Christmas Day 2012



Santa Came!

 After we opened Santa's gifts it was time to get dressed for church.  Brent and I decided to go to Moberly for church and surprise my parents.  After church we had lunch with our extended family which was fun.  Mom hosted again and got to use the sun room one for time for entertaining.  Later that afternoon we opened gifts with Nana Kaser, Uncle Dana, and Grandpa and Nana.



Ella loved her new apron!

MIZ-ZOU!

Now Ella has her own camera!

                                     

The girls were excited to get a ticket to see The Lion King with Uncle Dana this summer at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis!

Gracie's apron was super cute, too!  (I was trying out a new camera lens in lots of these pictures, and they are pretty blurry, so I was disappointed!  I'll figure it out, but it may take some time.)

A good time was had by all!  Brent and I are so blessed to have wonderful families!  We will head to Unionville later in the week to celebrate with the Doolins.

Christmas Eve Fun

When we came home from Christmas Eve service at church Brent and I decided to let the girls open their presents.  This whole "Christmas falling on a Sunday" thing makes it hard to get everywhere we need to be, so this simplified our Christmas morning routine.  Everyone got in their pj's and then the ecstatic squeals began. 

The girls loved their tiger hats Brent bought them!

That's the face of a surprised woman!  Brent totally tricked me and got me a Keurig!

A Christmas Card Photo Attempt

Our church had a beautiful Christmas tree this year.  Since we procrastinated and didn't have any kind of photo worthy of a Christmas card, we took advantage of the church's tree today.  These photos aren't great, but it was the best we could do at the last minute.  So, Merry Christmas from the Doolins!

Meeting Mary Beth

Today we went to Uncle Jerry's house because my cousin Mary Beth was there for a visit.  I don't remember ever meeting Mary Beth, so it was fun to have that opportunity.  Grandma Kaser was especially happy to see her since they have kept in touch through the years.

Well, it's blurry, but this was the only picture I got of Mary Beth with me.  We have become Facebook friends so we can stay in touch even though she's in Texas.

Classroom Christmas Party

What's better than the last day of school before Christmas break????  The fact that it was also pajama day on the last day of school before Christmas break!  Fourth grade had a great Christmas party today.

Ella's TCCS Christmas Program

Ella did a great job singing her songs tonight at Tri-County's Christmas Program!

Ella and Reagan Stieger, one of her best buds from church and school, looked really beautiful in their  Christmas dresses!

Christmas Sweeties

One of our favorite times of day is when the Christmas lights turn on from the timer everyday. 

Church Christmas Program

Today was the Little Lamb and God Rock Crew Christmas program.  Ella is a Little Lamb, and here she is posing with her buddies Savannah and Reagan. 

Ella's group sang several songs, and rang jingle bells on this one.

"The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head...."

The hand bells are probably Ella's favorite part. 

Gracie is in the God Rock Crew.  They did a musical called "It All Happened In The Country."  It was super cute, and they all looked adorable in their overalls and flannel.  I even gave Gracie freckles!

Gracie did a fantastic job on her speaking part.  It was pretty long, but she had it down pat!

Gracie loved Lois's part in the musical.  She was so funny!

Ta da!  Ella was so proud of her big performance, and her beautiful dress Mamaw got her.

PAT Christmas Event

We have loved being a part of Parents As Teachers with our girls.  One benefit of being in a slightly bigger town is that P.AT. has evening meetings with fun activities once a month or so.  Even though Gracie is no longer in P.A.T. she never minds going to the events with Ella, because they are usually really fun.  The picture above shows the local director of our public library reading a Christmas story to the kids.

Shy little Ella (hardy-har-har) made a cute mitten Christmas ornament.  (The shy thing is all an act!)

Santa did make Ella speechless.  She was unsure what to say to Santa or Mrs. Claus.

I love those sweet sister moments!  They were drinking their cookies and milk after they met Santa and were being so cute.

Brent doesn't get to come very often, so it was a real treat to have him home tonight.  He enjoyed going to each station with the kids and watching their excitement.