It's the Most Wonderful(ly busy!) Time of the Year...

It's been a tough week, but if nothing else I think that accidents and tragedy and sickness have reminded us how much we have to be grateful for--and how much good there is to celebrate every day. We've had a lot of wonderful things going on this busy month, so I wanted to capture it all before the real craziness hits next week. Here's the rundown of what we've been up so far during this December to Remember...

"Friendsgiving"
We kicked off the first day of December with a fabulous new tradition called Friendsgiving (your idea, right, Kristin?), where we shared a meal and celebrated some wonderful friendships the week after Thanksgiving. It's not easy being the new kid in town, especially while adjusting to new jobs or the role of staying at home (with little to no contact with the outside world). So when I met a lovely mom at the library less than a week after arriving here, I didn't expect much. But within a week or two she'd organized a fun dinner club with a few other moms she'd "picked up" around the same time (we joke that she's good at that!) and it quickly became a second family of sorts for us all. It's been so refreshing to be around other moms who support each other, understand each other, and provide that comic relief we all need some days when life gets crazy. Friendsgiving was a super fun and crazy night filled with lots of love and laughter (all thirteen kids played together unbelievably well!) and the perfect opportunity to share our gratitude. So thankful for all of the fun and friendship--you ladies are awesome!

Friends!

A Great (Granddad) Christmas party
Last Thursday we got to go see Peter's great-granddad when his nursing home hosted a Christmas Party. We've been  lucky enough to visit a few times since we've been here; though he has a hard time remembering who everyone is, it's always great to spend time together, and the other residents just LOVE seeing the kids. It's worth it just to see their faces light up!

Grandsons and great-grandsons!

Marie's First Christmas Program
Our little lady has inherited my shyness, and my goal last week was to support her as much as possible during her pre-school's Christmas concert (she even asked to stay home because she felt too shy to sing). Although she spent the entire concert facing away from the crowd, we expected as much and were still very proud of her and consider it progress that she even made it up on stage! I tried to make it a special night by getting her all dressed up and curling her hair (which she loved!), and Gran and Granddad took her out for hot chocolate afterwards. And for a good thirty minutes before we left for the concert, our beautiful Marie was twirling around the house in her dress and curls, singing all of the songs she had learned and practicing her bow. Peter whispered to me, "look, we're getting our concert now!" and we stopped to watch her and listen to her sweet voice. We had the best seats in the house, for sure.

Daniels (Denver University) Snow Ball

We may have given up Army balls and dining outs, but in their place we've gained alumni functions since Peter started grad school. We had a lovely date night sans kids--schmoozing with the DU alums, hanging out with friends, and tearing up the dance floor photo booth! (My personal favorite is Peter in the Santa beard hat thing).

Touring the Lights
It wouldn't be Christmas without a grand tour of the twinkling lights. We drove around Denver on two differnt occasions so the kids could enjoy the full show. The neighborhood across from ours is one of the most decked-out, and had a house with a light show, complete with music. Pretty crazy. Marie wanted to know if we could "do that to our house;" our answer "once you're old enough to set it up and pay for it!" In the mean time, we know where to go for some good entertainment.

Discovering Elfie
It's a fun hide-n-seek game each morning to see where our Elf On the Shelf, "Elfie" is hiding. Usually the first thing the kids do is run to find him, and then barge into our room and shout "SURPRISE" and demand that we go find him for ourselves. Most mornings it's nothing crazy--he just shows up in a new place--but a few times Peter has definitely flexed his creative muscle...the zip line was the biggest hit of the season thus far.

Dinosaur rides, visiting baby Jesus, just hanging out, and zip lining across the family room...

And eating some
cookies, of course!

And most importantly, learning all about the Christmas story!

Fun traditions with the Advent wreath and Advent calendars (thanks, Grandma!)...
and hours of fun playing with their Little Tikes Nativity Set!

P.S. Update on Our Little Trooper: thank you all for the prayers, our little Frankenbaby got his stitches out and is doing well! (Minus the fever he caught from big bro and sis--go away, sickness!).

Starting a new trend with
some steri-strips!