Pierce's Christmas Program

Pierce's preschool had a holiday tea for the parents, and they put on a little performance before refreshments were served. Here's a picture of Pierce right after his performance:



This is the video of part of their performance. I feel bad for the little girl beside Pierce. She kept getting boxed out by Pierce's exuberance.

Grandparent's Day Chapel

Every year, Madelyn's school, Immanuel Christian School, hosts Grandparent's Day. Grandparents are invited to a Christmas musical and get to see the classrooms and participate in a project with the kids. The musical was quite entertaining and it was obvious that the kids had worked very hard to learn the songs and their lines. The first grade students sang a few songs at the end of the production. Madelyn was actually chosen to be part of a smaller ensemble and then went back to join the rest of her class mates for the remaining part of the performance.


Waiting for the show to begin:

The younger kids were great during the waiting and the actual show, especially considering they both have horrible colds.


Madelyn was a little nervous before the show:


Part of Madelyn's class:

Here's a video of Madelyn in the ensemble. The quality isn't the best, and our seats made it hard to get the best view, but you can hear her pretty well. You can also hear the coughing and singing of Pierce and Isabel in the background:


Madelyn with her class:

Isabel Singing "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger"

You might need to turn the volume waaaaaay up to hear these.

This year's ornaments and our tree

We've been getting the kids their own ornaments for the last few years, and we try to get them one that commemorates something from their year.

Madelyn got a piano this year.


I couldn't find any cute superhero ornaments this year, so I got Pierce a dinosaur. He's really gotten into superheros and dinosaurs to a degree.


A reminder of Isabel's broken leg:


Our family ornament:


We also got an ornament to celebrate buying our house. It also has our last name and address on it.


Not the best picture, but this is our tree:

Finding our Christmas Tree

On the way back from Thanksgiving with family, we stopped at a farm to cut down a Christmas tree. We had a good time picking out the "perfect" tree.

Taking it all in:



We found it:


Pierce likes it:


Isabel was just along for the running around:





Always a good time to wrestle:



And we're off:


Just like the Griswolds:

It all started

with two trees, two kids, a big kid who's great with tools, and a big dream.














Now, we have an awesome treehouse with "the fastest slide ever" and a "really cool climbing wall." Reason #753 why I love that guy!