New Year's Eve Shrimp

Elizabeth has never cooked Shrimp before. However, we wanted some for our New Year's Eve party and wanted to go a cheaper route than the pre-cooked stuff at the store. So Elizabeth bravely soldiered on and followed the directions on the packaging. The shrimp turned out delicious and none of us came down with food poisoning - it was a win-win for everyone involved!

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a wonderful day, filled with all the excitement you expect your kids to have about finding presents left in your living room by a man that you never actually meet.

This year, on top of our traditional four-gift limit (Something you Want, Something you Need, Something Homemade, and Something to Read), we helped our kids each buy a present for each other from the Dollar Tree store.

David got Cailainn a "Nemo" fish.

Analeigh got David a harmonica.

Cailainn got Analeigh some "Rapunzel" hair.

New Pajamas

Every year the kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve - a certain gift from their grandmother. By now they've picked up on the fact that it is going to be a pair of pajamas. Nevertheless, they love them and are always excited to rip open the packaging.

Camels at Christmas?

Our city had a Christmas parade this evening featuring camels, sheep, a donkey with Mary and Joseph. Yes, you read that right, this parade actually mentioned the subject of Christ during a Christmas parade - take that New York City! After the parade, the kids got to interact with everyone at City Hall.

First off, proof of camels in Kansas in the winter.

 Next, Cailainn meeting a sheep.

 Also, proof of Mary and Joseph with "baby Jesus."

 Finally, the obligatory photos with Santa (Analeigh is sitting with her friend from school):

 As you can see, Cailainn has still not warmed up to Santa Claus.