Pre Christmas Activities.

Courtney asked if John and I could take Soliana from Thursday till Saturday so she could be at Preschool for our Friday service.

After thinking about it for half a second, of course, I said, "YES."

Courtney brought her to school on Thursday as usual.

We had a fun day.  She got to stay all day and have lunch with me.

 We practiced for our program that day, too.

I had a full house of Preschoolers, but the day went very well.

That night, we just stayed in and watched TV.  John is working overtime, so he came home just in time to say good night to Soli.

On Friday, Mallory gave her a ride to school.

We had a full house again.

Our service was at 9:00, it went very well.

The so called party after the service was unorganized chaos, but the kids enjoyed it.

Soli, my mom, and I enjoyed Culver's for lunch and then some shopping.

When John got home, no overtime that day, we did our grocery shopping.

Soli enjoyed a ride on the elephant in Walmart, her favorite part of a trip to Walmart.

We, then, had dinner at "On the Rock."  I needed a few beers while Soli enjoyed a kiddie cocktail and we all had pizza.

It was a good night.

We came home, watched a movie and went to bed.

On Saturday we left to go up and get Tizita and bring her home with us.

Since they are leaving on Sunday for Christmas in Iowa, I wanted to spend time with them.

We made gingerbread houses and sugar cookies when we got back to Watertown.

After our creating, we watched Annie.

My girls loved Annie when they were growing up.  We went to see it live at least four times and we watched the movie countless times.  I loved seeing it again with Tiz and Soli.

We never got to bed until 11:00.

Morning came quickly and we had to be ready for our second Christmas service.

It did not go as well as it did on Friday, but it went and people loved it.

I just had more criers and that is always stressful.

Soli did a great job.

The best part is when the kids belt out, "Go Tell it on The Mountain."  It is so heartwarming to see their joy in sharing the story of the birth our Savior.

Right after the service, Courtney, Paul, Tiz and Soli left for Christmas in Iowa.  I have mixed feelings for many reasons, but I am looking forward to Christmas Eve with Alissa, Nathan, and Kev's family.

Courtney and crew will be back on Christmas Day to join in the rest of the festivities.

Christmas is already perfect with or without the whole family, right? 

Merry Christmas to all of you who still read this blog.

May your Christmas be blessed with joy, happiness, and family.

From our family to yours: