Christmas and Leavenworth...

We had a wonderful Christmas here at our house. Everyone came over for presents in the morning and Christmas dinner around 1pm.









Daniel got a new taggy blanket from his Great-Gramma that she made for him. He grabbed it so fast and started smelling it. He took his old taggy in one hand and the new one in the other and went back and forth smelling them, it was too cute. Now he carries them both around. :)








One of Daisy's favorite presents! :)



I always buy Ruh and Daisy the next Guiness Book of World Records. They really like looking through it.

I bought Daisy this fabulously fun shirt. She loves random graphics t-shirts. This one actually made me laugh out loud when I saw it so I knew it was the one. :)


Oh Charlie! There is just no way to get enough of that little boy's squishable cuteness!













Daniel was so cute playing with all his new toys. He loves the little truck that you hammer the nails on the top. He loves his little police car and firetruck that have buttons all over that make the sounds. Grampa George taught him how to stack the giant leggos. Those giant leggos are actually George's (my father-in-law) Christmas present. I bought them for the kids he works with. He will keep them in his car for when he visits them at home.


I'm very glad my in-laws, George and Bonita, came over for Christmas dinner. I gave Bonita a gift card to Cabela's, her new favorite store. I can't wait to see what she buys with it.


I sure do love this little family! My brother Ben, Mai and little Charlie.

After we ate Christmas dinner Ruh, Daisy, Daniel and I headed over the Cascades to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. We stayed in Wenatchee since the hotels in Leavenworth are a lot more expensive. It is only about a 20 minute drive from Wenatchee to Leavenworth. There was snow everywhere and it was so beautiful. Sadly this is the only picture I got of our little trip. The next day when I went to take pictures my batteries were dead and my spare set were dead as well even though I had just charged them. Ruh and Daisy went inner-tubing at the Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. There was a little lodge that sold food but no batteries. Bummer! The little ski area is so cute. There are a couple hills for people to ski and snowboard on and one little bunny slope. There are also a cross country skiing paths through the woods. There is no ski-lift just a rope pull that pulls you to the top. And then there is the tubing hill. They attach your tube to a rope pull and you sit in it while it pulls you to the top. The a guy at the top unhooks you and sends you down then tubing track. I had Daniel in the backpack and we watched Daddy and Sissy go down a couple times. I would have loved a pair of snowshoes right about then to go on a little hike.

We enjoyed Leavenworth and we ate lunch at Andreas Keller, an authentic German restaurant that is actually underneath the shops in Leavenworth. (I was able to find pictures on their website!) It is quaint and cozy full of beautiful wood work and German murals all over the walls. A little old man was playing an accordion. We sat in one of those cute little booths. I have never really liked sauerkraut but they brought us some with our bratwurst. This kind was called weinkraut and it was delicious! There was also potato salad with the meal and it was a lot different than American potato salad and it too was delicious. Daisy had the Bavarian Goulash and I am going to try and find a recipe for it. The little noodles are called spaetzle and are so cute. My favorite part of the whole trip was the mountains. I loved seeing the trees all covered in snow. We drove home on Highway 2 and for a while you drive through a narrow canyon next to the river. The rocks in the river were all covered with snow. We really had a wonderful Christmas and couple days after. I don't think I am ready for Christmas to be over! :)





A little wooden sign I saw in one of the shops said, "If you are blessed enough to be in the mountains...then you are blessed enough.". I agree. :)

Merry Christmas...

"For there is born to you this day in the City of David, a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11

Christmas cookies...

Mom and and my sister-in-law Mai came over on Wednesday to make Christmas cookies. And we sure did make A LOT! By the end of the night there was not an inch of counter space left and half of my kitchen table was covered. We watched Home Alone and Willy Wonka (the original) while we baked and decorated. I took a the majority of the cookies to work this morning where I know they will be very much enjoyed.


Daniel and his cousin Charlie with their blankets Great Gramma made them.

Daniel wearing his little Starbucks apron. My little barista in training. :)

Charlie!!! He was smiling at his Auntie Annie. :)

I can't believe tomorrow is already Christmas! I am very happy I have gotten almost everything done and I am ready to have everyone over for Christmas dinner. After the Christmas festivities tomorrow Ruh, Daisy, Daniel and I will be heading east of the mountains to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. We will be staying in Wenatchee and heading up to Leavenworth on Sunday. It is a quaint little Bavarian Village in the Cascades that makes you feel like you have been transported to a village in the Alps. We will be playing in the snow, window shopping and enjoying the hotel's hot tub and pool in the evening. I am so excited to be heading up to the mountains. I need some good mountain air in my lungs and scenery to feast my eyes on. My husband knows the best gift he can give me is the mountains. :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Gramma and some fun tidbits...

My Gramma came for a little visit the weekend after Thanksgiving. She was visiting her brother in Portland and wasn't actually planning on coming up here but my parents offered to drive down and pick her up so she could visit for a few days. We decided to go ahead and have another little Thanksgiving while she was here. This time there was no wind or snowstorm and we had power so we had it over at our house this time. We had a blessing and we sang the Doxology before we ate for Gramma. She always gets a little teary when she hears her family singing the Doxology. She definitely enjoyed her two little great-grandsons. It was a very short but sweet visit and I hope she will come visit again soon.

After all of our Thanksgiving festivities I still had 2 jars of my homemade cranberry sauce. I saw an idea in Martha Stewart Living Magazine to use leftover cranberry sauce and extra pie crust to make little mini cranberry bites. I made some pie crust, rolled it out, cut out circles and put about a tablespoon of cranberry sauce in the center of each circle and crimped them up. Some didn't hold their shape in the baking process but they still looked cute and tasted good. I also had been eying that Starbucks mug at work. And yesterday I was surprised at work by getting to pick out a mug for free. I knew the exact one I wanted. I love it because it looks like it is wearing a little sweater! I plan on copying the idea and making some mug sweaters myself. Another holiday find at work I plan on copying are these felt bags. I bought one today and it will be very easy to copy and sew. I will use different colors and maybe even experiment with different shapes and sizes. They make great lunch bags.

I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done and I have haven't even stepped foot in a store. I really like being able to shop online without fighting the crowds. Mom is going to watch Daniel for me on Monday morning so I can go finish my shopping. I am hoping going early on a Monday morning will help me to avoid crowds. :)

5 year blogging anniversary...

I can't believe that I have been blogging for 5 years now! It really has been a lot of fun. Here's to another 5 years of blogging adventures! :)

Living Nativity...

This weekend is our church's (Discovery Bapitist, Gig Harbor) annual Living Nativity. It will run Saturday and Sunday night December 4th and 5th, from 5-8pm. Last year Daniel was 6 months old and he and I were Mary and Jesus. (Ruh had to work.) There were two other couples with little boys around Daniel's age so we took shifts which was very helpful when a baby got fussy. This year my brother, his wife and their little Charlie will be Mary, Joseph and Jesus along with four other couples. Charlie is actually borrowing the snow suit I had Daniel all bundled up in last year. I can't wait to see his cute little face sticking out of all those layers of cloth! Miss Daisy is playing a servant in Herod's court this year I believe. I plan on driving through on Sunday evening with Daniel. I hope everyone who is able can come through!