Christmas Eve

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas Eve. We went over to my mom and dad's in the afternoon and ate dinner before church. Brian and I played bells and the kids sang in their choir during church, at the 5:30 service. My parents came with us. After church, it was back to their house for dessert and presents! It was a nice time. More to come this weekend as I download pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Niebuhrs! Instead of the kids singing a Christmas song, like we've done in the past, I've posted a video of all of them playing a Christmas song on the piano for you. (Xander is playing Good King Wenceslaus. Grace, We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Will, Jolly Old St. Nicholas). They've all learned these by reading the notes and rhythms, not by rote. Celebrating and learning at the same time, what more could I ask for? More pictures of our Christmas to follow!

A visit with Santa - again!

Here are some pictures from our second visit with Santa. These are from the multiples club holiday party on the 11th. I think they all told him what they wanted and we were surprised by the replies (Xander wants slippers!). Great pictures, taken by a our friend Curt Brinkmann! Thanks Curt!

A Christmas-y type of day

Sunday, December 18th was a very Christmasey day! We did three very fun and festive things. Here's a quick recap. In the morning, the kids had their Sunday school program. It was short and informal, but they did sing a couple of songs, one with their little cherub choir. They did a great job. We also ate lunch at church before the concert.

After a quick trip home to change clothes, we headed down to the children's museum to make a gingerbread house. They had everything all set up for us, including giant bowls of every kind of candy imaginable. You could take whatever and how much you wanted. The kids are the perfect age for this. They were helpful without being annoying and they were creative in coming up with ways to decorate (Xander thought of the peppermint wreath on the front door and cocoa puff front walkway). They had a great time and we even had some extra minutes to spare to play in the museum, where we hadn't been since summer. After that we had dinner at Valentino's with the Niebuhr family, then it was on to a chartered bus ride to look at christmas lights around town. It was a nice ride and we saw some great displays. The kids were very tired when we got home around 8, but as Will proclaimed "This was the best day ever!" Totally worth all the money we spent!!

A party at Firethorn

Here are a few nice pictures we took last weekend at the annual Firethorn christmas party. The kids always look forward to this one because Santa bring a real present, not just a treat. They each got a fancy Nerf gun, they love them. We had some time for crafts, a story, and we ate dinner there. It was a fun night! Thanks Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike!!

Dance Recital

Here are a few pictures of Grace's dance recital. We got there a little late and didn't get great seats, in fact, only half of us got seats at all! That morning was a little crazy. Grace had actual dance class, their final rehearsal from 11 am to 11:50 (on a Saturday) then she had to be at the school at 12:20 for the recital that started at 1. The night before they had spent the night at the Niebuhrs, so we picked them up to get her to dance on time and of course it picks that moment to start snowing! So, we were late getting to class, then we had to zoom to McDonald's to eat a quick lunch and that took forever. So by the time we got to the school, we were a little late. However, the recital went fine. You can see the video below. It's hard to see her, she was in the back. Just look for the girl in a black leotar and black tutu with the hot pink feathery puff sticking out of her head, that's Grace! She did a nice job. Enjoy!

School pictures

Just thought I'd post their school pictures. They were taken in early October, so I've had them back for a while, but just thought you'd like to see them!