Christmas (Eve) Morning

Christmas eve morning, we woke Kendall up bright and early to see if Santa had visited. He did!

He filled her stocking with candy and books and socks and brought her a Little People farm!

Randy and I got her her first baby doll and she LOVED it! She carries it around with her all the time.

Look how sweetly she is looking at it!

Giving the baby her "sass."

And trying to eat some of the candy from her stocking - with the paper still on.

Happy girl!

She had to give her baby a ride in her stroller.

She would walk off, then turn around and say, "Bye Bye!!"

We didn't get pictures of everything, but she also got some more books, the Aristocats DVD, and some houseshoes. We had such a fun Christmas Eve morning and loved Kendall being at an age where she understands what is going on! She loves Christmas!

Christmas Eve Eve

Our Christmas celebrations began on Christmas Eve Eve. Our church has our Christmas service on that night instead of the 24th and we love that! We were leaving for Ft. Worth the next morning, so we told Kendall that Santa would be coming that night and we opened presents as a family on the 24th before we left. So, that meant that we had to bake Santa cookies! Randy came home for lunch and we all baked cookies together. We decided to make M&M cookies because "emmies" are Kendall's favorite these days.

"Kendall bakes!"

After church that night we went over to the Johnson's to have "Lake Jackson Family Christmas." The Sanders and Amy came over too and we had dinner, dessert, played marbles, and opened presents. It was so much fun. We love that tradition. And, we were excited because Alden and Scott were here for it this year, too!

With Alden and Scott, being here, that meant that Nicholas was here and Ethan and Kendall could play in his cage! They love that and wasted no time going straight for it!

Auggie and Kendall were talking about how both of them had tights on. Kendall loves her tights and thought it was pretty funny that Auggie had some too!

Opening presents!

It was nice outside, and Kevin and Jan had just gotten a fire pit, so we spent a lot of time out on the back porch. Here is a fun picture of Kendall and Randy looking through the window.

Towards the end of the night, Ella got sleepy and fell asleep on Kevin on the hammock. Kendall got a little jealous and had to get in on that!

And before we left, we tried to get a family picture. It went the same way it usually goes. :)

When we got home, we put out the milk and cookies, and went to bed to wait on Santa! Kendall was talking a lot about Santa on the roof, coming down the "chimy" and bringing her candy in her stocking. We sang "Up On The Housetop" a whole lot this year. She loved the part at the end where we say "click, click, click!" So much fun to do all this with our big girl!

We're Back!

And we have so much blogging to catch up on!! Randy and I arrived back in Houston Friday evening after being in Cambodia for almost 2 weeks. We were so happy to get to see Kendall and to be home. We had a great trip and I will blog about that soon. First though, I have to get caught up on Christmas blogging. Everything has to be in order!! :)

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!