Playing in the Snow

As soon as the girls noticed it was snowing they wanted to go out and play in it. So we had some breakfast and got all bundled up and headed outside. It was quite cold so we only lasted long enough to go down the slide, swing for a minute, do a snow angel and make a small snowman. This was a very packable powdery but slick snow, perfect for sledding. I have got to find a hill.







Happy Birthday Mama Cheek

Simply the Best Christmas Present I've Ever Received

On Kaitlyn's last day of school she brought home 2 wrapped Christmas gifts. 1 for her from her teachers and the other was one to James and I from her. Everyday she is sent home with a note of what they did at school that day and in days leading up to the last day there was mention of the kids working hard on mom and dads christmas presents. On the gift to James and I from Kaitlyn it said, "no peeking." So I put it up and we decided to finish our Christmas weekend on Sunday night opening those two presents that she brought home saving the best for last. She got a nice book from her teachers and James and I got a christmas tree ornament, angel ornament made from a picture of her face and her hand prints as the angel wings, a key chain, a fridge magnent with her picture in it and a 2010 Calender personalized with a great big picture of her playing at school. I did not cry, but getting real, hand made by Kaitlyn gifts did bring a tear to my eye and they were the best. Seeing the pictures of her that they took at school for our gifts made me so happy to see she is all smiles while there and knowing how hard she worked on our gifts was a wonderful feeling. She never ceases to amaze me. Opening that present was the PERFECT way to end our Christmas.

Day After Christmas Gathering at Aunt Vals House

The day after Christmas we decided to get together again, not because we had not seen enough of eachother but because some family didn't get in town until 10pm Christmas night and we didn't get a chance to see them. Kaitlyn just idolizes Emma and Emma is sweet enough to tollerate it ;)

Christmas Time 2009

What a whirlwind week... All the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping all comes to a screaching hault and FINALLY it's time to relax and enjoy the holiday with the family. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did as well.


Tree on Christmas Eve


Tree just after Santa paid a visit


Watching the news on Christmas Eve tracking where Santa was


Too excited to sleep, she finally crashed around 11:30


Christmas Morning


Kiera couldn't believe it



We woke up to snow and were excited about getting a white Christmas
(oscar was out playing and hanging out by the fire)


Taking a nap on the way up to The Cheek family Christmas




Thanks Val for grabbing the camera and getting a family pic for the minute we were all sitting together


Let there be toys...







This was taken about 9pm and the expression on Kaitlyns face tells you what kind of day she had


Again, we hope you had a Very Merry Christmas and have a Very Happy and Safe New Year.

The girls 1st trip through millions of Christmas Lights

Last night the girls and I went through the lights in O'fallon with Aunt Val, Mama Sheryl and Papa Ron. They LOVED it! Kaitlyn was all over the truck trying to get a glimps of everything and Kiera kept saying, "Oh my God" the looks on their faces were priceless and it is something we will deffinately do again and again. As you can see in one of the pictures below it was snowing which gave it all the more a Christmas feel.

Got all Dressed Up to go See Santa

So I decided after dinner tonight would be a good night to take the girls to the mall and see santa. So, we finished dinner around 5:30 and got the girls dressed and headed toward the mall. We get there and park as far away as possible from where Santa is set up in there, not a huge deal, but we get in line and wait. The line was not that bad till after standing there for 10 minutes we made it around the corner and then saw we had another hour and fourty five minutes of waiting. At that point Kiera got her first glimps of Santa and was so excited waving and yealling, "Hi Santa!". Kaitlyn also got her first peek and wanted to leave the mall immidiately. So we opted to not stand in line for the remainder knowing the girls would not stand in line that long. I swear those other parents had to have medicated those kids that were waiting patiently. So we found the little rides let them play for a bit and got on out of there. We will try again tomorrow right when they open. I don't think the line will be as bad but we shall see. At least the girls loved being in their dresses, so dressing them is easy! 1 week till Christmas! Are you ready?

Got the Tree Up

We finally got the Christmas tree and decorations up. It's so fun to watch Kiera, even though last Christmas was her 1st and we made such a huge deal out of everything, you can tell she doesn't remember anything. All the holiday stuff is just amazing her. It's so much fun to see the holidays again through my kids eyes. It brings back all the fun of the holidays. Now all I have to do is start my shopping :-)




Last year the tree only fell twice. I'm aiming for no falls this year, I don't want to have to screw it to the floor. I did not put any glass orniments on it this year just in case. That was a scary mess last year.

After a Slumber Party...

The girls got to have a slumber party this Saturday at mama and papa Cheeks house and I know they had a good time. However, in the past I have heard stories about "when the kids come home from being at the grandparents house," from many different people over the past few years that their kids come back spoiled or honory or tired and so on. I thought because I spent most of the day today with them that they would be coming home exhausted & content. Well, I thought wrong! They would not fall asleep for anything. As you can see from the time of this post it is almost 1:30am and that is because I just laid Kiera in her bed minutes ago. I'm so glad they had fun, it was almost as if they knew if they fell asleep the weekend would be coming to an end. I guess I'll have to lay down the law and make sure there is no sugar allowed for their next slumber party. Just kidding, I'll look at the bright side and hope since they didn't fall asleep till 1am maybe they will sleep till 7 or later. Here's to hoping!

Picture with Papa Jim

After an exciting Saturday slumber party at papa and mama Cheeks house the girls were greeted by papa Jim who had just a little something for them. He's not in many pictures so the oppertunity presented itself and the girls wanted to take a picture so we did. Oscar jumped in at the last second and planted a fat one on papa Jim, as you can see.

Newest Huber Family Dance without James sticking his tounge out

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Company Christmas Party

Last night was the Dobbs Christmas Party. It was at the Hyatt (where the Adams Mark used to be) downtown and it was very nice. I remembered that I had my camera as we were leaving, hence why I have my coat on... and asked someone to take a picture of us. It's about the only time every year James is dressed up so I have to take advantage and get a picture of us together. I really liked the dress I wore, too bad you can't see it. Oh well.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards