Christmas Fun!

Christmas day was a wonderful day of celebration with the family! Here are some pics of the fun that we shared together.

Makenna celebrating her very first Christmas and looking just about as cute as they come!!


Josh sharing some quiet time with his baby sister.

Justin excited about his new West49 shirt.


Laken loving her baby sister.

Noah, cute as he can be!

Rebecca and Molly; cousins who may not live close to one another but are so very close anyway. Molly is my cousin Bridget's daughter and she and I love that the girls are close, just as she and I are!

Dave and Trish enjoying their first Christmas together as husband and wife.

Mom 'encouraging' Dave to pose in a picture with her! :o)

Dad, enjoying sitting back and passing down the tradition of handing out gifts to his son. Dave did a great job which isn't easy with 12 excited people gathered around the tree.

Makenna enjoying a snuggle and nap with her other Grandpa.

Me opening a gift that will hold precious documents. It's a fireproof case that I will store such documents as Hannah's original adoption papers, Passports, etc. Something I've wanted for a while but just never purchased for myself.

Dave posing with the two pizza stones he received. Guess with a family of 7 he could use 2!
I hope all of you shared a wonderful Christmas! I couldn't help but think often over the day of how wonderfully different Christmas is going to be next year when Hannah is HOME!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

May you and your family have a wonderful day of celebration as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior and King!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Finally had bit of time yesterday to put up my tree. Better late than never! So happy it's up as it has been fun to bake and wrap with the tree sparkling and Christmas music playing on the radio.

This year's tree has many ornaments in the same theme....Hannah!! I believe my precious baby girl is born and living on the other side of the world. Merry Christmas Hannah! Here are a few of the ornaments in her honour.






As I sit here in my quiet home preparing to go to my parent's later this morning I can't help but think of how wonderfully different next Christmas will be! The wonder and awe that will be seen in my precious daughter's eyes as she awakes to her first Christmas home with mommy! Guess what....Santa will even be coming to my house next year! Guess I better remember those milk and cookies he enjoys so much. So many changes next year and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Merry Christmas friends! Love to all of you. xoxo

A Christmas Classic ~ The Nutcracker

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Classic ~ The Nutcracker Ballet. Sharon and Larry treated her parents and I to this beautiful ballet performed by the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. It was an afternoon of awe and wonder as the dancers leapt across the stage and Tchaikovsky's beautiful music floated throughout the theatre encompassing all who were there. It is such familiar music and so moving!

It was such a treat to realize that there is still a place where people dress up...the ballet! There were so many children there and they thoroughly enjoyed it. It was amazing to see how the performance grasped the attention of even the little ones that were there. Many appeared to be as young as 4 or 5 years old yet there was so much happening that they watched in awe. What a treat to see the wonder in these little one's eyes! I'm looking forward to the day when Hannah and I will attend this beautiful Christmas Classic together!

It's easy to see how this beautiful performance can become an annual event for many!

Merry Christmas Hannah!

This video by Third Day shares my heart for Hannah. Next year our lives will no longer be represented by the first verse but the second!

It's Christmas time again but you're not home.
Your family is here and yet you're someplace else alone.
So tonight I pray that God would come and hold you in His arms.
I tell you from my heart, I wish you Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas Hannah! Mommy loves you very, very much! xoxo

Christmas Tradition with the Girls

For the past 5 years Sharon and I have celebrated a special Christmas theatre outing with my niece Rebecca and her granddaughter, Victoria. Yesterday we continued the tradition with a performance of Hansel and Gretel. It was a fun afternoon and a wonderful way to continue the tradition! (Victoria - left and Rebecca - right)


A walk down memory lane....
2004 - Aladdin



2005 - Disney on Ice



2006 - The Nutcracker



2007 - Disney Trip!!


I am SO thankful for the friendship that God has given Rebecca and Victoria! After we dropped Grazzlefama off (the girl's nickname for Sharon) we headed home for some baking and painting fun followed by a sleepover. Here are a few more pics.

Cookie decorating

and eventually....sleep! Another day of fun to tuck away for future smiles!

Piano Recital Fun!

Sharon was my piano teacher for years and the many wonderful things she taught me have allowed me to share music with my own piano students. I've been teaching for almost 10 years now and I absolutely love it! What a blessing it is to spend time with the children that enter my home each week and to watch them grow both musically and personally over the years. I am so thankful for all you taught me Sharon and for all that it allows me to offer others. Thank you!!

Tonight I went to her recital and it was a treat to hear her students. Beautiful! I'm biased for sure but I believe she's the best teacher there is!

While at the recital, we also took advantage of having most of their family together and took some Christmas pics. Clothing was not discussed but it worked out really well. This family is like a second family to me and I'm thankful for each and every one of them!!

Sharon preparing for the recital

Sharon and I

Japhia and I (Sorry Japh, it really was the best one of the group! Hopefully your camera captured a better one. I figure it captures the fun of our friendship!)
Joy and I (Hmmm....are you seeing double? Nope! Joy and Japhia are identical twins and tonight showed up dressed almost identically even though they'd never talked about it. Fun!)
Michelle and I (Michelle is Victoria's mom. If you visit here for long you'll know about Victoria and my precious niece Rebecca's cherished friendship)

A proud Grandma and her adorable Grandson Josh who did an amazing job, especially considering he's only had 5 lessons!
Victoria...my how she's growing up!

More pics just for fun...

Christmas Traditions Challenge

** Updated with participants at end of post **

You may remember last year that I issued myself a Christmas Tree Challenge and it kinda took on a life of it`s own as more and more people participated in the challenge.

This year as I begin to prepare for my last Christmas without Hannah, I`m already thinking of some Traditions that I would like to start with her. This year`s Christmas Challenge to you is to share your favourite Christmas Tradition(s) on your blog that you share with your child(ren) or, that you plan on starting when your child joins your family.

Looking forward to learning much from many of you...and learning some new traditions to share with Hannah!

Also, if you`d like me to link your blog here please enter a comment mentioning you`ve added your tradition to your blog or, sending me an email.

It`s beginning to look a lot like Christmas....YAY!!!

Participants:
The Daily Grind
Hanging on by one red thread
The Happy Geek
Mother and Daughter

David Phelps in Concert - What a Treat!

Tonight was an amazing night of praise, worship and celebration! David Phelps was live in concert at our church and oh what a treat it was to attend this Christmas concert! David formerly sang with the Gaither Vocal Band and for the past couple of years has been on tour on his own. A friend's son is his current drummer so their tour headed our way when they were in the area and oh my am I glad they did! The evening ended a little sooner than originally intended when the power went but David finished the concert with 'O Holy Night' Beautiful!! Enjoy.

(Note: Video is not from tonight's concert as recordings were not permitted.)



His tour is heading back to the US so check out the link above to see if David's Christmas tour is going to be in your area.