Christmas dinner (@ Grandpa & Grandma's)

Charlie & Sabra got tri-cycles with a bell and streamers.  So fun!

the way he says "Merry Christmas" is so darn cute

Christmas brunch (@ Yaya & Poppa's)...

Christmas morning (@ our house)...

p.j. tradition

On Christmas Eve we all get new p.j's.

Charlie loved his truck p.j.'s... & I decided not to post pictures of Chris & I wearing ours

(because they weren't as cute as THESE P.J.'s!)

Christmas Eve cutie:

Charlie was so proud of his "handsome" outfit he wore to Christmas Eve services.

shhh... it's a surprise!

Don't worry, Mom...

it's not ours!

But, SOMEONE

we know is getting this adorable chocolate lab puppy on Christmas Day!

playing with Shea

We went to play with Shea and see baby Maya this morning and these 2 are hilarious together.  They wrestle (?) and hug and chase each other.

Charlie's down for a long nap after expending all that energy playing this morning.

And Tara- those cinnamon rolls- could they BE any better? (thanks for sharing!)

welcome baby Levi!

Levi John Grezcka

born Sunday December 21st

9:56 a.m.

7 lbs. 12 oz

21 inches

I was so honored to be in the delivery room with my friend Tasia as we welcomed Levi into the world.  Tasia was amazing and Levi is so precious!

gingerbread house making

Charlie's favorite part:  eating the candy!

The house is pretty simple looking- but it was a fun project together.  

In the years to come, we will get more elaborate with our decorating...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

the stocking stuffers are purchased & hidden...

our second fake tree is up and decorated after the first one fell over...

about 1/2 the presents are wrapped...

and Charlie wants to wear his santa hat all day.

(much needed) DATE NIGHT

We LOVE this group of friends and were so excited to have a date night planned where the kids were left at home.  We went to the KEG for an un-interrupted adult-type dinner (except when Jake & Heather arm wrestled @ the table...) and then to see a Christmas movie.  I think all the kids did ok at their respective babysitter's (right?) so our next date night should be in the works.

Crazy Christmas Sweaters

We had our peds hem/onc staff party Thursday night and we were supposed to wear our most outrageous holiday sweater (although some people veto-ed this idea)...

Here I am with Emily & Tracy and LOTS of Christmas spirit!

Thanks to my mom in law for lending me her blouse.

Christmas Light Viewing

Last night, we had family over for dinner (when the Christmas tree fell...) and then we went to view the Christmas lights on Natal Circle where the houses go all out!

The neighborhood is just west of Country Club off Guadalupe (turn north on Cherry) for you locals.

bad tree karma

maybe our fake tree was jealous that we EVEN considered getting a real tree...

because after we decorated it beautifully last night-

it toppled over during dinner.

(the stand broke in two.)

so, then i had to undecorate and the thought of re-decorating some other tree sounds exhausting.

ABC's (Charlie version)

the tree we DIDN"T cut down...

We had high hopes of creating a Christmas tradition of cutting down our own tree.

We got a permit back in OCTOBER for the Prescott Nat'l Forest

and thought it was perfect to stay at camp in Prescott because it would be close to SO many trees to choose from.  Well, when we looked closer at our map of the "recommended areas" to cut down a tree, we realized that the Prescott Nat'l Forest extended about 2 hours from where we were and there was warnings of "primitive road conditions" (?)  So, we decided we didn't want to put Charlie through a possible 4 hour trek to find this tree.

We thought, "how bad can the trees in the nearby forest be?" 

The answer... sad.

And even though I was willing to take home a 'charlie-brown' tree, 

Chris spared these little guys who were the only trees resemling Christmas trees.

Our FAKE tree will have to suffice for yet another year.

Sedona

We stayed at Los Abrigados Resort (thanks to Dick & Sandy Myren from church who graciously let us use their condo... thanks!)  The resort has a huge light display the month of December- so we walked and looked at lights each night.  The resort also had a pool which was warmer than the outside so we swam during the day- and Chris biked while Charlie and I rested/napped.

gone for the week...

We are heading up to Sedona/Prescott this week to kick off the Christmas season with lots of Christmas light viewing, the parade in Prescott, and to cut down our Christmas tree.  

It should be interesting...

pic's to come when we get home!

pretend play (the monkey's reading)

thanksgiving edition:

We hosted Thanksgiving this year at our house-

so first time making the turkey.  It went ok...

We used the brining recipe from this site.

However- the raw turkey made me nauseous and

Chris had to be the one to actually clean it and get it ready.

And when my dad carved it- something looked 'wrong' (it was all dark meat)

until we realized we had cooked it upside down.

Oh well, it could have been worse.

Psalm 100:4-5

"Give thanks to Him, and praise His name...

His faithfulness continues through all generations."

so thankful...

for this...

and this...

AND THIS!...

and THIS:

It was so fun to get a positve pregnancy test after 3 cycles of fertility treatments

and even more exciting/relieving to get our ultrasound today of ONE HEALTHY baby with a fast heart rate.

(July 13th- come soon!)

Yay!