Twinkle Twinkle Part II

At our Christmas Eve service the children dressed as wise (wo)men & angels and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was pretty sweet!

Ummmmmmmmm,



Bob signing the words.



And Noah & Etta thinking, "What the...?"



The whole crew.

Twinkle Twinkle Part I

For the Christmas Eve service the kids were going to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So on Thursday night after we ate dinner at Christine's we had a little practice session. It was great!!

I thought only girls flipped up their dresses. But I guess it works both ways. BTW - we totally think that Etta will be "that girl".



Then he was confident.



I think that Etta just liked that everyone was watching her!

Baby Medicine

On Wednesday the 22nd Bob, Mom, Mae & I headed to a local retirement/nursing home to play some Christmas music.



Well, Bob and I played the piano and Mom took care of Mae.

While Bob was playing some solo hymns I was carting Mae around for the residents to look at. One man wheeled his wife over so that Mae was in her view. The look that she got on her face was pure rapture.



She just wanted to snuggle that baby close.



She just held on and was content - much like Mae was one of her own. Her husband was quite nervous and kept reminding me to "Hold on. Hold on. Hold on." But I was right there and was not all that worried.



After wiping tears from his eyes, her husband said it was time to get back to the room for a nap.



But not before one last kiss.



It was a magical visit.

Bonding Time

Etta and Erik had a variety of bonding time last week. One instance was place and back cookie making.

Now what do we do, Eek?



Some serious concentration. Check the hair.



We're twins!

Gingerbread Condos

While mom & Bob were preparing our Christmas Eve dutch oven feast Erik, Etta & I were constructing gingerbread condos. We used quart milk cartons, frosting, graham crackers & bulk candy from Winco. We are already planning our "community" for next year!

Beginning construction



Can I eat dis? Can I eat a little one of dese? Can I lick dis? She was very cute & funny!



Front view of finished project. Note the path way between condos.



Back view. Complete with rock-lined, shark-invested ponds.



Post-construction walk to burn off a little sugar. Etta walked Lena (with a little help from Erik) all the way to Christine's & back. Sugar fuel anyone?



Dutch ovens loaded with brisket, veggies, potatoes & rolls!

Great Grandma Barb

The girls are SO lucky to have their great grandparents here in town. It makes me happy that they can have this experience. One of our gifts to Lynn & Barb in the coming hear is one meal a month at our house that I will cook. I look forward to these evenings!

Post Christmas Let Down

After a very exciting week of having MT Grandma, Baba and Uncle Eek-Eek here Etta has succumbed to some sort of stomach virus. She was throwing up throughout the day today. (Side note: She threw up on Christmas Eve in her bed somewhere around 2:00 a.m. I think...but we didn't really discover it until we all got up in the morning...) She couldn't even keep down about 1/2 ounce of water. Very hard and sad for mommy. Especially when she was begging, "I want food! Please!! I'm hungry!!!"



Hopefully she will be feeling better tomorrow. I will post some better pictures of everyone as I get the time.