Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Christmas 2008

 Can you believe that Christmas has already come and gone? My desire to make Christmas more and more about Christ and less about stuff, busyness, and to-do's gets stronger and stronger the more I think upon the reason for our celebration. I long to have God honoring traditions and purposeful meaning in my life- even more so around Christmas- in order to grow and nurture a grateful heart full of praise and love to our God in me as well as my family.  Feel free to share in the comment area any family traditions you have that centers your family on the Lord, I would love to learn from you! Here are some of my thoughts thus far:
        * Continue adopting & delivering gifts and food to a needy family in our neighborhood.
        * Continue to make gifts for others, spending less & giving more of ourselves.
        * Continue to make goodies to deliver and visit with our neighbors.
        * Read the story "Three Trees" on Christmas Eve.
        * Read the story of Jesus' birth out of one of the gospels on Christmas morning as a family.
        * Spend time praying, giving thanks, worshiping on Christmas as a family.
        *Making dinner (homemade pizza, soup???) as a family on Christmas day.
        
For now, here's some pictures from our Christmas this year....
'Twas the night before Christmas... and we were heading to Bubba's parents house... we had our little one in her Christmas finest, all ready for the evening...
My parents came all the way down for Christmas in Bakersfield, what could be finer??? We were glad to have Papa and Grammie here to join us...
All the tiny ones squished on one chair, Bubba's cousin's daughters (Peyton & Devin) and Emery with her littlest cousin, Griffin.... or Big Guy as we like to call him.
The pretty little princesses trying on their poofy princess skirts that I made them!
CHRISTMAS MORNING! Emery was hesitant at first, not knowing what to expect....
but then her sass came out and she went wild with the wrapping paper of course!
Emery waited patiently while Papa put together the shopping cart him and Grammie gave her.
And here she is again waiting for Papa to assemble her other toy- a ball blowing jalopy if you ask me- this bad boy got the boot and headed back to Target.
Then we headed over to Bubba's parents house for breakfast and more hang out time with family, and a few more presents, like this carriage- a Radio Flyer Wagon for Grammie Jackie and Papa Mike's house... they've already taken it for a spin!
Uncle Buddy got the babies matching Cal Poly tractor shirts, too cute!
My mom and Gelayol with baby Griffin on Christmas morning, how cute are his jammies??? They just say Christmas all over them :)
Jackie sporting the apron I made her, she's only been asking me for one for 2 years! It's about time!!!
My silly girl all decked out in her Christmas gear thanks to Uncle Buddy and Auntie Gelayol! We headed back to our house for Christmas Day dinner- thanks mom and dad for all your help, I couldn't have done it without you!
Emery grubbing on her Christmas dinner, raspberries and avocados, which she ate without clothing due to her messiness. 
And of course, what Christmas dinner would be complete without a child in the kitchen sink rinsing off after her meal...
A shot of the Christmas day gang! (Left to right in a loop: Feri (Gelayol's mom), Billie (Bubba's grandma), Jackie and Mike (Bubba's mom & dad), Nader (Gelayol's dad), Buddy and Griffin (Bubba's brother & his son), Debbie and Emery and Resti (Andrea's parents), Bubba & I, Kassara, Noah, Evan, and Jessica (Gelayol's brother, wife, and boys), and last but not least Gelayol.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

More Family Fun...

My sweet husband has been in Europe for the past 2 weeks, so while he was gone, I went to visit my family up north. We took Miss Emery to see Santa for the first time, she was enthralled with his big, white, poofy beard and his shiny glasses... she liked him very much! And she sat and listened as her cousin Owen rattled off everything he needed to share with Santa, which even included a request for "new plastic cups in the kitchen because theirs leak"!
Later that evening Santa made another appearance at the town lighting of the Christmas tree. It was really fun, he showed up in a horse drawn carriage and his elves escorted him to the stage where kids lined up for miles to chat with him. Luckily we didn't have to wait in that line because we already saw him at the mall! Here's a shot of my sister, mom, dad, and me & Emery all bundled up.
At the end of the week my sweet mom drove me and Emery all the way home- she is such a trooper and really goes out of her way for us. She is so selfless and bends over backward to accommodate having us, she makes the times we get to see her so special! Thanks for everything mom! We took a little break on the long ride and Grammie let Emmie play in her trash bag...oops... I mean purse! :)
And when it's all said and done, we have ourselves one tired little elf!






Sunday, December 7, 2008

Our THANKSgiving!

This Thanksgiving we spent our time at Pismo Beach where my parents rented a house- we had a great time cooking, playing, hanging out, and enjoying one another... here are some pictures from our adventures! Our day at the beach...
My sister, Danika and her husband, Noah
My brother, Scott and his new wife, Lisa
Danika and Owen chasing the waves...
Bubba and Em enjoying some munchies...
Papa sharing his exciting novel with Miss Emmie Lou...
Uncle Scott braving diaper duty...
Grammie Debs and her favorite girl...

My parents and the Big Bird... Happy Turkey Day 2008!
Owen gives Papa's homemade apple pie 2 thumbs up! It really was de-licious!
Emery and Owen watching a little TV after the big meal :)
How cute are these two twirps!?
Emmie and her aunties at a Girls ONLY lunch in SLO on Black Friday!
We had a great weekend and we are truly THANKful for our family that we were able to celebrate with, what a blessing they are to us!


Sunday, November 23, 2008

A-dorable Shoes!!!


WHAT IN THE WORLD!!! These are so stinkin' cute and really reasonably priced!!! Check out this website... it's super cute, Bugaloo. Make sure you check out their "Beyond Biz", they give part of their profit to help end human trafficking... pretty cool. (And if that wasn't cool enough, their shoes are 15% off before Thanksgiving!)

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Under-the-weather...

Emery and I have both been feeling pretty junky this week. My husband was fabulous and even stayed home a day to take care of both of us, and if it weren't for my mother-in-law who came to the rescue, I probably would have shriveled up under a rock somewhere. So here's what Emery got to do while I was sick on the couch- it's safe to say she was officially swallowed up by the TV. Thanks Baby Einstein- you really are a genius :)





Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Haddon Family Pictures...


Curtis Nemetz did a great job taking some family pictures of the Haddon's. My sister-in-law and I decided to get the family together for a photo shot for our mother-in-laws birthday present! Here some samples of how the carrot field photos turned out! 







Chicken Little...

Proud Farmer Bubba and his organic, free range chicken :) That's right folks, we dressed up our little GIRL like a chicken and we were farmers! It was a family affair!
We took Emery to the carnival at church which was awesome! The high school youth group put it on and they did a great job! It was awesome to see everyone from the community out and about at the shin-dig. There were tons of kids from the elementary school that I volunteer at that came to check things out! Yee-haw!
Here's Chicken Little on her first Halloween. We borrowed this stunning costume from the Nemetz Family. Emery's buddies, Milo and Calvin, both wore the little number when they were her age. Thanks guys for letting us borrow it!

She looks more like a stuffed turkey in this picture! Poor thing was sweating up a storm from all that fluff!