christmas - where did it go?

Who knew something anticipated for long, can go by so quickly?

Well, I guess Christmas is almost over...already...man, time flies I guess. We were blessed this morning because Taylor stayed in bed until 8AM...she decided it was too early when she woke up so she read in bed for a while to let us sleep longer. I know, she's pretty cool.

We started the morning by reading the story from Luke's gospel about Jesus' birth, then the present opening began. We each opened everything we had one at a time. It was a lot of fun to watch each other open up something we had spent so much time on.

After we spent most of the day enjoying what we got for Christmas, we went and hung out with some friends for a few hours. It was a lot of fun to be able to play some games, and visit with another family (4 other families actually). We were with Lake's extended family (Taylor's friend) and one other family. We definitely enjoyed ourselves.

Some pictures of the event are below...what a great day this was.

to all my friends and family

Who knew this day was more than a Hallmark Holiday?

celebrity

Who knew reading our community activity guide would be a good thing?

Actually, J did - this is our favorite magazine because it shows us what activities are being offered by the township for Taylor - we have done basketball, ballet, other dance, soccer, etc.

As we were flipping through the book this time, we saw our new celebrity on page 4...yes, that is Taylor at cheer camp...

christmas play

Who knew it would be so much work and yet totally worth the effort to put on a Christmas play?

One week ago today we had our first ever Christmas play at our church. Despite getting 10 inches of snow that morning, we still had the event - and all of the kids showed up. There were actually quite a few people in the audience as well and the play went off really well. It was amazing. Hearing the people in the audience laugh, comment, and enjoy themselves was great. The play they did was called the Fear Not Factor which was about the angels in heaven being given the assignment to talk to Mary, Joseph, and then the shepherds about the coming of Jesus. It was a very funny play with a strong message at the same time - perfect for their first time.

We also had a small refreshment time after the service where we had some snacks out on the wood floor and people were able to talk to the 'actors' face to face. What a great way to spend a Sunday morning - I'm sure the organizers didn't enjoy it as much as I did, but were glad it went so well.

Here are a few pictures of the event.

The snow we woke up to that morning...

The entire cast of the Fear Not Factor.

Cloe (Taylor) and Ellie (Royale) delivering lines.

Mary and Joseph.

Gabriel (Lake) and Michael (Jessica) in the middle of a dialogue.

Refreshments afterward.

fun in the snow

Who knew making snow people could be so fun? I kept putting it off thinking of being out there in the cold, but finally gave in yesterday...and am glad I did. Taylor and I had a great time making 2 new additions to our front yard yesterday.

fake bowling

Who knew bowling was such hard work???

This is a video of Taylor playing video bowling at Gameworks in Minneapolis. I thought it was pretty good...