Festival of Lights

Emma has been excited to go to the Festival of Lights for the past two months. We looked for "clues" while we were at the zoo in the month of November and have tried to go several times this month only to be stopped by weather or sickness. This week we finally had the chance to go and she loved it just as much as we thought she would. She was in awe of all the lights and of course excited to see some of her favorite animal friends, although most of them were "sleeping". At one point we came to a display of three snowmen with lights flashing to Jingle Bells and Emma stopped to sing and dance and drew an audience. It was so much fun to see her enjoy the lights and to see her joyful spirit on display!

Christmas Fun

We have had some fun days recently making cookies and spending time with Nana.

GINGERBREAD BOYS AND GIRLS

She was very excited to get out her rolling pin and baking sheet from Aunt Abby.

We did some together and she did some completely on her own.

CHRISTMAS TRAIN DISPLAY

Nana came with us to the Festival of Lights, but on the way there it started raining and so we abandoned the zoo plans and went to the Holiday Trains downtown.

Jonah really enjoyed the trains as well.

Taking it all in. Emma was a bit overwhelmed but has been talking about it ever since.

CANDY CANE COOKIES

Check out Emma's cookies on the tray. She worked so hard on them.

CUTOUT COOKIES

Emma had her own decorating station.

Nana spent the morning decorating cookies with us.

I love the look on her face. Just look at her hands. She had so much fun and was just so funny.

Nutcracker

Emma and I went to the Nutcracker today with Susan, Mariela, and Alyssa. She LOVED it! She has been in love with ballet for a while now, thanks to Aunt Abby! It was so fun to give her an opportunity to see what ballet really is. We were in the fifth row and Emma just sat wide-eyed for the whole performance. The two seats in front of us were open so she could sit on my lap and lean forward on the seat and suck her thumb. At times she would get down and twirl and try to imitate the dancers. On the way home she told me she would be a real ballerina one day and she would get up on stage and dance and I would watch her and clap and say 'Yay, Emma'. Love it! It was a precious time with my little girl and I am so thankful for the time alone with her and good friends today!

Before the ballet we went to Ms. Miller and Mariela's for lunch.

Emma was so excited that I could not get her to stand still. She loved her ballet dress and new sparkle shoes. She wore her ballet slippers when we got to the theater.

Waiting with Ms. Miller for the performance to begin.

She was so distracted that she wouldn't stay focused for any good pictures.

Still excited at intermission!

Christmas Tree

Emma was excited to see, learn about, and hang each of her ornaments and she helped Jonah.

Snow!!!

We had our first real snow of the year today. Emma was so excited to go outside with Daddy.

Emma wanted to wear Daddy's hat.

Warming up with hot chocolate!

Grandma

Here are some videos of Grandma reading to Emma and singing some Norwegian songs.

Thanksgiving 2010

We went to St. Louis for the week of Thanksgiving. Mike was able to work remotely which allowed us the extra time. It was so fun to see Emma take it all in and learn about Thanksgiving and spend so much time with the family. Grammy, Poppa, Grandma, Uncle Ben and Aunt Erin all spent lots of time with Emma and Jonah. Thank you to each of you for making such an effort to build special relationships with our children. That means so much to us and to them!

Emma set up a store in the pantry and enjoyed scanning and bagging groceries for everyone.

Emma helped make just about everything for Thanksgiving. She spent the entire day on Wednesday helping Grammy in the kitchen. It was sweet and so nice to have her completely entertained.

Grandma reading to Emma

Making pie crust with Grammy for the four pies they made. Emma helped specifically with the pumpkin pies by stirring them up with her finger, licking, and repeating.

One of my favorite picture of her! She loves to help in the kitchen!

Little Chef!

Helping Poppa make his annual Thanksgiving breakfast

Emma dancing along with the Macy's parade. She would watch what they were doing and try to recreate it. The best part is she hiked her skirt up to her armpits so it would be like the cheerleaders...not sure if I should think that is cute or scary.

We are so thankful for our sweet family! We are so blessed beyond belief!

Coloring with Mommy...Love how she has her hand on her cheek too!

Emma has started putting her arms around our necks for hugs and to pose for pics!

Tea Party!

We had cookies Emma made with our tea!

Checking out

Emma bagging up her groceries in the store!

Learning the art of Yulekaga from Grammy

So fun to see the family traditions passed on to Emma

Love the look on Grammy's face!

Putting the finishing touches on the Yulekaga. Now she will have to teach Mommy. We are going to make some on our own this year...well, hopefully we will.