they opened their stockings and a couple of small toys, then Joel and I took our turn. Joel did a great job, as always, picking out my gifts. My favorite gift was the mother's ring that he had made. He got it for me for my first Mother's Day after Zora was born, but then after Lily was born we never had her birthstone added. So this Christmas I unwrapped the ring with Lily included!

He also got me several other nice things. Here is a picture of me holding some workout shirts, but I liked the Christmas kiss from Lily the most. She is such a little love bug.


I mostly got Joel clothes. He is always in desperate need of clothes because he ruins so many while working. He got a couple pairs of jeans and several nice shirts. However, while at the store I came across this shirt and I absolutely couldn't resist buying it. He thought it was pretty funny, too.After the girls waited so patiently for us to open all our presents, we told them they had one last surprise present in the backyard. Joel built them their own little log cabin playhouse. He did such a great job - it is complete with siding, shingles, window and a porch! The only thing we weren't able to complete yet is painting the inside (pink of course!) and adding a front door!

Since they were already bundled up from head to toe, they just had to enjoy the white Christmas. They had such a blast playing in the snow.

And Lily even tasted it too!

Even the puppies enjoyed their first white Christmas. And who can resist making a few snow angels???

Although they were having so much fun, they got cold quick! So we came inside and warmed up while Daddy fixed us a delicious french toast breakfast!

After all gifts were unwrapped and our bellies were full the girls just had to watch Polar Express. It is one of the best Christmas movies ever in our opinion! And the best way to watch a movie is snuggled under a nice warm blanket with Daddy :-)

Christmas afternoon we drove the treacherous roads all the way out to Papa's land so we could do some 4 wheeler riding in the snow. I just love the way Lily's little cheeks look in her helmet!

While Lily had her turn on the 4 wheeler Zora passed the time making more snow angels!

Here's a peek into Lily's ride with Daddy

Christmas - Part 2

We've scheduled, canceled, and rescheduled many of our Christmas celebrations because of our snowy weather. However, before the weather got too bad, we were fortunate enough to get to celebrate with lots of friends and family.

Last week Aubrey came over and the girls had an absolute blast. Zora was very excited to receive a "Best Friends" necklace from Aub. Here they are putting their two halves of the necklace together...

Later that day our little buddy Corbin came over and gave both of the girls art kits. Our cousins Ty and Lorie also came over for a Christmas play date...

And we loved making a visit to Gigi. Our favorite part of that visit was the warm brownies and milk she fixed. Mmmmmm...

Some friends that we were anxiously waiting for were the Voss family. We were so glad they were able to come all the way from Arizona for Christmas. The girls were very excited about the tea sets they got from them.

Eva showing off one of her gifts.
Noah was really happy about his Transformer.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebration at Papa and Mamma's house.

My nephew, Keno, shows off his leather jacket

London, Zora & Lily waiting to open gifts

My favorite part of the day at Mamma's was when Zora did us the honor of reading the Christmas story. She read a book called "The Very First Christmas". It was such a good story that incorporated the story of Jesus' birth. The pictures were beautiful too. Here's Zora reading us the story.

Lily sits with Papa as she listens to the story.

Lily and Mamma

Our new little puppies have traveled with us to a couple of our celebrations. My little brother, Jake, fell in love with Rosey, and I think the feeling was mutual :-)

Here's Lily's Christmas happy face!

Zora's was so excited to get this doll. Her name is Lindsey and she treats the doll as if she's alive. It's way too cute.
We've still got one celebration left that was rescheduled for New Year's Day. This white Christmas was just a reminder that we can make all the plans that we want, but sometimes God has other plans in mind. Instead of the hustle & bustle as usual, the snow made us all slow down a little and spend some good quality time together!

Christmas Program

Yesterday the girls had their program at church. Lily's class had such stage fright that they really didn't do much but stand frozen on the stage.

Zora's class sang several songs. Here are some excerpts.

Christmas - Part 1

When you have as much family as we do, you have to start the celebrations early. Saturday night was our first "Christmas". We had it with Papa Doug and Nana, my step-dad and mom. We had some delicious food, as always, then we enjoyed watching all the kids open their presents.

Skylar

Lily

Zora

Alli

NateThe girls got a very big surprise from Nana & Papa - a trampoline!!! Obviously they were not able to wrap it, so here are a series of videos that led to the "unveiling".

Sunday, Joel and Landon were nice enough to set it up for the girls since it was such a beautiful day.

Here is their first jump on the trampoline!

The Christmas Train

Thursday night we celebrated Christmas the old-fashioned country way at The Christmas Train at Dry Gulch. My dad bought tickets for our family to attend as part of an early Christmas present. It was an incredible evening. Here we are in front of the train.
The train ride was spectacular. While riding on the train we got to hear the story of the true meaning of Christmas - the story of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who came as a baby and died a cruel death in order that we might have eternal life. It was absolutely beautiful.

After the train ride the girls enjoyed playing on the playground for a little while.

We then enjoyed the sights and sounds of the "town". We shopped a little and treated ourselves to some hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls.

Beautiful little country church.

Watching and waving as the train goes by!

A little stroll through town...

A fun ride on the carousel...

And we finished the night off with pony rides!!!

If you've never been I highly recommend it! It's something the whole family will enjoy!Merry Christmas from the Summers family!!!

Shelly & Rosey

Introducing our newest family members, Shelly (on the left) and Rosey (on the right)!

The girls have been begging to get another dog since our beloved Jesse passed away in May. I've been putting them off for months and making excuse after excuse as to why we don't need any pets right now. With Christmas fast approaching, the begging reached an all-time high, "Mommy, all we want for Christmas is a puppy! PLEASE!" Tired of hearing this over, and over, and over... I explained to them that puppies cost a lot of money, but I sarcastically said, "Maybe I would consider it if I saw a box on the side of the road that said FREE PUPPIES!"

I never should have said that!

Saturday night my girls had a "Nana Nite" and so as Joel and I were coming home from church Sunday morning we were discussing what we should buy the girls for Christmas. We were almost home when Joel said, "Look! There's a box in that parking lot that says FREE PUPPIES!" Of course, we pulled in and I couldn't say no. They were just way too cute. And not only was I crazy enough to get them A puppy, but I got them EACH a puppy! Even though they were "free" we've already spent a pretty penny on them at the vet, on food, toys, etc.

When the girls got home Sunday evening I was expecting screaming and excitement, but I think the best word to describe their reaction was shock! Take a look :-)

The girls thought long and hard about good names for their puppies. Zora's is Shelly and Lily's is Rosey. Yesterday we took our first visit to the vet to get an exam and shots. The girls were almost in tears as their puppies got their shots, but the puppies didn't mind one bit! Not even a flinch!

Right now Joel and I feel like we have newborn twins. The puppies definitely have their nights and days mixed up. They want to sleep all day, then play, eat, potty & whine all night. This mommy can't wait until they are old enough to sleep outside!!! Very soon we are going to have a nice dog house for them with a heat lamp to keep them warm, then maybe we'll get some rest around here!

A Visit To Santa

WARNING: If your children are reading this with you they may find this "disturbing" !!! :-)

At our house we don't "do" Santa. My kids get plenty under the tree and in their stockings, but they know that it comes from their parents and no one else. However, they do know the story of Saint Nicholas, why he was such a good man, and the reason he became such a legend throughout the world. We also still love to talk about Santa, pay him a visit, take pictures, etc. like everyone else. The only difference is my children know that it is just a fun, imaginary thing to do at Christmastime. When Zora was little we started the tradition of going to Utica Square for a picture. The couple that runs "Santa's House" is just adorable and they are absolutely as sweet as can be. I also like the fact that you don't feel like you've been robbed after you get your pictures done as they only charge $5!!! We had a scheduled trip with our playgroup this year, but poor little Miss Lily missed out because she managed to catch the stomach "bug" that Zora had last weekend :-(

Anyhow, we were the first ones there Friday morning - we even beat Mr. & Mrs. Claus. Here is Zora awaiting Santa's arrival.


Despite her knowing the truth about Santa, she thought it would be fun to make a list for him of things she would like to have for Christmas. She also wrote him a letter that thanked him for being so kind to all the children. Here is Mrs. Claus reading her letter aloud to Santa.
When we got in the car she munched down the cookie they gave her and then she said, "Mommy, why do people make such a big deal about Santa when Christmas is really about Jesus?" So sweet! She then decided to write a story about Christmas. (I did not help her write this... it was all on her own)

What Is Christmas?

It is a time of year when people from all over the world celebrate when Jesus Christ was born. And if some people think Santa Claus is the true meaning of Christmas then we know that is not true. But I hope missionaries go where people don't know about Christmas. Amen.


After our Santa visit we had a party with our playgroup friends. Here's a fun treat that you can make with your kiddos that were a big hit... marshmallow snowmen.If you would like to make these you need the following for each snowman:

2 big marshmallows (body)
2 raisins (eyes)
1 candy corn (nose)
2 gumdrops (hat) - one needs to be mashed flat for the brim
thin strip of fruit rollup (scarf)
white icing ("glue")
toothpicks (through the middle to hold everything together!)

As I mentioned in the last post we were supposed to have 5 Christmas parties this weekend. However, because Lily has been sick, we've had to miss a few. I was able to take Zora to one while Joel stayed with Lily, and then I attended one solo last night. Tonight I'm staying home with the girls so Joel can go solo. It's not really what we had in mind, but our little "bug" rearranged our plans.

That's all for now! Have a happy, healthy weekend!!!

Christmas Pictures!!!

Since the last post we've been pretty busy, and that's only a taste of what is to come! This weekend we have 5 Christmas parties, so I'm sure my post next week will be chock full of pictures!

This past week we went to our final art class for this semester with my friend Barbie. The girls did a great job making their Christmas pictures. The art lesson focused on how shapes are used in art, so they made snowmen for circles and Christmas trees for triangles.

Lily's work...

Zora's work...

Last year we started a tradition of making homemade ornaments. Originally, my plan was to make the same kind of ornaments every year, but this year we decided to do things a little differently. We made shrinky dink ornaments!!! Talk about having a blast from the past! If you don't know what shrinky dinks are, you are missing out! We made them with our playgroup friends and then we came home to make more to give away to family!

Here's one of Lily's...

...and one of Zora's

We also took a tour of a veterinarian clinic on Friday with our homeschool group. We had a great time seeing the animals, touring the buildings, and speaking with the vet. I forgot my camera, though, so no pictures of that one!

This past Saturday we had BIG plans to go see Curious George. My friend's mom (thank you, Beverly!!!) gave us tickets, so the girls were pumped to go to the show. However, Zora came into my room very early (2am) Saturday morning complaining of a stomach ache and sure enough she was too sick for us to go :-( We spent the day beside the toilet instead of at Curious George. Fortunately, I found someone else who was able to make good use of the tickets and even graciously took Lily so that she wouldn't have to miss it (thank you, Amanda!!!)

This week has been so cold that we've just stayed close to home and enjoyed relaxing in our pj's while we do our schoolwork. We've ventured out a little to finish up our Christmas shopping and to take some Christmas pictures.

Our church decorates so beautifully this time of year, so it's a tradition for us to take our pictures there in the sanctuary. Normally, we have the Voss family here to take our pictures for us, but since they moved half-way across the country we had to go solo this time! We were a little nervous about getting decent pictures using the timer on our camera, but I think they turned out very well!










Stay warm out there and enjoy The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!