A Small Taste of Winter

We had a surprise visit from the snow fairy yesterday. The forecast was for highs in the 40s and a chance of rain. Well, it never got out of the 30s and we had snow instead of rain. It was pretty to look at, and the kids had some fun, but otherwise it was worthless, as it forced us to cancel our MOPS meeting, and we didn't even get a 2 hour delay out of it this morning.

A Disney Christmas

My parents bought a house in the Orlando area, and we went to visit them for Christmas. We had a great time and the kids did great on the flights and while at the parks. We went to Disney World three days. We skipped Disney on Christmas day and just enjoyed church and a low key celebration. The kids were spoiled by Mom and Dad, of course, who are now working on getting plenty of toys at their new house. We were also able to see one of my oldest and dearest friends while we were there. She and her family live in Orlando, and our kids had a great time playing and we had a great time catching up on life.

We had great weather the entire time, and the kids went swimming when we first got there:




The following day we went to the Magic Kingdom. Isabel was soaking it all in:

Pierce and my mom riding Dumbo:
Both of the younger kids loved It's a Small World:


We all rode the carousel:
Pierce was always excited when we saw characters in the parks:
Cinderella's castle and Main Street, U.S.A. at night:



Woody and Jessie:
Pierce with Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates:We went to Epcot one night and Pierce faced his fear of Bruce from Finding Nemo:

Isabel was pretty unsure:
Christmas Day. I could not manage to get a picture of all the kids together, but I did get a good one of Pierce and Madelyn where they really look like they love each other:Isabel enjoyed opening her presents. Who doesn't get excited over hair bows and panties?



We went back to the Magic Kingdom after Christmas. The kids are in jail with Zurg from Toy Story II:Isabel and I rode the carousel seven times while the big kids rode the bigger rides:
On our final night at the parks, we went back to Hollywood Studios. JD took Madelyn to ride the Tower of Terror and we just walked around and looked at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I loved them so much that we went back after Madelyn was done, so she and JD could see them.



We had a great time. Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting!

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: