Christmas Card Photos 2012

The Lighted Christmas Balls

Later that evening we packed the Kiser family into the minivan and went to see the spectacular lighted Christmas balls in town.  

 Don't these two look cozy?!

 The pictures really don't do it justice, especially mine, but the best way I can describe it is magical!  We all look forward to seeing how many there will be that year.  Not only is it a beautiful display, but it's beautiful too see a neighbors come togetherto bless their community.  

Here's the interesting story of how the "balls" got started and the amazing things that God has accomplished using chicken wire and a string of lights!

Christmas Eve 2012

We spent our traditional Christmas Eve day with the Kiser family.  Here are a few snapshots of the kids opening gifts and taking some wooden wagon rides around the house!

Sleeping Beauty

Our local (at home) library

I just love days where we don't have anywhere to be except at home!  Even though things might get a little messy around here, ah hem, like every single book pulled off the shelf, I love watching the kids just be themselves.

 And I especially love it that they love their books!  This particular morning they spent hours perusing our little library, looking at pictures, and telling little stories.

 Of course, this little one also enjoys gnawing on corners and ripping off flaps, but I hope she always likes the feel of a book in her hand.

 I love listening to her animal noises while she reads Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

 Some of our other all-time favorite board books include, Goodnight Moon, Pat the Bunny, anything by Sandra Boynton, but especially Moo, Baa, Lalala and But Not the Hippopotamus, The Little Bible Board Book, and I Love You As Much.

 Some of Will's current favorites are Ferdinand the Bull, Where the Wild Things Are, Corduroy, How I Became a Pirate, We're Going on a Lion Hunt, Green Eggs and Ham and anything else Dr. Suess, and The Jesus Storybook Bible.  I've been working on stepping up Will's book collection lately, so let me know if you have some suggestions!

 That's all for now.  Happy reading!

Christmas Train Countdown

Baa-Humbug

Will's preschool Christmas pageant was really cute, except for the fact that he was not a very happy participant. I think most of his baa-d attitude stemmed from the fact that he didn't like wearing his itchy costume.  Here's the video of my grumpy Mexican sheep...

Preschool Christmas Party

A friend and I volunteered to do the Christmas party for our boys' class.  She did the paper crafts and I did the food crafts.  Thanks to Pinterest I found some really cute ideas!  For starters, I couldn't resist making these Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer water bottles.  The kids loved them!

For a healthy treat, we made snowman bagels. I brought all the fixins and the kids created their own little Frosty masterpieces.  

 We made Christmas trees for dessert.  For those, we just turned an ice cream cone upside down, covered it in green frosting, and used M&Ms for ornaments.

 All the kids were so cute and excited!  And I enjoyed seeing Will interact with his classroom buddies.  Merry Christmas PP&K!

1940's USO Squadron Welcome Home Party

In lieu of a Christmas Party, the World Famous Rockets opted to throw a "Welcome Home" party instead!  Basically, this meant we had the freedom to choose a venue off base and thanks to Jacque's brilliant idea to use the Wayne County Museum we had the perfect space and event theme.  

During WWII, this was the USO headquarters, so the top floor is a great open space with a stage and dance floor.  Some artifacts of the era still remain... like this awesome sign!  

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it was to get ready for this event. I mean I went all in... red lipstick and nail polish, had my hair done in Victory rolls and even wore fake eyelashes! I was even able to wear one of my great-grandmother's dresses.  It was SO much fun and everyone looked completely glamorous!  Makes me wish we still dressed like this.

We had a formal sit-down dinner full of Air Force ceremony, before the party kicked into high gear with the photo booth and opening of the dance floor.

 This was probably my favorite picture of us from the night!

 My wonderful friend Shannon was able to come be our photographer from the event.  She did a spectacular job with our wild and crazy group, and I think she'll vouch that they are indeed wild and crazy! And I'll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves.

Such a memorable evening and homecoming celebration!  Everyone was finally able to relax after a stressful 7+ months of deployment preparation and separation. Whew!  We love being a part of the World Famous!