New Christmas Tradition

Before wrapping the books
Olivia's tree in her bedroom with the wrapped books below.

After, the 23 books all wrapped up under Liv's tree.

Here she is tonight before bed with the book she chose.

My friend Tami told Arcelia and I about a tradition she read about where you start on December 1st and gather 24 Christmas themed books for your kids. You wrap them all and each night, your child chooses a book for you to read under the tree (or in bed) I happened to have 6 or 7 Christmas books already so for the rest, Olivia and I went to the library today. I think Tami and Arcelia went to the used book store in town and found a good stash. Olivia and I spent a good amount of time wrapping this afternoon and then she and Daddy finished up tonight. Olivia wanted to put them under her tree so they'd be handy at bedtime. We'll see if this is a tradition we want to keep up.

Gogue Family Thanksgiving

My family in Wisconsin celebrate Thanksgiving together at Aunt Patty's house. I took these pictures from Marianne's blog and made a collage to show off my crazy family! The big picture is my Dad, Sue and sisters, Robyn, Amy and Marianne. Amy brought sushi as you can see. Grandma Gogue is holding Rachel. Grandma and Grandpa with the grand kids (minus Olivia) Robyn and Marty and the Steiners.

Little America Christmas Lighting 2009

We continued our family tradition of going to Little America for the lighting of the grounds. We always go early and eat dinner in the hotel cafe. Our quaint little cafe finally closed down, so we ended up in the main restaurant. It was a little "fancier" but the food was the same. The Palmer's and Nicholson's (minus Daddy) joined us and we all enjoyed the first snow of the season while walking the grounds. It may sound enchanting, but it was really cold, wet and crowded. We didn't stay long and everyone came back to our house for warm apple pie and ice cream, Ovaltine-hot (thank you, James) and donuts.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We were invited to the Palmer's for Thanksgiving this year. Mia and Poppy (James' parents) were visiting from Texas and we all had a delicious dinner together. The kids played all day and even made candy cane ornaments (Arcelia is so good at that stuff!) Here is the table (minus the turkey) We are very lucky to have such great friends that treat us like family (didn't I just say that about Ron and Libby??)
The gang
I love Olivia's pose in this one!

Here they are making turkeys by tracing each others hands. They are so sweet together.

I noticed Arcelia has better pics of the day on her blog if you're interested...click on Palmer Family.

Preschool Thanksgiving Program

Olivia's preschool had a Thanksgiving program on Tuesday. It was so cute to see the kids perform for us. They sang songs and used shakers and props. I got a little teary seeing her up there. It may be because I'm 8 months pregnant, but I had one of those "this is what it's all about" moments.

Random Pictures

Last weekend we went to Chandler and stayed with Ron and Libby for a night. Rob did some small jobs and hung their Christmas lights and decorations. Olivia and I were able to get out and about and enjoy some shopping. Sometimes it feels soooooo good to "get off of the mountain", even for just a short time. We got to pull out Olivia's sandals and short sleeves and she got to "frolic" in the sun. We sure are blessed to have Ron and Libby as friends, and even better, they treat us like family.
Believe it or not, Olivia has never had a set of Legos. Since all of my cousins work or have worked for Legoland, you would think we'd have a ton of Legos! She loves to play with them at Isaac's house but she informed me that she's ready for the "big girl" legos now. I told her she should ask Santa if he would bring her some for Christmas. Well, last week at WalMart the set she wanted was on sale and I couldn't resist. I couldn't hide them because she was with me...Bad idea...she agreed that we'd wrap them for Christmas but that night she HAD to play with them. I caved! Here is the house she and daddy made.

Here is my big girl talking to Grandma on my cell phone. I can go do dishes while they talk now. It's pretty cool. Olivia loves to sing to Grandma and Grandma likes to listen....so it works out!

Family Tree and Thanksgiving Placecards

Here is Olivia "antiquing" the cardboard tree.

Here are my place cards. I made 6 but we aren't expecting anyone for dinner, so they'll probably be sent as Thanksgiving cards.

Our family tree that Olivia took to school. We had an old kit with a cardboard tree, so we added leaves Olivia cut out at the scrapbook store. We added some embellishments that we had and Olivia glued away!