Christmas in Minnesota

It was so good to be back in Minnesota for Christmas! We were blessed with safe travel and good weather, not to mention healthy kids and reliable transportation! Some of the highlights were seeing all the extended family on Christmas Eve, attending Jeff's church for the first time, and having lots of fun being together. I was able to have a loooong breakfast with my good friend Kelly. (When you notice people having lunch instead of breakfast, you know it's time to leave - our breakfast lasted 3 1/2 hours!). It was so wonderful to celebrate the birth of our Savior with a loving family and good friends.

Merry Christmas!

We have been enjoying the last few days of preparation as we get ready for Christmas. On Sunday, each child in Olivia's class was dressed up as Mary or Joseph and they acted out the story in class. Being the little mommy that she is, she loves carrying her little baby Jesus around the house.

Noah presented us with a gift he made in Pre-K. How sweet!

Then the real fun began tonight when we decorated gingerbread houses (thank goodness they came in a kit!). Notice Noah's overloaded roof. He enjoyed licking each piece of candy before putting it in place.

Olivia's house featured a skating rink out front.

Sneaking a peek in their stockings - oh, man! Still nothing!

We wish you all a very merry Christmas! May we all feel a renewed sense of hope and wonder that "The Savior is Born!"

Our Whirlwind Weekend

Now I can breathe again! The concert is over! It's a bittersweet feeling of being done with something that I planned for and worked on for months. Well, no... it's alot more sweet than bitter. :)

Grandpa and Grammy Peterson came to visit on Friday and were a HUGE help with the kids while we were finalizing plans and rehearsing for the concert. Thank you! We had a great time visiting with them.

What a huge blessing God granted to us the night of the concert. The evening went very well, and I think was a blessing to the people. It was such a privilege to me to be able to present in musical form the story of the birth of Christ and His sacrifice for us on the cross. I feel very humbled that I was entrusted to proclaim that message last night through the piano. Then I think...that's my job every day! Through the life that I lead, I need to be a mirror reflecting the glory of Christ.

It was so wonderful to have my parents, Paul's parents, and Paul's grandparents come for the concert. A huge highlight to the evening was when I saw Jeannie walking in the door! It was so great to see you again friend!

Hope you enjoy these pics. The flowers were given to me by the pastor of our church at the end of the concert.

Trip to the Fire Station

I was lucky enough to go with Noah's Pre-K class to the fire station yesterday. We learned all about fire safety - including some new things for me! Did you know they've added a step to the stop-drop-and roll regimen? It's now stop-drop -cover your face - and roll. We had fun practicing that, as you can imagine!

Here is Noah in the bus - a very cool way to ride, in his opinion - with the little fire truck he brought along.

Up in the fire truck, looking cool.

And, finally, wearing the hat.

Piano Concert

This is the brochure for my Christmas concert.

You can email me directly for special backstage passes. :)

How can you argue with this?

Now if only she would do it.... Warning: There is a telephone ringing in this movie clip - don't jump up to answer yours!
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When the thumb just won't do...

...try your toe!

Christmas Cookies

Last night we all were on a sugar high after our annual baking and decorating of Christmas cookies. The kids had a blast cutting out all shapes of cookies - angels, snowmen, Christmas trees, etc. and some bats and pumpkins thrown in for good measure. Then the decorating fun began! At first they didn't quite realize that you didn't have to use ALL the sugar and icing on just one cookie. After that, each cookie was decorated a little faster as they discovered new ways to pile on the good stuff. Even Chloe got to try some icing!

I Need HELP!

I am trying to post some pictures, but my "create post" screen does not have any of the little icons up right now to help me! I don't have any of the upper icons - just the box to write in. Does anyone know how to fix this?