CHRISTMAS IS HERE!!

Christmas Eve was spent with the Knight family this year. Leslie was home from Spain and Great Grandma "Farmer" has been here visiting from Washington state. The kids looked so cute all dressed up in their Christmas outfits. Olivia's dress was yet another great borrowed outfit from Addie Julien. Thanks Addie!

After Church while we waited for dinner to be ready Trevor, Ben, uncle Cory and Aunt Leslie did a little sledding. Check out Ben's new goggles. Those were a great birthday present to help keep that snow out of his eyes.

Christmas morning Santa came through and Ben got his new hockey helmet! He was so excited he could hardly contain himself.

Christmas Day we drove to Fairmont to see the Alm family and Eisenminger family. Ben looked pretty sharp in his new hat from Spain. We spent the night at Great Grandpa and Grandma Eisenminger's and Aunt Susie was there from Brainerd.

Christmas day was spent at the the Olingers with all Grandpa "across the street's" family. He got a real hammer from Jamie. So appropriate since he has watched Jamie use a hammer at our house all fall. And of course safe first... as you can see by his very own safety goggles!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our loved ones!

Orchard Park Preschool's Holiday Concert 2010

Ben's Preschool had their Holiday concert on December 23rd. The kids got all dressed up in their concert clothes after nap time. The girls had their hair done nice and they waited for the parents to arrive. They came out one by one... Ms. Erin and Ms. Kristine had them so well trained and organized and the kids did a perfect job. They sangs songs about the Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas. Ben was so excited that he spent most of the just smiling from ear to ear.

New Skates!

So Ben asked Santa for ONE thing this year and that was a Hockey Helmet. So if Santa was going to deliver we figured Ben better learn how to skate. The weekend before Christmas we bought Ben his first pair of skates and off to the rink we went.

Of course Olivia went too all bundled up to endure the cold.

Ben spent more time riding on the folding chair cheering dad on to go faster and faster. You see Ollie Murray is much faster and daddy could not keep up with him.

The girls had a great time too riding around in the sled together. Ben did do a little skating on his own just hanging on to mommy's hand and he did great.

Overall, the skating was a success and the boys had a great time. Only a few tear and lots of smiles!

Sheetrock is UP!

Last week the Sheetrock went up and the mudding and taping started. This means we are living across the street again. Trevor and I moved all our furniture and put plastic over every doorway and closet and we moved out! We packed for a month stay and Grandpa and Grandma's and don't plan on moving back in until after the hardwood floors are set. Here is the new mud room and the 1/2 wall we took out into the living room. The window is where the doorway into our

house used to be.

The hall way back to our new master suite and the vaulted ceiling in the new room.

The KING size bed will fit between these two windows. The second picture is looking at the

closet and back to the hallway.

We are now 10 days into our stay at "Grandpa and Grandma's across the street" as Ben says and we are all still speaking to each other! We will see how the next 3 weeks go...

Christmas Season is Here!

This is the first year that Ben really understands the whole Christmas thing. Last Monday we put lights and a few decorations on our mini tree. Then we hung the stocking. Mom just could not go a year without a real tree even if the house is in complete shambles. He loves watching Tim Allen's The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2 every night (Shrek has temporarily been replaced). Last Sunday we went to see Santa! Santa was at Tonkadale Nursery and it was fabulous! There were no lines and you could take as many pictures as you wanted with Santa. This is Ben and his buddy Cullen sitting on Santa's lap. We also got a great picture of the family and one of Olivia and Kinsley (Cullen's baby sister) with Santa. More to come when I get the digital versions...

1 Year Old!!

Olivia Jeanne Knight was our Christmas blessing last year. On December 3rd she turned 1 and look out world she is on the move! This past year has gone by in the blink of an eye. We cannot believe she is already 1. It has been a wonderful year for our family. Ben continues to enjoy his "baby sister" and mom and dad love to watch their relationship grow.

We celebrated her birthday last weekend with family. She had a great time at her party, she loved the cake and all her gifts.

She had fun poking all the dots on her cake (so did her brother).

Then we cut her a small piece so she could actually get at the cake. Is she showing us her finger full of frosting or that she is one year old? She was so over stimulated and juiced up on sugar that she did not sleep that night (I am not kidding, she was up EVERY 1-2 hour!)

She got this great walk behind stroller from her Aunt Emily and her boyfriend Thomas and the baby doll from "Grandpa and Grandma across the street".

On her actual birthday we sent treats to school to share with all her friends. Her big brother wanted to make sure she got everything the big kids got for their birthdays. He wanted her to have the crown, have all his friends sing to her and make sure she had the royal treatment!

Now we are looking forward to the next year! What will she be like at 2?