Christmas #3

We had our own family Christmas here at home yesterday morning. Can you believe that the kids still weren't sick of opening presents?? We were originally going to do it Friday night, but Daniel worked too late and Adelaide and Alicia were in bed before he even got home. I think the kids were disappointed that they had to wait another day, but give me a break...they'd already had 2 other Christmas's!!!! So, we opened our gifts to each other and had a big breakfast for lunch on Saturday. Daniel was sure to take a picture of everyone with their favorite gift.

Addi got a talking baby doll from Tristan. She loves it and has taken it to bed with her everynight and naptime since she got it. She is also wearing a blue scarf sent to her from Grandma Alta and shoes that I got from all three kids. I barely had them pulled out of the box before Adelaide had them on HER feet.

Alicia asked for curtains on her list, so not only did she get curtains, but a matching comforter and sheets! She has graduated from all the baby pink; going from little girl, to pre-adolescent!

Along with every other boy in America, Tristan has gotten into Transformers, so Alicia and Adelaide got him this transformer...he loved it!

Daniel got 2 boxes (one from Tristan, one from Adelaide and Alicia) of 550 rounds of .22 long rifle bullets to support his new hobby of "shooting." (Just imagine me with the kids at Wal-Mart in the hunting section reading this information off of a post-it note....)

This is the fabulous purse that Daniel got for me. I took the liberty of cropping myself out of this picture...it wasn't pretty and since I publish this blog, I get to decide what pictures of me get published and what ones don't...but the purse deserved to be seen!

Christmas #2

Our second Christmas was spent at the Lake of the Ozarks with Daniel's parents and his brother, Nathan's family. Unfortunately, on the way to the Lake, our car started having some issues. We weren't able to get it into the shop to get fixed by the time we needed to leave, so luckily Daniel's parents have an extra car we could drive home. It is a huge Ford-350 pick-up truck. It has lots of storage room, but not much room for passengers. It was a cozy ride home, but we are so glad we were able to GET home! Daneil HAD to be at work on Friday. They told him unless he was dead, he was expected to be at work...no excuses. So Daniel made it to work and we are looking forward to a visit from Daniel's parents later this month to swap back cars.


Tristan, Alicia, and Adelaide really enjoyed playing with their cousins. Daniel and I were able to go on a date without having to pay a babysitter! It was quite a treat! We all went to go see "Water Horse" at the theatre. The kids always enjoy going to the movies with Grandpa because he buys lots of treats. They were all fighting over who would sit next to him. After a few, very short days, we packed up the loaner car and headed home to gear up for our 3rd and final Christmas this year!

Alicia, Adelaide, and Tamblyn all dressed up in Tamblyn's dress up clothes she got from grandma and grandpa.

Here's Addi "holding" her baby cousin Rocky (7 months). We got quite a kick out of it since Rocky is only 5 pounds lighter than her, so he looks about the same size, but Addi just kept asking to hold the "baby."

Christmas #1

Last Friday (21st) morning we piled in the car after Daniel got home from pulling a 24 hour shift without any sleep and drove to Kansas City to spend our first of 3 Christmas's. All of my siblings were there (except for my youngest brother who is serving a mission in Chile who we got to talk to Christmas Eve) as well as Opa (my grandfather) who came all the way from Lethbridge, Alberta to be with us. Adelaide loved playing with Opa. He would be sitting on the couch and she would bring him toy after toy to play with her. He was so sweet with her and always played along.

There was the annual rib dinner on Saturday night compliments of Martin and Mari. The ribs were extremely good this year and we appreciated all their hard work. We had originally planned to go south to Chanute, Kansas on Sunday to spend the day with Daniel's grandparents, but were un-invited after an ice storm blew through. The roads down in Chanute were pretty bad, so Daniel's grandmother advised us not to make the trip. We were all pretty bummed out; we don't get down to the farm very often. Instead, we went to church with my family and then the kids played in the snow with their Uncle Seth.

Monday, Christmas Eve, was spent taking the annual family photo, the boys played their football game, we sang Christmas carols, read Love Notes (notes to each family member that say why we love them), and played games.

Tuesday morning we were awoken to my parents blaring Christmas music at 7am. My dad was showered and dressed (which in all the years growing up my dad tortured us by taking FOREVER to get ready in the morning...we couldn't open gifts until all of the family members were accounted for...complete torture for a kid), and my mom was dancing around finding herself quite amusing. I was just grateful it was't any earlier than 7. We opened gifts, ate breakfast, then packed up the car again to head to the Lake to spend a few days with Daniel's family.

Opa with all the grandkids. L-R Lily, Alicia, Addi, Ryan, Tristan, Luke

The boys looking tough after the football game. L-R Martin, Daniel, Tristan, Seth, Mitchell

Opening presents Christmas morning. Alicia loved her Hannah Montana doll and Addi loved her duck slippers and new animal books.

Tristan was excited about his car steering wheel game from my parents and his new Nautica bath robe from Santa (not pictured).

Happy 2nd Birthday Adelaide!!!

We celebrated Adelaide's birthday a day early since Daniel is pulling a 24 hour shift tomorrow. She was so excited to open her presents and eat her cupcake. She loved the books and bowling ball set from my parents, cards from Tristan and Alicia, and her new helmet and tricycle from Daniel and I. She could barely contain her excitement! Everytime we go to someone else's house who has a tricycle, Adelaide rides it the whole time, so I figured it would be the perfect gift.

Little Angel

This morning for the church Christmas party, the Nushery (18mo-3yrs) put on a little Nativity. You can imagine what that was like. I think I was the only parent not up there trying to help their child. One of the wisemen didn't want to giveup his gift for baby Jesus, and Joseph wasn't very interested at all. It was very cute, though. Adelaide was dressed as an angel. I made her wings last night out of an old diaper box and covered them with aluminum foil. She was already in bed, so I couldn't test out the size and as a result she ended up with a very wide wing span! Oops! There was hardly room for the kids sitting next to her!

ICE!

Last night we went up to Opryland to see the How The Grinch Stole Christmas ICE! display. EVERYTHING (even the colored stuff) is made out of ice, so it is very cold inside...as we have become accustomed to southern weather, we were all freezing despite the big blue coats they gave us before entering. It was a neat display and very colorful, but we tended to hurry through since Addi was literally shivering. Here are some pictures so you can get a better idea of what it was like.

The Nativity Scene was displayed out of all clear ice at the end. The picture doesn't do the beauty of it justice.

Christmas Spirit

We've really started getting into the Christmas spirit this week. On Monday, we got together as a family to tie a double sided fleece blanket for our Salvation Army Tree Angel. I figured that since Tristan and Alicia's names were probably once on a tree like that, we should start a tradition as a family to adopt an angel every year. The "need" our 5-year old girl had was blankets, so that is what we did.

Yesterday, we went to Brunch with Santa sponsored by the spousal support group at Vanderbilt. He wasn't as natural looking as the Santa we got a picture with last year, but he was friendly. Addi and Alicia had a good time talking to him and telling him what they wanted for Christmas. Tristan was a good sport and got in the picture, but he was NOT going to sit on Santa's lap.

Today, a Baptist church up in Nashville was putting on a "Walk thru Old Bethlehem." They had Roman guards, animals, sacraficial animals, tax collectors, a census (a card with how many people were in your group and what church you belonged to), a synagogue, a booth to make rag dolls, carpenters, a wine press, tent maker, basket maker, olive press, and a potter. It was incredibly crowded...which I would imagine was just like Bethlehem considering there was no room at any of the Inns. After you walk thru, you end up outside where they had the stable with the scene of the Nativity (a red-headed Mary and baby Jesus were interesting). All of the workers were VERY much in character which made it even more fun. All of the signs were written in Hebrew...you could tell they made every attempt to make it seem very real...it was really impressive. Supposedly this church has been putting this on for almost 30 years. It was really well done and we all enjoyed it!

Adelaide was very unsure about this Roman guard.

Alicia in her own Roman Chariot...a dream come true, I'm sure.

This guy was trying to trade his nasty smelling fish for a guy's "image taker" (video camera). Unfortunately, they weren't able to work out a deal...imagine that. All of the booth workers were hagglers....

Addi and I in front of the carpenter shop.

O Tannenbaum

This year I decided to go with a "pretty" tree instead of the "whatever" tree I've always done in the past. I went with a red and gold theme and did everything I've never done before....ribbon on the tree...beads on the tree...and all matching ornaments. I'm quite proud of myself!

My Poem

Adelaide got a cold last week, and kindly passed it on to me. Her and I stayed home from church yesterday and then I spent most of the day reading in bed. Tristan came to check on me a few times to ask how I was feeling and if he could get me anything. About mid-afternoon he came baring a homemade card. It was a cut-out snowman. On the inside it said:

I hope you feel better,
so your face don't get redder.
But that will never happen,
so keep on nappen.

I hope you feel better alright,
so have a good night.
And someday you'll be just right.

I love you and always do.
Love, Tristan Lonergan

It totally brightened my day and I gave him hugs and smiles and said thank-you and gushed over him for a few minutes. After all that, he says, "Mom, can I watch a movie?" That boy knows how to swoon...look out ladies becuase I'm afraid he'll be quite the ladies man....but for now, so long as I'm the only lady in his life he's swooning, I'm just fine with it!!!

Our Future Herpetologist

A few days ago Daniel's "dream" book came in the mail....The Completely Illustrated ATLAS of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terraruim. Supposedly he's been eyeing this book for quite some time and finally found a deal on-line....Hallelujah!!!!! It is certainly everyone person's dream to own this book, isn't it? So don't anyone be jealous!

Seriously, it is a really neat book with awesome pictures. Adelaide and Tristan have especially taken interest in it. I've seen Tristan thumb through it when he has a few spare minutes and Adelaide loves to look at it ALL the time. Last night Daniel and Tristan were reading from it while sitting on the couch. I was cleaning up the kitchen when Adelaide came in jibber-jabbering about something. Finally, I told her to, "show me." So she took me by the hand and led me to the couch...sat down next to Daniel, then gave me the "come here" hand signal...then patted the couch next to her as if to say, "Sit down, mom and have a look at this really cool book!" So that's what we did for a few minutes before bathtime.

This morning, I found Addi on top of Daniel's desk (where the said book was left) thumbing through the pages. I helped her move the book to the couch, and we sat looking at pictures for a very long time. For any of you who know Adelaide, you know she has a very short attention span and is ALWAYS on the go. I have finally found what slows her down.....The Completely Illustrated ATLAS of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terraruim........go figure. Maybe we have a future herpetologist on our hands!!!???

Thanksgiving

We just enjoyed a five day visit from my brother, Martin with his wife, Mari and son, Ryan. They came out to celebrate Turkey Day with us. It was really fun to have family around. We played games, went to the park, roasted hot dogs and s'mores, hung out, and ate and ate and ate. We had a beautiful spread for our Thanksgiving meal. Martin made excellent mashed potatos (which we finally polished off tonight...after 3 meals). Mari made an amazing apple pie. The turkey was cooked to perfection and I even made homemade stuffing. Maybe next year I'll work myself up to homemade rolls. As for this year, we enjoyed the Costco version. We also had a co-worker of Daniel's over named Kristalynn and we taught her how to play Rumikub. Daniel enjoyed his one-day-a-year football watching. Although after about 30 minutes Alicia was asking Daniel if they could watch something else. So we ended up setting up a movie for her on the computer. Not much of a football fan, I guess. Daniel and Martin also attended the Predators vs. Red Wings game Thursday night. Martin wore his Red Wings jersey, which was fine, until they left and the Red Wings had lost, so he got heckled a little bit.

Adelaide and Ryan developed quite the friendship. They wore out the carpet around the couch chasing each other. They would just giggle and laugh...it was really cute. We were worried about them this summer because they had a hard time getting along, but we think that they are over that now. When they left this morning Addi kept saying "Ryan, Ryan, Ryan" very distraught like. And then when she woke up from her nap, she asked about him again. It's a good thing we will see him again in a few weeks at Christmas!!!!

We really enjoy having visitors and we are so glad that Martin, Mari and Ryan made the long drive to stay with us. So, come one come all!!!!!

***For pictures, you'll have to check out Martin and Mari's blog. Somehow all the pictures from this weekend were taken with their camera!

Mini Vacation

Over the weekend I flew with Adelaide to Kansas City to see my brother who just came home from serving a two year mission in San Fernando, California for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We've only been able to communicate with him through letters and emails, so I was pretty excited to be able to see and talk with him again. And it just worked out that Daniel had the weekend off and could stay home with Tristan and Alicia (seeing as it is too far for all of us to drive with that quick of a trip and too costly for all of us to fly). Since Addi still flies free, I decided to take her with me to make things easier on Daniel. Plus, she and Mitchell hadn't met since she was born only a month after he left. After her and Mitch got aquainted, she loved hanging out with him and giving him big hugs. And I ended up having myself a great vacation. My family was so wonderful with helping me out with Adelaide and giving me lots of breaks and lots of time to myself. Daniel survived with the other two. They were party animals from what I hear, but they still did their chores and homework!!! So they had lots of time to play, but they got their work done, too!

(Mitchell, me, and Adelaide)

My Grandma Alta was also in Kansas City for a little visit. She is from Southern Alberta so we don't get to see her very often. We just live sooo far away. Adelaide loved playing with Grandma and giving her lots of hugs. My grandmother is an amazing woman, and I admire her greatly, so I always enjoy seeing her and getting to chat with her.

Kitty Diaries

We've had quite the adventure with our kitty over the last couple of days. I'll start from the beginning. On Halloween night I got a call from a neighbor a few doors down (whom we've never met) telling me that he had my kitty. I said, "Oh, she's just an outdoor cat. Just let her go and she'll find her way home." Well, she didn't come home that night, but that didn't worry me too much since it has happened before. The next day (yesterday), however, she still hadn't come home and by 3 'o clock, I started to get worried. Thank goodness for our new caller-id! We looked up our neighbor's phone number from the caller-id to ask if they had seen Nala. They said they saw her before they left for work. We asked permission to go over and call to her.

Daniel, Addi, and I walked on over and started calling for her. We could hear her meowing, but could not find her! Finally, I spotted her in a tree about 45 feet up. Unfortunately, this was no climbing tree. It was skinning and tall and its branches were tiny and frail looking. My first thought was to call the fire department, but supposedly they don't do, "my cat is stuck in a tree" calls. Daniel, being the resourceful guy that he is, quickly got on the internet to find out what to do. We thought about leaving her there and figuring she'd come down eventually, but we read online that doesn't happen. Instead they get tired and end up falling out of the tree. So Daniel rigged up a contraption with a laundry basket, but the plan was flawed and he ended up just getting the basket stuck in the tree. By this time it was dark, he couldn't see, and not only was the cat stuck, but the laundry basket as well.

We ended up having to leave the cat in the tree overnight. Daniel had to leave for work at 5:30am and we didn't know when we'd be able to get back over to try getting her down. Daniel also informed me today he had a very restless night trying to figure out another contraption to get the cat down from the tree and hating the fact she was stuck there all night balancing herself on a tiny branch, hungry, and tired. Fortunately, after Daniel got to work his attending physician (who happens to be a cat lover) caught wind of our cat situation and ordered Daniel to go home and NOT to come back until his cat was out of the tree. On his way home, Daniel stopped at Wal-Mart to get some supplies, got home, rigged up a new contraption involving fishing line, multiple ropes, and a cat carrier with tuna in it. It was really a genius idea...definitely inspired.

So, we finally get the cat carrier up in the tree right underneath the kitty, but she is too scared to move to get in it. We called to her and tried to coax her using encouraging words. It was frustrating to see the cat so close to safety, but not being able to show her. She was 45 feet away, and we'd done all we could do. After about 20 minutes of calling, "here kitty, kitty, kitty" she finally came down a branch, lost her footing, then jumped into the box!!!!

We got her down and I was crying and cuddling her and Daniel and I were just so relieved!!!! All of this from 2 people who are allergic to cats in the first place and aren't really "cat people"!!!!! Nala is now resting, eating, and drinking in the garage. I think I'll keep her in there for a few days!!!!!!

***These are not photos of the actual rescue, they are re-enactment photos. You can see the stuck laundry basket (which we did eventuall get down) and above it is the kitty carrier. Nala was a few branches above the top of the carrier.

Trick-Or-Treat

We have enjoyed the Halloween season at our house this year! Last week Adelaide and I went to a roadside vender to get pumkins, gourds, and a bale of hay to decorate our front porch. Then, over the weekend we attended 2 Halloween parties; one at church and the other with the Vanderbilt Anesthesia program. Both were excellent parties. Alicia and Tristan carved their pumpkins at the Vanderbilt party, but we didn't have our camera to take a picture of them doing it. Alicia ended up carving 3 faces on her pumpkin! It was very creative.

Yesterday, Daniel, Addi, and I carved 3 pumpkins. Adelaide had a great time helping me "gut" the pumpkin. We were separating the seeds from the goo so I could toast the seeds, so she would pull out 1 seed at a time. Before we started she decided to take off her shirt...I thought of making her put it back on, but I figured what was the point? She's gotten to the point where she can undress herself, which is great, except when we are out in public. We'll have to break her of that habit!

A friend of ours in the neighborhood (who we also go to church with) has a mule, so he drove that over with his 3 girls and took Daniel and the kids with him. They all rode that inbetween houses. Since the houses in our neighborhood are so far apart, it was nice for them to hop in the mule and catch a break here and there. Adelaide caught on very quickley to the whole candy thing. She'd go right up to the door and hold her pillowcase open. Or, if they let her pick her own candy, she would very carefully choose her favorites; suckers, tootsie rolls, and smarties. She lasted as long as the big kids, which was highly impressive, but totally crashed when we finally got her into bed.

Here are a few pictures of our festivities!

Addi among the pumpkins

Adelaide and I "gutting" the pumpkin

The costumes: Tristan was a basketball player (he wore Uncle Wes's old warm-up suit from when he was about Tristan's age), Alicia was a butterfly, and Adelaide was a flower. And as you can tell Tristan was not excited about taking this picture...I've found it is near impossible to get a picture with all 3 looking happy.

The Mule. Tristan was relieved to see that it was a motorized vehicle an not a donkey. Can you imagine the pictures in his head??? Riding around the neighborhood on a donkey???

The Pumpkins: Tristan's is the one in front. Alicia's is the one mid-right. Daniel's is on the upper right and mine are the two on the left.