Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

We celebrated Christmas Eve with our annual Richards' family traditions. First, each family had their picture taken in front of the Christmas tree surrounded by piles of presents. It is amazing how much presents pile up when you have 3 families together with little children.

Our little family!!

Our 2 beautiful festive girls!!!

Second, we all gather around and open up our Christmas Eve presents which are always pajamas. Then we all disperse to put on our new pajamas and get settled down for our Christmas Eve movie premiere. This year was the movie "Fred Claus" starring Vince Vaughn. Before we watched the movie and enjoyed the festivities, we gathered to celebrate the birth of our Savior (the true meaning of Christmas) and read from the scriptures the story of his birth. It was really cute, this year Colleen had bought the Little People Nativity Scene. As Arlyn read the story, the grandchildren re-enacted using the Little People figurines.

We all settled down for our movie, the kids got their pillows and blankets and nestled themselves together on the floor. It was a fun movie from what Ken and I were able to see of it. Katelyn was getting tired and Tressa, well, she does not have the long attention span to sit for 2 hours.

Waiting patiently for the movie and popcorn!!

Our new addition, her 1st Christmas, Katelyn!

Finally, the kids fell fast asleep after putting cookies and milk out for Santa Claus and leaving him a note. Can't wait to see what Santa left us. Tune in tomorrow for more holiday joy.

Tis the Season.....

We have had a great time this past weekend spending it as a family. Friday night, we had our Ward Christmas party. The cultural hall was nicely decorated courtesy of the activity committee. They served Rosemary Garlic potatoes, ham and Garlic green beans with rolls. The youth served up our meals wearing black pants, a white shirt and some wore Santa hats. Santa Claus made an appearance for the first part of the party. Tressa and Katelyn were able to sit with Santa and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Well, Tressa was the one who told Santa what she wanted and this was how the conversation went:

Santa: what do you want for Christmas this year?

Tressa: A Plasma TV. Gee I wonder where she got that idea from. Ken.

Saturday night, we went to see the Festival of Lights. Every year for the past 24 years, different companies sponsor a float decorated with just lights. Every Thanksgiving weekend, they have the Parade of Lights where of course they parade their floats. Following the parade they have the floats on display in a park in East Peoria. It cost $10 per car or van to go in. It is about a 30 minutes drive through the park to see the lights. What an amazing view. We had a lot of fun looking at the creative and time consuming floats. Wow there are talented people out there. Here is a preview of what we saw, enjoy the slide show.

The Twilight Series

Who would have ever thought that I would be reading the Twilight series and following the in crowd. I went and saw the movie Thanksgiving weekend. I loved it so much that I just had to read the book to compare. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book after reading it within 24 hours of buying it. So this past week and a half I have finished books 1 through 3. Currently, I like the 3rd book the best. Hopefully, if I have some time today, I would like to start the last book. That has been probably the highlight of the last few days.

I would like you input on what you thought of the book and the movie. I have been hearing that people who watched the movie first before reading the book loved it. Those who had read the book previous to the movie didn't like the movie.

What is your opinion? Just curious.

I am a slacker!!

I apologize that I haven't blogged in a while. The past couple of weeks have been busy with our trip out to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving, Katelyn's 2 month appointment and me getting into the book series Twilight.

Last Wednesday, we were able to go to Cincinnati for the holidays. We arrived in late that evening with all the stops that come with kids. Those who have kids understand. Thanksgiving was a blast, of course, they ate a lot of turkey, desserts and played a lot of Wii. I, on the other hand, did not stuff myself with turkey. Yuck!!! Thanks to Colleen, she did make ham for those who did not want or like turkey. For dessert, Colleen and Tiona slaved over a hot stove making the following: pumpkin pie, chocolate peanut butter pie, pumpkin cake with whip topping, chocolate chip cookies, caramel brownies and to top it off cheesecake. Of course we had to have a little slice of everything. It was all delicious.

Friday, everyone (except for Colleen, the girls and me) got up at 4 in the morning to hit all the sales. People are crazy for going out on Black Friday. Kudos to those who fought the crowds. However, they were successful in getting the shopping done they needed. Throughout all of Friday, we continued our shopping for Christmas.

Saturday, I went and saw 'Twilight' without ever reading the books. I thoroughly enjoyed it. So I just had to start reading the series. On Monday, after arriving home late Sunday (at 1:00 am to be exact), I went to Kroger and bought the first book. I am totally hooked. So these past couple of days I have read the first book and I am now half way through the sequel.

For those who want to know how Katelyn is doing, she is now weighing in at 13 lbs. 7 oz. and 23 inches long. She got 3 shots in the leg and 1 orally. She did farely well with her shots. She is starting to coo at you and smile (which just melts your heart), follow sounds with her eyes and developing on track.

I hope that everyone had a WONDERFUL and HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Now on to the season of giving, CHRISTMAS!! My favorite time of year.

On a side note, I just wanted to wish my brother, Sean, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today!!!

Weekend Highlights

We had a great weekend spending time as a family. We really don't get to hang out the four of us with Ken's schedule so it was well needed. Above is a picture of Tressa and the dessert she helped make last night for a treat. She was so proud of herself. She made a chocolate moose with vanilla wafers. It actually turned out to be DELICIOUS. Way to go Tressa!

Ken decided to give Katelyn a bath last night, guess who just had to get her hands in to help? That's right. Tressa. She had so much fun giving Katelyn a bath. I think she just loved to play in the bath water. Both my girls love the water, they must get it from their father.
I know, I know. You don't put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. Let me explain, we thought since we would be out of town the weekend after Thanksgiving we would put the decorations up now. That way it will feel like Christmas when we get home. I just love Christmas especially the decorations and giving out presents. I love to see the smiles on our loved ones faces. You know the feeling. We had a great time decorating, especially now that Tressa is old enough to help and try to understand the meaning of Christmas. She just loves those candy canes on the tree. We keep telling her to leave them alone. What kid doesn't have a sweet tooth?
Here is a picture of my village. Ken's mom got me started on doing a Christmas village, so far I have 2 houses (on the ends), a lighthouse and a gas station. Every year after Christmas, I hit the sales for more village items. Hopefully some day my village will be the size of Colleen's.

I want to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING this Thursday.

No Escaping IT

As you know from my last post that my family (excluding me) was sick with the flu, you know the throwing up and diarrhea. I thought that maybe I would escape from it and not get sick. Boy was I wrong.

Last night, it just hit like a ton of bricks. I was up most of last night with the same symptoms. So today, I decided to cancel all my appointments and just stay home. I know that you don't use the TV as a babysitter, but today I did. Tressa stayed in her toy room to watch cartoons and play with her toys. Katelyn stayed with me because she too is sick and throw up last night. So today I am kicking it back and fighting this flu so I can have an enjoyable Thanksgiving season next week.

On a side note, Ken and Tressa are doing well and over the worst. Yeah!!! Now if I can just get over it life will be great.

Best of Times, Worst of Times

This past weekend to me has been the best of times and the worst of times. It all started Friday morning with Ken having some gastric issues. While he was home resting with a bowl next to him and being close to the bathroom, the girls and I decided to go to playgroup and then have lunch at McDonald's with a playplace. When I got home, he was still where I had left him. That evening, he was sweet enough to let me go out with the girls (some friends in my ward) to dinner and then to Amy's house to play some Wii. I left Tressa with Ken and took Katelyn with me. I had a blast. It is always nice to somewhat get away from the kids and the responsibilities I have at home. Little did I know the weekend was only going to get worse.

Saturday, Ken still wasn't feeling well. The house was a wreck, which is not like me at all for those who know me. I am a Clean Freak. So later that afternoon, we decided to get some fresh air and do some Christmas shopping. It is amazing how many people are out this early starting their shopping for the holidays. We ended up getting Tressa a few things and then wishing for stuff that we will never get, i.e. a plasma flat screen TV.

Sunday morning, Tressa woke up at 5:00 in the morning complaining of monsters, before long she was up vomiting throughout most the morning. She couldn't keep anything down. The whole family stayed home from church. We ended up watching movies and eating crackers. It was not fun at all to sit at home with everyone sick but you. That's right, Katelyn also had some runny diapers and a little bit of throw up. In the end, we made it through. Ken is on call today and won't be home until the morning. So I am the one who will be dealing with Tressa who still is throwing up and telling me her stomach hurts. Katelyn, well, I will be changing a lot of diapers. Wish me luck. Hopefully, I can squeeze in some z's throughout today and tonight just to get me by.