Adelle's Christmas Program

Adelle's Christmas program was held right before Christmas break. I love Adelle's school and am always amazed at the huge amount of parent support, BUT it can be really difficult to attend programs where the kids are performaning. This year was no exception. It was so crowded that Violet really struggled to be there. Since Adelle's class was later in the program I wandered the halls with Violet to try and keep hear happy. She had several melt downs, but when it was time for Adelle to perform, we were able to snag a front row seat. They asked that parents sit in the front few rows when their child was performing and then move to other seats when they were done. Luckily Violet was good for the actual performance. I was even able to get some small videos. Adelle did wonderfully. She knew every word of each song and smiled. She was so happy to have Violet and I there!


Here is one of the short videos :)

What Do You Want For Christmas?

Violet likes to be just like us, even when it comes to reading the paper or ads. One evening close to Christmas Violet decided to "read" the Walmart add. She was super excited they had Winnie the Pooh and other fun characters. It was pretty funny to me! It looked like she was making her Christmas List!

My Baby Turned 2!

The Sunday before Violet's birthday we invited everyone over to celebrate. I can't believe she is 2 already. Family gatherings can be hard in the winter time because we are all squished into our little home instead of being able to visit outside. Even when we are in small spaces though we enjoy being together. Violet enjoyed having everyone over so much she had to show off the closet and hide inside. She even convinced grandpa to read to her.

When everyone arrived it was time for presents. With Daddy's help Violet figured out what to do. She really started getting into it.
Everyone was so generous! She got everything from cute clothes, ride on toys, books, play food, and lots more.

She has really been into Cars recently so we got her a Cars book and a Mack track.

I was really excited to give her our big present from us. Her bike!! She absolutely loved it!

She loved it so much in fact she wouldn't get off her bike for cupcakes or even when it was time to blow out the candles. Instead I had to feed her pieces while she sat on her bike and timidly scooted around.

The bike is only occasionaly ridden now, but I think as she gets used to it more it will be used more. We had a wonderful time seeing family and celebrating our baby's birthday, if I can call her my baby anymore. She sure is growing up fast!

The Annual Oates Christmas Party

Oh I am behind on the blogging. Time to catch up. The Saturday before Christmas we gathered for the Annual Oates Christmas Party! First we gathered around the table lined with jars of things, including a jar of quarters, to test our guessing skills. There was also a very large bowl of some sort of trail mix. One of the young children that was running around perched himself on a chair and ate and ate, until he'd find something he didn't like. At that point he would spit out the offending item back into the bowl. I decided to avoid those snacks the rest of the night. Forrest and Sharon were our wonderful hosts again this year and provided a feast! We ate everything from prime rib, meatballs, shrimp, crab, chessy potatos, salads and lots of different desserts. We never go away hungry.

After dinner we tried to gather all of the grankids for a group picture. Violet short for a very small moment.

Then everything went wrong. She absolutely flipped and didn't want to sit on the stairs a moment more. I was quite worried she was going to kick another child in the head. It was somewhat embarrasing, but there wasn't too much I could do about it but remove her from the whole thing.


After the picture fiasco we all gathered in the great room. Great Grandma Oates asked Wes and I to particpate in a reading about Christ. Wes at first had declined seeing as he isn't a big religious fan, but when he realized it was going to disappoint his grandmother he decided to help out after all. We all had to be different characters from the old testament. There were about 5 of us participating. Wes in the end ending up being the most well read and acted his part fervently. It really touched Wes's Grandmother and she really had a hard time keeping herself composed after that. She misses her dear, sweet husband so much. We sang a few hymns and Great Grandma Oates's daughters gathered around her.

We then passed out gifts for the children and the adults played a few games.

Adelle borrowed Erica's camera and took pictures. Wes played along and made funny faces.

Violet played with her new goodies and really enjoyed wandering around. We kept an eye on her so she wouldn't get lost in the HUGE house. Lydia hung out because that is what twelve year olds do.

Forrest in his usual style had us play the cash game.

The counting game results were announced and I ended up winning the quarters again this year. I guess the girls will be getting their allowance in quarters again this year.

We gave kisses and hugs to everyone when the night was wrapping up. We gave extra hugs to Great Grandma Oates.

Violet found the big merry-go-round rocking horse. Wes set her on it for a bit before she got scared and wanted to get down.

It is always great to see the Oates family each year. We really should get together more often.

Cupcakes for my Baby

We have one big event in December that we never forget. Violet's Birthday! This year she turned 2. It is always a little hectic since it is so close to Christmas, but I decided to make her cupcakes again this year. I got them ready the day before her big party. I didn't make them as amazing as the cupcakes last year. Remember those sunflowers with little ladybugs? This year they were simpler but still yummy. I have learned that boxed cake mixes are better than any scratch recipe that I have found yet. They always turn out so moist from the box, especially if you add a little vanilla pudding powder to the mix. I made vanilla cupcakes and cream cheese frosting. Last year I bought some really cute flower liners and used them with these cupcakes. I wanted to make them look like flowers.

In the end though they look more like deviled eggs...sigh. Violet didn't seem to mind though :)

Long Lost Family Fun

When I was a kid we would always get together around Christmas with my mom's family. We would be surrounded by oodles of aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course my wonderful dutch grandma. Over these past 10 years we lost my Grandma, my Mom, an aunt and an uncle. The family parties disappeared, but we decided this year to change that. My wonderful aunt Anna organized a wonderful party! We brought soups, salads, sides, and desserts, including a wonderful dutch dessert that I had several helpings off. My aunt also organized games and crafts.

It was great to see so many of my relatives again. I think Lydia was a little nervous.

It is amazing how much everyone has grown up!

Violet enjoyed all the different food.

After eating we all sat down for a white elephant game. One of my cousin's presents went awry before we even began. He and his wife thought it would be fun to surprise some unknowing soul with a real mouse. It started chewing itself out of it's present and had to be whisked away to their car. My girls would have LOVED a mouse but there was NO WAY that was coming to our house.

Everyone really got into the game. Poor Adelle got a remote control caddy that she wasn't so thrilled about. I ended up opening a Battleship game that I gave to her. Lydia got one of the hottest items of the game, a Grinch Hat. She wears it to school even. We also picked up an Ants in the Pants Game for when Violet is older.

After the white elephant game, we all gathered around for a wonderfully, fun game. There is a present wrapped up in several layers of wrapping paper. A dice is passed around and each person rolls. If you get a 6 you put on gloves and a Santa hat and you try your very best to unwrap the present layer by layer. When somebody else gets a 6 you get pushed out of the way and it is that person's turn to unwrap. It was the funniest thing ever! Everyone really got into it, especially my uncle Dave.

In the end my cousin's daughter ended up winning. It was a cocoa set. I was very surprised that will all the roughness the mugs were still in good shape.

After the last game we all sat down at tables to make our ornaments. It was a tradition at each Christmas party to make a new ornament each year. My aunt decided to have us make elf ornaments with our own pictures. They are so cute! Wes had to keep Violet entertained so I made my ornament and Violet's. Lydia and Adelle worked on their own and I helped them out. I still need to make Wes' ornament. I'll have to do it before next Christmas for sure.

My aunt puts so much work into the ornament kits. She is so amazingly sweet! We all had a really fun time and it was wonderful to see everyone again!

Finding the Perfect Tree

A week or so into December we all packed in the car so we could find the perfect Christmas tree. We didn't go too far, just to our local hardware store.

We walked up and down the rows and rows of trees, until we found the right tree just for us.

It was a cold night, but we all bundled up as best we could.

Violet by the end was pretty crabby, but Wes did his best to keep her spirts high. He held her close while our tree was trimmed and wrapped up tight.

We loaded the tree on top of the car and headed home. We set up the tree, decorated it, and gave it plenty of water.


There is something about a real Chirstmas tree that just can't be matched. The smell is amazing and the full green branches are so beautiful. It finally began to feel like Christmas once we had our tree. Suprisingly Violet did a really good job not playing with the ornaments. She would ask each of us to pick her up so she could look at the different ornaments. She particularly liked the crab ornaments that we picked up in Oregon on our trips. Lydia and Adelle were great decorators this year and were so helpful! I couldn't have done it without them.