Merry Christmas 2009 !

Merry Christmas to everyone!
We had a really nice Christmas and Olivia had so much fun. We spent Christmas Eve making cut-out cookies and she helped to decorate them all. It makes such a mess but she had a lot of fun and was excited to pick out the cookies that we would leave for Santa.
After spending the rest of the morning and early afternoon preparing for a houseful of people coming for Christmas day we went to our 4:00 pm Christmas Eve church service. After that we came home to open a few gifts that were exchanged between us.

We almost forgot to set out the cookies and milk and then it was off to bed to get a good night's sleep before our busy Christmas day.

Olivia woke us up at about 6:00 am and said "hurry, there are pwesents under the twee!" She had a great time opening everything and we all had fun watching her. Everyone got a lot of nice things and then it was to get ready for all the Manning side to come to our house.

It can get pretty crowded in our house but we had a great time. The food everyone brought was terrific and I think everyone had a good time.

Once again Olivia got a pile of presents from Grandma, Grandpa and her aunts. Being the youngest she of course got to hand out all the presents to everyone and was in her glory getting all the attention.

The holidays can sure be exhausting but we really had a great time and made many good memories.

Next stop will be celebrating Christmas with the Pitz side on New Year's day.....but that will be at Bob and Cindie's house so I can spend the week recovering from the Christmas weekend!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from our family to yours!!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Olivia's first visit with Santa happened this past Saturday when he came to town for a little gathering at the fireman's hall. We never got to try to sit on his lap last year because we never had time or reasons I can't remember, but since he was coming so close I thought we would try it this year. At 3 1/2 I figured she could handle it but in the couple days before she would say she would talk to Santa "when I'm bigger". I thought she would throw a fit or refuse to go near him but she surprised me again.

I think it helped that I told her it had been a long time since I had gotten to talk with Santa and I was so excited to get to see him again. She took that all in and I convinced her she had to let him know what she wanted for Christmas. We got there just as a firetruck was honking it's horn bringing Santa to the party. She went right up to him saying "Hi" and "Mewwy Christmas" and tried to push her letter on him. He was very nice and asked her to give it to him inside when she could sit on his lap and talk.

So she went in with her list made out, in an envelope and was determined to get it to him which was a good thing because she drew a blank sitting on his lap and could only think of "a candy cane" that she wanted. Santa actually produced one on the spot for her but she couldn't think of anything else she wanted. She was a little starstruck but did so well and I got some good pictures of it. We had a lot of fun after that eating some snacks and making ornaments. We even got that all done and got back home for nap time.


We have to soak in these years while she is young and makes the holidays so much fun!

Merry Christmas!!

Jenny Is 14 !

I need to catch up on my blogging! Jenny's 14th birthday was on December 4th. she had some friends over to spend the night and had a good time. Olivia and I had baked and decorated some cupcakes for Jenny's birthday. Olivia gave her a present which was one of those necklaces that are broken in half. Jenny's half says "big Sis" and the other half is for Olivia to wear when she is older that says "lil Sis". We also had the traditional birthday meal with Grandma and Grandpa Manning on Sunday, December 6th. This year Jenny picked a salmon dinner that is a really good recipe I had tried before but it think it turned out the best this time. We all enjoyed the salmon, potatoes and peas but especially enjoyed the Simma's cheesecake birthday cake that Dad picked up.

We had a really nice visit, she liked all her presents and is constantly reminding us that she will be starting to drive in 1 1/2 years. Hard to believe!!

Happy 14th birthday Jenny!

I'll be doing more updates to come soon since my birthday and the holidays are coming up so soon. Watch for the "visit with Santa" update to be here one of these days!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009 !

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We had another wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Manning's home. We eat early and stay all day, actually eating twice. Everyone was able to make it and we had a great time and great food, just eating too much as always but that's expected every year.

The kids are all growing up so fast it's hard to believe. Olivia kept everyone going and goes from one cousin, aunt, uncle, to the next. Steve and I are actually off the hook for the day because there are so many other relatives and she knows she is wrapped around their fingers.
She kept taking one at a time into the playroom to play with her. It was a standing joke as to who her next "victim" was going to be. For missing a nap she was in really good spirits all day, even eating her food pretty well.

She was very proud of the "turkey cookies" we brought to surprise everyone. They were made from tracing her own hand and she and Jenny and I all decorated them to look like turkeys.

Kendra surprised Grandma and Grandpa with a hand drawn picture she had been working on for a few months. She drew it from a small, old photo I had to sneak out of the house and get to her. None of us knew she was such an artist until we saw the picture.

And you know it has been a long busy day and it's time to go home when the oldest and the youngest cousins finally give up and curl up in Grandpa's big chair.

Thanks for another wonderful Thanksgiving G & G !!

Another Fun Visit

Thursday we got to have another visit with Eleanor, Wesley and Marilyn. Grandma Manning came along with Olivia and I and we all met at Marilyn's parents home so we got to visit with Eleanor's grandparents again too.
As usual we had a great time. This time the girls started playing together right away rather than taking an hour to warm up to each other. They basically ran around the whole time we were there except for when we sat down for lunch.

Little Wesley is getting very big and he tried his best to keep up with the girls. Eleanor is very petite and I think her little brother will pass her up in size very soon.

Eleanor is progressing the same as Olivia and it is fun to hear them talking to each other and being able to understand each other more each time we get together. They really had a lot of fun.

We all had a great visit and a fun time. You cannot find nicer people than Eleanor's family and we will look forward to our next visit with them.

My Worst Friday the 13th Ever

We lost another family member today.

My Blazer left me this morning at 7:00 am. I'm thankful it didn't happen during the night when he was alone. I was there for him as he passed on but it was one of the hardest things I've experienced.

Blazer turned 11 years old this past July 1st and he has been with me from day one. He has seen me through many good times and bad and has been there for it all. He was a puppy from Grandma Manning's dog and was born in 1998.
I picked him out from a litter of 9 and knew instantly that he was my dog. I actually held him in my hands before he was even 24 hours old.

Since then he has been the sweetest, most gentle, loyal dog anyone could ever ask for. There was not a mean bone in his body. I was always comfortable with Olivia around him. She could lay on him, dress him up and play with him however she wanted and he was always gentle and kind without even a growl.
Age and health finally caught up with him this morning though. I'm glad I was there for him right to the end but I miss him so much already and we all will.

Since Smokey died 1 1/2 years ago Blazer became a house dog and was living with us, constantly in the house. I think he really enjoyed that and hope the last year of his life was happy as we tried to spoil him as much as possible.

Goodbye Blazer, our house will not be the same without you!

First Haircut

Yes, I finally broke down and had Olivia's hair cut (trimmed). It has been growing for three years and 5 months. Don't worry, it is still nice and long but it was time to have it trimmed to keep it healthy. She has been coming with me for my haircuts all the time but today was the first day she got to sit in the big shot chair and get her hair cut too.


She did really well and said it was fun. She was pretty squirmy but Michelle has a lot of patience and worked fast.
Olivia did seem to enjoy admiring herself in the mirror a little too much while Michelle worked.


When she was all done, Michelle braided her hair real fancy and Olivia loved it. I think her hair may grow even faster now that it has been trimmed up but I will probably let it keep growing for a while again before we get it cut the next time.
She was a very good girl and knew if she was Michelle would give her that all important sucker on the way out.

Thank you Michelle!!