More Christmas Fun!

This really is the most wonderful time of the year! We're having a blast celebrating the season. This last week was full of more memories and special moments. Thursday morning St. Nicholas visited - leaving the girls small gifts and special treats in their shoes. We also visited with Santa at the Country Club on Saturday at the Children's Party and saw a Live Nativity Saturday evening. 

Checking out what St. Nicholas brought them. They love this Christmas tradition. St. Nick visited them at school, too, so they were definitely loved this year! 

So excited about their furry notepads! Gabby loves writing sentences and practicing her handwriting and Adriana is learning to write her name. These notebooks come in handy as I find paper all over the house with doodles and writing. 

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At the Children's Christmas Party at the Country Club. The girls had a really great time. Check out their Santa hats. ]

The balloon artist made Gabby a snowflake wand. 

Adriana asked for a Grinch hat. 

Making Christmas frames. These girls LOVE arts and crafts. They would do this kind of stuff all day if I let them. Check out their festive face painting. Adriana is sporting a red Christmas bow and Gabby has a snowman. 

A little later Santa and Mrs. Claus made their appearance via a helicopter landing on the golf course! It was so cool - the girls loved it! 

The girls waving as Santa landed. 

Once Santa and Mrs. Claus got out of the helicopter and it lifted off, the children were allowed to run and greet Santa and Mrs. Claus on the course. The girls took off running! So cute! 

What a sweet photo! We were given a printed one to take home, which turned out cute, too. Gabby told Santa she wanted a manicure/pedicure set and Adriana told him she wants a computer. Santa will be busy fulfilling those requests. 

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Saturday night we attend a Live Nativity near our home. It was a really special reenactment of the birth of Jesus. It was a 30 minute performance and then afterward the children were able to get up close to the stable and pet the live animals. It was the perfect event to attend to remember the real reason for this season. 

Waiting for the event to start. The girls were so excited to see Baby Jesus! :)

A beautiful depiction of the real Christmas Story. 

Christmas is in the air!

We are so excited for this incredible time of year! In the last couple of weeks we've been decorating our house and getting into the spirit of the season. Below is an array of photos from our recent happenings. 

Our new Christmas tree in our dining room. It's an LED lit tree that we purchased last year after Christmas. The colors scheme is white, ice blue and red. I took this photo before I purchased our new white velvet tree skirt. Now, we have several presents under it! So exciting!

The girls decorating our tree in the living room. This tree features our keepsake ornaments that highlight our family since its inception in 2004. It's so fun to look at all of the ornaments and reminisce. The girls love recalling memories and asking us questions. (The girls are in their dance leotards and tights since they had class after school.)

Gabriella placing the angel on the top of the tree. 

Adriana straightening the angel. 

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Friday we went to a magnificent and breath-taking Christmas light display at a local bible college. It was just amazing! It featured 2 MILLION lights! The pictures do not do it justice, I promise.

Walking into the park. There were several lights that flashed in synchronization with Christmas music. We loved it!

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Tonight we made our first batch of Christmas confectionaries. Chocolate covered pretzels and thin mints.

Licking the bowl at the end! Adriana loved it!

Daddy and Gabby making thin mints. 

It's been a great start to the season! We plan to do more fun activities in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted!

Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The festivities started last Monday when the kindergartners at Gabriella's school hosted their Thanksgiving Feast. David and I were so excited to watch their program, which included singing, reciting a story and saying the Blessing in Spanish! That was probably our favorite part (in addition to the delicious food!) and what a wonderful surprise. Gabby has said the Blessing a few times at home in Spanish now and it is so awesome to hear!

Gabby's class dressed as the Pilgrims while the other class were Indians. It was so cute!

She was so excited for us to be there! We truly treasure these moments because she is growing up so fast. 

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Thanksgiving morning we drove to KC to spend Thanksgiving Day with Aunt Bridget, Aunt Megan and Nana at Aunt Megan's place. We had another delicious feast and enjoyed the company of family.

Adriana, Aunt Bridget and Gabby getting ready to enjoy some pie. 

Gabby and Aunt Megan. 

Nana and Adriana. 

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The next day we met up with Uncle Tommy, Aunt Danielle and Vinny at Monkey Bizness in KC and had such a fun afternoon.

They had a blast bouncing! 

And sliding!

Our three cuties at lunch. Aren't they so adorable?! We had a great time with them and can't wait to see them at Christmas!

We had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and we hope you did, too. We have so much to be grateful for and it was nice to spend a weekend to focus on our blessings. Now, we turn to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! :)

Christmas Recital!

Friday night the girls' dance studio had its annual Christmas Recital. It was a nice evening to be in the outdoor amphitheater and the music definitely got us in the Christmas spirit. This was Adriana's first stage performance and she was awesome! Gabby had a dance number and a cheer performance. She did wonderfully as well. We are so proud of our fun-loving and hard working girls!

Before the recital began. They were both so excited to get on stage! 

Adriana's tap number to "Holly Jolly Christmas." She did wonderfully and is one of the youngest in the class. She knew her number so well. We are impressed and proud. 

A video of Adriana's tap performance (she is front and center):

Gabby's ballet performance to "All I Want For Christmas Is You." She did awesome as well! This girl just loves to dance!

A video of Gabby's ballet performance (she is front and center):

Gabby's cheer number. Their choreography was to "Christmas in California." Another great performance. We are so proud of her hard work!

A video of her performance (Gabby is on the far right):

We are so proud of our girls and their commitment and enthusiasm for dance.  Now they can't wait for their next recital in May!

Parade, Saints & Halloween!

The last few days leading up to Halloween were busy ones! The girls had plenty of fun at school and then of course a night of trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, Daddy missed the festivities but for good reason as he was in Chicago to attend his Grandfather's funeral. Great-Grandpa Mueller was a very loving and patient man who David respected and loved very much. Great-Grandpa Mueller knew what was most important in life - his faith and family - and always put them first. He leaves quite a legacy behind -- a wife of 57 years, 8 children, 21 great-grandchildren and 2 (soon-to-be 3) great-great grandchildren. What a life!

The girls and I stayed pretty busy earlier this week. On Tuesday, Adriana's school had their annual Halloween parade and classroom parties. 

Adriana's class parading around her school. It seriously was the cutest thing ever to see these 2 and 3 year olds walking around, singing and waving in costume. 

The children walked across the street to the "Big School" to parade in costume for the elementary students. I got this photo (sorry, it's a little blurry) of the girls spotting each other during the parade. Gabby is sitting on left wearing a headband and a white cardigan wrapped around her waist. It was so cute to see their reactions!

Afterward, her class had a party with pumpkin donuts, trail mix and juice boxes. What a morning!

The pumpkin Adriana submitted for her Pumpkin Decorating Contest at school. We did it together, but she mostly enjoyed eating the candy corn. I told her to name it and she said it was "Cindy the Whoo Owl." 

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On Halloween, instead of wearing traditional Halloween costumes, the Kindergartners at Gabby's school celebrated and honored the Saints with a Prayer Service since the day after Halloween (Nov. 1) is All Saints Day, which is a holy day for Catholics. Each child was to pick a Saint and memorize a few lines about them to share with those at the Prayer Service. Children were encouraged to choose a Saint that they were named after or held special meaning to them. We talked with Gabby and told her that her name is from Gabriel who was an Archangel. She was immediately interested and decided she wanted to be St. Gabriel the Archangel. She remembered the story about when the angel (St. Gabriel) tells Mary she will be the mother of God's son, Jesus. She got really excited so we created a few lines and put together a very angelic costume.

Before the prayer service.

During the processional. The pianist played "When the Saints Go Marching In." Later, the children sang the song for us and it was adorable. 

Going up to the microphone to share what she knew about St. Gabriel. She said her lines perfectly and was so poised and confident. (Sorry it's a blurry photo. I was trying to video tape and take photos at the same time.)

Love her!

St. Gabriel by the Tabernacle. 

After the prayer service, Adriana and I went to a Halloween party with a mom's group we are active in again this year. She took a break from the Strawberry costume and wore Rapunzel. I wore my Minnie ears. Love this photo of us!

Wednesday afternoon we went to Gabby's class's Halloween party. Gabby sharing her treats and lap with her sister. So cute!

Playing the mummy game with toilet paper. 

For dinner, I made Jack-O-Lantern quesadillas. This is the one time playing with their food would be okay. :)

For dessert, I surprised them with carmel apples. I wanted to be sure I loaded them with sugar before trick-or-treating. ;)

Sweet Strawberry smile.

What a pretty Alice. 

Ready to hit the neighborhood. 

At the end of the night checking out the goods. 

The girls kept some of their candy but left most out for the Great Pumpkin who in return left them some fun gifts Thursday morning. They got the movie Rio and a DVD with three Christmas specials (Madagascar, Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon) along with some fun stationary and pencils. 

Hope you all had a very happy and safe Halloween!