Merry Christmas

This year has been wonderful! I think my favorite part was being able to go to church and to feel the spirit. I was able to be in the ward choir which was really nice. But Christmas morning Kiel and I were the first ones up so we started making noise so the kids would wake up. Lately they’ve been getting up around 8am… so we needed to move things along…. We mainly did stockings before church which was perfect… we could’ve stopped there…

Chloe is obsessed with penguins so we found this Erik penguin (from the 2nd movie) and it talks… so adorable!!

 We bought the movie Happy Feet to go along with the penguin… I figure it’s a movie we should own with her obsession….

But it was the first thing she saw and the last thing she put down until… later on in the day…. but I tried to be strategic with their stockings… quiet toys, snacks that went in new lunch boxes that they could take to church with them. It’s hard enough to leave toys behind.. so I thought something new for church would be helpful.

And as every year… Petey with his Holiday bone… yep… it was gone by the afternoon….

 

We did open a couple of presents before church one of them being the gift Chloe got Connor with “hard earned” money (ha) but it was so sweet that Connor made sure to Thank her with a hug. They have such a great relationship which I am sure will come and go.. but for now I love that they are best friends!!

After church we only had a couple of hours to open the rest of our Christmas to make it over to Kiel’s brother’s house for Christmas dinner…. We like to take our time… so 3 hours was pushing it… But the big gifts of the day were, The start of a new era for Connor… his first Lego set!! He was so excited… and with Uncle Alan to get in there with him he was in heaven… and still is!! He carries his little guys everywhere!! And for Chloe… her first Doll playhouse! When she saw it she called it her castle! To go along with her playhouse, Connor’s gift to her was furniture for her house. He did good! Since that afternoon the kids have been on the floor playing with each other nonstop. The Lego guys visit the playhouse and her people play in the Lego buildings… it’s fun to watch them play. 

This morning…

Well we made it through the holiday with no trips to the hospital. Baby Curtis is still very happy with living arrangements for the time being I guess. Which is great with me. Christmas is all put away and it’s time to get ready for a new baby in the house. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday weekend!

From the Wendelschafer’s,

*Merry Christmas and Happy 2012*

Hexan Haus

We strayed a little from the normal “Miller” tradition of making cookie trains… when it was just our family making a treat I didn’t want to invest in ALL the cookies and candies to make just one… so I saw on a cute blog that you could go to Trader Joe’s and get a gingerbread man kit and I thought that would be fun. But they were out. Instead I saw these German Hexan Haus’… which fits in with our little German family : ) It was a cute little kit.. no baking involved! All I had to do was to whip up the royal frosting. The kids were Very involved… as you can probably tell in the decorations. They had fun! Chloe didn’t do much decorating… it was more like… 1 for the house… 2 for her..  Turned out pretty cute, right?

**Merry Christmas**

Fröhliche Weihnachten

The Polar Express

Every Christmas The Polar Express is a must read. I love getting it out along with all the other Christmas books. I have read it to the kids almost every night this month already and I have to admit it’s one of my favorite Christmas stories. But this year being pregnant I am a little more emotional and I have to admit I cry every time I read it. I am so much more emotional when I am pregnant it’s annoying sometimes… but this book is one of those things that gets me every time. Along with the stories with Great Grandma Miller’s voice reading the stories to the kids these are my/our favorites!!! 

Get that hole in your pocket fixed, signed Mr. C

We took our Monkeys to the Temple

One thing we always make sure we do each holiday season is go see the lights at the Mesa temple. The kids loved walking around seeing all the lights. I love that each year their understanding of Christmas increases. It just makes Christmas even more special. Connor talks about the day that he grows up “big like daddy” and he’ll be able to go into the temple and be married… it’s cute.

One of the many reasons why I love living in Arizona is being able to live so close to the temple. It states in my patriarchal blessing that I will always live close to temples. Having the Mesa temple only 8 minutes from our home has been such a blessing and within the next year or so we’ll have another in Gilbert. It’s exciting. I really feel blessed for living in Arizona… even though the summers are a little rough I love the winters here. The weather is perfect, especially for being 8.5 months pregnant. I have no complaints. I am uncomfortable from time to time but I am happy to be pregnant right now.

We also walked around the visitor’s center. The kids loved looking at all the nativity sets they had from around the world and then of course they knew where Jesus was. We sat through the short presentation and it surprised Kiel and I that the kids were so reverent while listening to Jesus. It was really tender watching their faces look at Jesus. It was a great night. Thanks Kiel for taking us!