Merry Christmas to All...

Well, I am trying to get up-to-date on my blogging before the New Year's weekend rolls around since we have so much going on with Claira's birthday, her sealing, and her blessing. So here I am a few days after Christmas with bathrooms to scrub and new toys to make space for, but I am blogging instead.

Christmas was so much fun this year. Grace is at that perfect age. When you combine a holiday as magical as Christmas with Grace's imagination and love for all things full of wonder, we knew we were in for some wonderful memories. She was so into the decorating, the baking, the gifts--giving and getting. A few days before Christmas I was a little grumpy thinking of all the things I needed to accomplish in preparation for the upcoming holiday. In my grumpiness, I mentioned something about cancelling Christmas this year. Grace immediately started to whale with giant crocodile tears and said "What about the gifts?" I responded "Is that what Christmas is really about anyway?" She quickly corrected herself and said "I meant what about the giving?" Of course we didn't cancel Christmas, and I am certainly glad we didn't because we would have missed out on so many wonderful memories with our cute girls.

Ahhhh...Christmas dresses--pictures will have to come later, but I had to mention them. Claira was totally sick and only made it through sacrament meeting that day, so we have to dress them up again to get some photos. Both looked more beautiful than should be allowed. It might be a little scary how in love I am with my girls. The obsession over their Christmas dresses began a few months ago, and I have to say I am so glad I found their dresses and purchased them before Matt got the old heave ho--I just couldn't have justified them at this point. Is it terrible that I didn't return them immediately and get the money back to spend on food next month? Hey, they looked fabulous--it was so worth it!

Christmas Eve was spent with some good friends of ours. The kids acted out the nativity story--Grace was Mary, Andy was Joseph, this year a doll was baby Jesus (last year Sara was the baby Jesus--this year she was in bed), and Claira was an angel. It was cute to see the kids together. Claira wanted baby Jesus more than anything, but she eventually settled for a different doll instead. Santa came for an early visit to check in on the kids, and after seeing Claira's reaction to him, my mind was quickly set at ease that I had not waited in a long line for her to see Santa for the first time. Grace didn't want to sit on Santa's lap--she informed me that she had written him a letter and that would be enough. (The letter, by the way, is a little treasure. She sounded out all the words herself, and drew Santa a picture of a Christmas tree. She decided it would be best to leave the letter next to the milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. She was confident that he would have what she was asking for in his bag of toys on the sleigh--I guess he keeps a pretty large inventory of everything that kids want.) The evening was lots of fun, and we enjoyed yummy food, good friends, and fun entertainment.

One cookie consumed--one to go.

The bell still rings for us. Grace asked for and received a sleigh bell just like the one on Polar Express. What a lucky little girl!

Claira giving Grace loves-she gives Grace the best loves of anyone.

This is my favorite Christmas photo.

Yes, Julie is wearing pink pajamas. No, she doesn't come that way. Thank you Santa for changing her out of the ugly hippy clothes.

So she gets a stroller from Santa, and all she wants to do is stand on the box.

My favorite gift--from Grace. It is a self-portrait in an exquisite frame covered with pasta and painted gold.

Christmas was supposed to be sweet and simple this year, and I really tried, but when it all came together, I kind of thought to myself "Where did all this stuff come from?" I was so careful this year. It was so much fun though, and I have to admit I did do better than last year. Christmas morning was priceless as the girls came downstairs to see if Santa had made it to our house, Grace's mouth dropped open in absolute shock and amazement, and Claira headed straight for the cookies that Santa hadn't quite consumed the night before. Grace excitedly started going through her stocking, while Claira was content to stand in the foyer with a cookie in each hand just nibbling away (makes me happy we didn't have time to frost them the night before, which is probably why Santa only took a few courtesy bites). The cookie frenzy lasted only until Grace opened her most wanted item on her Christmas list this year--An American Girl Doll with light skin, brown eyes, blond hair, and pink pajamas (yes, it was this specific). As soon as Claira saw Julie, she wanted nothing else. Her darling soft dolly and stroller could not compare to Julie. Please watch the video I have posted to see Claira's latest and cutest thing. She has an obsession with Julie, and the only thing that curbed this obsession in the least was the "Happyhead" doll that Grace gave her (Grace has a chubby little "Lots to Love" doll with a grumpy face that she affectionately calls "Grumpyhead", so when I asked her what she wanted to give Claira she said "a Grumpyhead doll". We headed to KB Toys, which is where Grumpyhead was purchased, only to find the shelves wiped clean as they are going out of business. As we scanned the doll aisle for anything resembling Grumpyhead, Grace yelled out in excitement "Look! A Happyhead doll". She was thrilled to give Claira Grumphead's sister for Christmas). Claira loves Happyhead, but secretly she loves Julie more.

Matt's mom & dad gave Claira this little ride-on toy. Once again, all she wanted to do was stand on it.

Christmas Day was so much fun, and we enjoyed having Matt's parents come down for a wonderful dinner and more fun gifts. It was truly a day of wonderful memories, good food, and lots of love. We are so grateful to have two beautiful, healthy, happy little girls. What joy they bring us, and as we reflect on the highs and lows of 2008, we are truly grateful for family and friends and a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who share their constant love with us.

Claira walking the halls as we waited.

We went to see Matt's grandparents after our finalization. It was so fun to get to see them again! We have missed them and are so glad Grandpa is feeling well enough to perform our sealing!

The day after Christmas proved to be another FABULOUS day as we had our court date scheduled to finalize with Claira. We sat around outside the courtroom for about an hour before we got to go before the judge. The clerk had us raise our right hands and swore us in (Grace raised her hand and said "Yes" too). Then the judge asked us if we would swear to care for Claira and provide for her physical and financial needs as our own child and provide a loving, safe home for her. We (Grace included) said "Yes", and then it was done. The judge declared us the legal parents of Miss Claira Jane, and the clerk and bailiff clapped. Then the judge invited Grace and Claira up to the front of the courtroom to choose a stuffed animal from the table. Grace picked a silly green teddy bear, and Claira grabbed a brown bear with a sweater on (while they are two of the ugliest stuffed animals, they will always have special meaning). Then the bailiff took our picture with the judge, and we were on our way in less than 10 minutes. It was great! It amazed me to think that for most people that was it--that 10 minutes in court was what they had been waiting for, but for us it was just a stepping stone to get to the temple to be sealed as a forever family. Yes, the legal stuff is definitely important, but for us the religious aspect is what we have been anticipating more than anything. I can't wait to have my girls in the temple--it is going to be an amazing experience! I have to say that I feel a little bit sorry for all of you whose children are born under that covenant--while that is obviously wonderful, there is nothing like seeing your baby all dressed in white in the temple. It is truly incredible! Wish you could all be there with us! We can't wait!

...and to all a good night.

A Tribute to Pre-Christmas Merriment...

So I decided I needed to do a quick post before the Christmas rush starts seeing as tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Once again I will just recap a few of the near and dear moments from the past couple of weeks.

Christmas Tree Shopping: I really had my heart set on a flocked tree this year. I knew it would be the best backdrop for my all green tree ornaments, so the search began. After stopping at three tree lots--the first we didn't even get out because we didn't see flocked trees and the second we were feeling lots of pressure to buy a really ugly, non-flocked tree so we told the people we needed to go back to the car to get our girls' coats and an umbrella (it was starting to rain) and then we took off--so after three tree lots we found our tree. It was perfect! We (or I guess I should say the tree lot worker) threw it on top of our van (without a blanket underneath to protect my van roof) and strapped it down and away we went. Now I just have to find time to decorate it.

Mommy/Daughter Date with Grace to see the Nutcracker: Last year (2007--pre-Claira), we took Grace to the San Francisco Ballet to see the Nutcracker. It was amazing, and she loved it. This year, I promised to take her to a different, closer, cheaper version of the Nutcracker. She didn't forget the promise, so I made last-minute arrangements for us to see a showing of the said ballet out in Livermore. She and I primped our hair and polished each other's nails in preparation for this special event. Grace picked out her shoes and hairstyle after mommy revealed the beautiful new dress for the occasion. We had lots of fun together and enjoyed great seats (5th row). So even though it wasn't the San Fran version, we loved spending the evening just the two of us.

Gingerbread Houses at kindergarten: On the Wednesday before school let out, the entire kindergarten class got together with their 3rd grade buddies to make gingerbread houses. I volunteered to supervise, and I am so glad I did. It was so much fun to finally meet Grace's buddy, Camryn. She has been talking about her for a couple of months now, and Grace loves her. She is a very quiet, very sweet little girl. She was very cute with Grace, and they both created some adorable little houses. The night before, Grace kept telling me "Tomorrow I'm going to eat a gingerbread house at school". I kept correcting her and saying that she was going to "build a gingerbread house", but she insisted that she was going to eat it right then and there. Despite this insistence, she didn't eat any candy the whole time she was building her house, which is more than I can say for the other children and Claira (I kept sneaking her pieces from the broken graham crackers to keep her happy in her stroller). There were no holiday parties allowed at school, so our class got together for a book exchange and some food after school that same day. It was a fun and festive holiday celebration, and the kids were thrilled when their teacher stopped by to say hi.

10th Wedding Anniversary (December 18th): That's right folks! Matt and I are old enough to have been married for 10 years. We celebrated in the most modest fashion--really just recognizing the day rather than even celebrating. Originally we had BIG plans for our 10-year anniversary, but then after Claira joined our family, we scaled the plans back knowing that I wouldn't be ready to leave my less-than-one-year old babe for a week while we were off being romantical in some exotic location. So we decided we would just head out to Utah and leave the girls overnight with my parents in Idaho. This would allow us to stay at the cute little cabin where we spent our wedding night and take in a session at the Logan Temple (where we were married on an EXTREMELY cold and somewhat snowy day back in 1998). Then when we got our court date for finalizing with Claira for the 26th of December, we cancelled those plans and decided to go for an even simpler version. The third plan was to head up to Sacramento and leave the girls with Matt's parents overnight and stay at a little spa resort for some much needed rest and relaxation. So then when our anniversary day arrived and Matt went to work only to find out that his last day would be on January 15th (yea, we thought it was a pretty sucky anniversary gift as well), we decided to cancel this final plan and stayed home, ate Chinese food and kind of wallowed in our own misery. Matt did buy me beautiful flowers! Thanks honey! Matt's parents were so sweet though--they came down on Saturday and watched the girls so Matt and I went to lunch and ran a few errands--just the two of us. Too bad we had already purchased a beautiful new dining room table and chairs set for our anniversary gift (we went practical--after 10 years priorities change, so we decided that since we didn't have enough chairs for our family to sit at our old table that we would buy something that would allow us that opportunity). Anyways, it's been a wonderful 10 years, and I just have to say "I love you Matt!"

Decorating the Christmas Tree: A couple of days before Christmas, we finally got around to decorating our tree. I really thought it was pretty enough without any lights or decorations, but it just wasn't tradition. Grace was a big help with decorating this year. She seems to have an eye for it. She hung most of the ornaments on the tree--all the while oohing and ahhing over each one. After she went to bed, I repositioned a few things (maybe 10 at the most) and added the final touches. I kept it simple this year, but I think it turned out beautiful. The whole house looks great for Christmas and most of it is Claira-proof (we just put the gate in front on the tree). I think we are finally ready for Santa to come!

Blog Backlog...

So I took a break from blogging for a few weeks--not intentionally, but it became the last thing on my long list of things to do (not that I really have time now, but I figured why not get caught up and lose that guilt for the time being). In an effort to keep a little record for history's sake, I am going to give a few noteworthy moments a shoutout. Let's see if I can keep this short and sweet but still give these memories their shining moment.

We celebrated Matt's birthday with balloons & streamers, a few gifts (including a remote control car that can drive on the walls from the girls--Grace's idea of course), Mexican food for dinner, and the most incredible Cheesecake Fantasy pie from Cold Stone. Happy 33rd birthday Matt! We love you!

We attended Grace's Thanksgiving program and classroom feast. Grace spent much of the program ducked down looking for the special pom-pom mommy gave her to keep in her pocket to remember me (she'd had an emotional moment of missing mommy the day before and was worried it might happen again). Of course the pom-pom didn't stay in her pocket, and all throughout the sing-a-long she kept ducking down to the ground to find it. Notice the circles on the two photos--one with Grace's little head showing and the other with the obvious space where her little head should be. Once again, Grace entertained us in a way no other can.

We made the 10-12 hour trek to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with my mom & dad and a few of my siblings. The girls did great on the drive, and the weather was most accommodating--to the point that we didn't even have to open the suitcase with all of our big, puffy winter coats. There wasn't a speck of snow to be seen--much to Grace's dismay. She still managed to have fun playing outside and running around my parents' huge yard. Claira loved being outside as well, and it was actually good that it wasn't too cold so she could spend some time chasing kitty cats and walking in boots on the grass (her coordination was awesome).

Okay, so another flashback photo of Grace's 2nd Thanksgiving in the outfit that Claira is wearing. Yes, it was intentional. I just found the dress in my next tub of hand-me-downs and decided to put Claira in it to keep the Thanksgiving memories on track.

She also got to rub her little cousin Sally's head much like Grace rubs hers, and she gave Sally some sweet loves as well (something else she has learned to do well from Grace).

Grace got to take part in some good ole country fun--feeding the cows. The funny thing is that as a member of a non-farming family living in a farming community, I don't think I have ever fed cows. No matter, Grace loved it!

We stayed up late and "farmed" with my brother Thayne & his wife Jenni, and my sister Carrie. Playing the Farming Game into the wee hours of the night is a family tradition of ours--as is me winning each time we play. So imagine my utter dismay when I suffered the worst luck known to mankind and lost the game. I really, really, really hate to lose as my family all knows too well, so I am surprised that Thayne & Jenni were so willing to admit victory given my sensitivity on the subject. But gloat they did, and all I can say is just wait until next time.

It was a fun trip, and the week flew by too quickly. The only consolation is the fact that my mom & dad will be coming to visit just after Christmas when we will finally be able to go to the temple to have Claira sealed to us. WooHoo!

k mi99 xbg rgffb bv h t b (Claira typing on the keyboard)

Now we are in full-swing ahead mode trying to get ready for our 10-year anniversary, Christmas, our court date with Claira, Claira's birthday, Claira's sealing, and Claira's blessing. I feel like my list of things to do is longer than Santa's list of good girls and boys. I am just trying to keep the right perspective and really prioritize things right now. Shopping is done (most of it on-line), and bits of Christmas are appearing around our house each day. We are going to get a tree on Saturday, so then the fight to keep it safe from Claira's little hands will begin. I think I can keep it all together long enough to get through the holidays, then hopefully I can crash for a few days before the next big thing comes along. So here's to getting it all done with a smile on my face...I hope!