Dane Family Christmas

Sunday we went to church at NRHBC and then went to Randy's Aunt Brenda's house for the Dane family Christmas. Kendall had a lot of fun playing with her cousins Gracie, Henry, Maelie, and Lorelai there.

At one point she went to a back room and came running back out to me saying, "Hee haw Mommy! Hee haw!!!" She was so excited that she had found a "hee haw!" She and Gracie rode on it together some and then she rode some by herself.

She got to open one more present here. It was a numbers puzzle! Then she also tried to help Gracie again. Poor Gracie is going to be getting a lot of help from Kendall this year!

We left Sunday afternoon to drive back to Lake Jackson. Kendall was so worn out from three days of only a 30 minute nap. She got her blankets and put them over her head.

Look at those sleepy eyes! We got in last night around 9:30 and gave her a bath and put her to bed! This morning I finally went in her room at 10:45 to wake her up! She was catching up! We've got a busy week ahead, so she needs all the rest she can get.

Bradford Family Christmas

This weekend we made a quick trip to Ft. Worth for two Christmases - the Bradford (Randy's mom's) family Christmas, and the Dane family Christmas. We got in Friday night and spent the night at Kiki and Pop's.

Every year for Dad's company Christmas card he sends a pop-up card that is so neat! Everyone always looks forward to seeing what it is going to be each year. He has all of them from each year displayed at the house. Kendall thought they were a lot of fun!
She also thought Kiki's make-up was a lot of fun. She even gave Molly some powder on her nose.

Saturday we met Randy's family and drove to Rockwall for the day. Kendall and Gracie both got to open one present. Last year Kendall wasn't too into opening presents....but this year she is all about it! If there is a present around, she thinks it is her job to get it open. Even if it's not her's.

Aunt Kathy helped her open her present from Gigi and Peeps - a Magna Doodle! Kendall calls it "my doodle" and really enjoyed playing with it then and in the car on the way home!

Gracie the punk rock princess!

Randy's cousins Laura and Terry have a boy who is 8 days younger than Kendall. His name is Grayson. Kendall thought he might need some help with his present.

She got as close as she could and kept reaching out to touch it and help him.

Christmas is so much fun this year!

Christmas Party at School

Today was Kendall's last day of school for 2009 and her Christmas party! She got all dressed up this morning and spent some time playing with my charm bracelet.

We don't know how she scratched her nose! She woke up with that two mornings ago and her nails are short! Stinker.
Riding on the "hee haw."

When we come back in January, I am going to be the new 4 year old teacher in addition to still teaching chapel. Jan has decided to quit working so she can spend more time helping take care of her parents, so I am taking her place. We are going to miss her being at school! One of the 4 year old's moms made us these gingerbread aprons last week - so cute!

Kendall colored a picture of Baby Jesus. She talks about him all the time right now. When we ask her who's birthday is coming up, she says "Baby Jesus!" (Well, sometimes she says "Kendall!" and she's right - less than 2 months until she turns 2! Crazy!) We have been singing a lot about Baby Jesus and she even sings songs about him by herself. The other day we were driving and I heard her in her carseat singing, "Baby Jesus....asleep....manger bed....Baby Jesus!" She was singing her own version of "Away in a Manger!" So precious!

I have some black flats with white polka dots on them that I wore today. Kendall said, "Mommy, shoes!" I asked her if she liked them and she said "yes!" I told her that they had polka dots and she started saying, "Mommy. Shoes. Polka kots." I pointed out that she had polka kots on the ribbon on her dress and she loved that. :)

Eating one of the cookies we baked last night. She helped me! She did a great job moving the pre-formed dough from the package onto the cookie sheet. :) She was standing on a chair next to me at the cabinet and when Randy walked in the front door from work, she said, "Daddy! I bakes!!!" She was so excited and proud of herself. Kendall bakes!

What is strange about this picture? I will tell you. EVERY OTHER kid in the class is eating pizza. Do you see Kendall's piece? She pushed it away and said no. Will she ever eat real food? I guess we can be proud that she doesn't give in to peer pressure!

So I gave her a nutri-grain bar. Don't worry. We're going to have Food Boot Camp when we get back from Cambodia and she turns two. We have a plan. :)

They did a present exchange in her class.

Daddy met us at school for the party!

Holly, Aaron, and Ella were across the hall in Ethan's class, and came to peek in to see Kendall. She just loves those guys! She was excited to help Ella drink her bottle.

And before Randy left they played with the shakers together.

She had a fun party! We are looking forward to a busy week coming up with two separate trips to Ft. Worth, Christmas, and leaving for Cambodia next Sunday! Should be fun!

13 Days Left!!!

Randy and I leave for Cambodia in 13 days! I am getting so excited about the trip and can't wait to be there and meet out children and the teachers I will be working with. Saturday we went to Rosharon, a Cambodian community about 30 minutes from here, and had a Cambodian lunch! It was...interesting! We saw two adorable Cambodian children that made us so ready to have one of our own! Too bad they had great parents. :)
Randy has already started updating the Cambodia blog. I have put the link to it on the right side of our blog so you can check it while we are gone. We can't wait to share what God is doing in Cambodia!!
http://bpfcambodia.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas!

Tu-Tu Party!

Kendall's friend Jillian turned two last Saturday! To celebrate her turning TWO, she had a TU-TU party! Isn't that a cute idea! It was all girls and they all got dressed up and everything was pink. The invitation said "no boys allowed," but I was going to be in Houston for part of the party with the girls, so I had to get special permission for Randy to bring her. :) My friend Randi taught me how to make a tu-tu. It is super easy and I think it turned out really cute. I wasn't sure Kendall would let Randy put it on her on Saturday, but he told her he would give her candy if she would wear it. She wore it the whole party!

I love this picture! The girls were decorating a sticker page.

Everything looked so great and princessy. I was able to make it for the last half hour and loved seeing all the decorations and the girls all dressed up. I love having a little princess!

Snow Weekend!

We had a very unusual snow here on the Gulf Coast. It snowed for hours, but no accumulation.

Ashley went to Houston over night with the other pastors' wives on Friday, so Kendall and I had daddy-daughter night. We met EE, Ella, and Aaron at McDonald's to play at the indoor playplace. Then we came home and built a tent!

We had a tea party in the tent. It is the first time I have ever had a tea party in a tent!
On Saturday I took Kendall to a Tutu Pink Princess Party for her friend Jillian's 2 year birthday. That was fun too! Tutu parties and tea parites...I love being a dad to this girly-girl!

Christmas at the Dane's House

We put our Christmas decorations up on November 16. I know, it's very early, but we had reasons. The biggest reason being, WE LOVE CHRISTMAS! And we are super excited about Christmas with Kendall this year. Here are some pictures of her helping us put out the decorations.

She loves her Little People nativity set. We collect nativities and have about a dozen around the house from all around the world and she will go up to each one and say "Baby Jesus!" So sweet!

We decorated her tree in her room. She thought the beads worked better as a necklace.

Getting out the most beautiful tree!

And here are some pictures of the finished product. Our mantle:

I finished all three of our stockings! I sewed Kendall's last year before Christmas,

I sewed Randy's this summer,
and I just finished mine up a few weeks ago! I am very proud of these!

Three of our nativities that are in the kitchen: Bolivia, Jim Shore, and Kenya.

Kendall's room. Some of my Precious Moments in her window, Christmas books on the shelf, and her little tree! It was actually our first tree that we had for several years until we bought our big one. We love that little tree!

Kendall's toy box. She plays with her nativity all the time, and those penguins and snowman dance and she loves to dance with them!

All my snowman Christmas dishes are out in the kitchen.

And finally, the tree - my most favorite part of all. It is a 9 foot tree, so when we moved to Lake Jackson and were looking for a house it was a requirement that we have a house with vaulted ceilings so our tree would fit. It fits perfectly in our cottage!

Merry Christmas from the Danes! We hope you're having as much fun as we are!