Happy Family: 2012

Christmas Toys

Alissa enjoyed playing with her new doll house and Duplo's after Christmas. Of course the other toys were a hit too, such as water color paints, Play-Doh, her new broom, her wooden dolls with magnet clothes, her boom box and CD's, etc.

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas 2012 - Christmas day is such a busy day full of gifts, family, and wonderful memories. The day started out with Alissa receiving her Christmas Gifts from Santa, Mommy and Daddy. Santa gave Alissa two Duplo sets, a Victorious Boom Box, a Broom, some paper for her Easle, and tons of fun little trinkets in her stocking... Mommy and Daddy gave Alissa two CD's for her Boom box, several outfits, and two pair of PJ's (one of which Alissa is wearing in this picture).

Alissa was super excited when she saw that Santa brought her Princess nails. She wore them for about one hour and finally said, "Mommy, take them off, they are in my way!" Here is a picture of Alissa with her fancy nails:

Alissa insisted that we purchase dog toys for Kitara's Christmas stocking and begged daddy to take her Christmas shopping for Kitara. As a result, Alissa was super excited when it was time for Kitara to open her stocking. Alissa, of course, did most of the work for Kitara.

After opening all of her Christmas presents, Alissa put on one of her new outfits and promptly posed for a picture with Kitara before heading to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house.

Alissa had told Santa that she wanted two things for Christmas: 1. A new bike and 2. A doll house. Unfortunately, Santa didn't bring her either. Santa previously told Alissa that bike's are hard to find in the winter and she might have to wait for her birthday. As for the doll house, Grandma and Grandpa Smith negotiated with Santa Clause to allow them the privilege of purchasing the doll house. Alissa noticed it immediately when she came to Grandma and Grandpa's house Christmas morning, but it wasn't fully put together so we spent a lot of time putting it together and playing with it. This Fisher Price Dollhouse comes with a doorbell that really works, lights that really turn on, music that plays, a secret playroom that raises up and hides, and tons of furniture to furnish every room of the house. Even the furniture has special features as the changing table playing lullaby's and the stove makes a cooking sound.

Here is Alissa opening up a few of her smaller gifts from Grandma, Grandpa, and the rest of the family.

Next, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Diamond's house for lunch/dinner. Of course, Alissa and Rose had to sit by each other.

Here is a picture of Mykin, Rose, Alissa, and Heber (dressed as Harry Potter). Mykin announced to everyone that she is pregnant with her first bambino. Grandma Diamond cried when she learned she would be a Great Grandma for the first time.

Here is a picture of all the cousin's together. Unfortunately, we are missing Jason & Josh, who are on missions; and Brandon, Bryce and Bethany, who live in Washington.

Here is a picture of Grandma opening her gift from Alissa, which is a beautiful photo album of Alissa's first 3.5 years in this world. Grandma was so excited that she shouted, "It's about time I received a photo book with my grand kids in it, I always wanted one." Luckily, I made it a point to feature all of the family in this heirloom.

We ended the evening at the Tyndall's house for dinner at gifts. Alissa received this fabulous Duplo Castle.

Mako was enjoying placing his new Smurf's inside Christmas stockings that Grandma and Grandpa said he could have.

And of course, Alissa enjoyed playing with her cousin Zoe, who was also adopted. Alissa and Zoe don't see each other very often, but they always have a fabulous time when they are together.

Christmas Adam 2012 (Adam comes before Eve)

December 23, 2012 - We invited the Diamond family to a party at our house tonight in lieu of Christmas Eve. It was decided that it's too difficult for all the Diamond's to get together on Christmas Eve and so I decided December 23, 2012 would work better. Unfortunately, the only people who could come was Mike and Marie's family, my parents, and of course Steve, Alissa, and I.

We started out the evening with Soup, Salad, and Apple Strudel for dinner. Everyone contributed to the meal. Marie made Minestrone soup, I made Cheese & Broccoli soup and Apple Strudel, and my parents brought the salad and chocolate covered strawberry's.

After dinner, we participated in Grandma Diamond's favorite tradition, which is her annual nativity story. She always brings costumes for the kids to dress up in while somebody reads the story. Marie was chosen to read the story and the kids dressed up in costume and acted out the story. Heber dressed up as a Shepard, Alissa dressed up as an Angel, and Rosemary dressed up as a Wiseman. Heber wasn't satisfied with just three little actors and said, "Where is the baby Jesus and who is going to be Mary and Joseph?" To make Heber happy, I volunteered to be Mary and we found a doll of Alissa's to play the role of Jesus. Immediately, Heber said, "Well, then Steve has to be Joseph if Kim is going to be Mary." He is such a smart kid. The funniest part was that the costumes are made for ages 8-10 so Steve and I did the best we could at fitting in the costumes... We also found a little sheep for Heber to carry and a gift box for Rosemary to carry.

Of course, Grandma and Grandpa Diamond can't come to a Christmas party and not give out gifts so they allowed each kid to open a gift. Here is a picture of Alissa with her gift. She received these wooden, magnetic dolls with tons of clothes and accessories to choose from.

Finally, we ended the evening by making Gingerbread Snoopy Dog Houses. I purchased a kit that came with 4 houses. Therefore, each child was able to make a house to take home. Grandma and Grandpa also made a house to take home. Here is a picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa and the four houses they all made:

Here is a picture of Mike, Marie, and the kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here is a close up of the house that Alissa made. Each house came with a gummy Snoopy to put on top. They also came with candy to use for Christmas lights on the house:

This evening was so much fun that we will remember it for years to come. Thanks everyone for helping to make such wonderful memories...

Ian and Santa

Since Ian was born on December 23, he always has a birthday party earlier during the month. Ian is a lucky kid since his mom is Jewish and his dad is Christian. Therefore, he is able to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas each year. As a result, he loves to have Santa Clause come to his birthday party.

Last year, Alissa couldn't get enough of Santa and insisted on standing by his side while each kid visited with him. But this year, Alissa was a bit nervous for some reason. As a result, she only agreed to sit on Santa's lap if her favorite pre-school/daycare teacher sat with her. After a few minutes with Heidi, Alissa agreed to sit on Santa's lap alone.

When Santa asked what Alissa wanted, she named two things: 1. A new bike, 2. A dollhouse. Santa quickly informed her that a new bike may be hard to find this time of year so she may have to wait for her birthday in April. What a smart Santa Clause to prepare the child for what she may not receive ;)

December 7 - Gingerbread House

Tonight was a special family night where Daddy, Mommy, and Alissa decided to build a gingerbread house. The end result wasn't very pretty, but we sure had a fun time making it. Mommy and Daddy mostly worked on the frosting while Alissa decorated the house with candy. Here are some fun pictures:

Daddy's turn to help Alissa

Mommy's turn to help Alissa

Alissa with the finished house

The finished house with the gummy person added

St. Nicholas Eve & Day (Dec 5 & 6, 2012)

Andrew Pullens and family invited us to their house on December 5, 2012 to celebrate St. Nicholas Eve with them. This is a European Holiday where you shine your shoes the night before and then place them out for St. Nicholas to visit during the night. You can leave food for St. Nicholas an his horse and he will leave a small gift in your shoes for the next day. The Pullens family let us use their shoe polish and brushes and then sent us home with instructions and supplies for St. Nicholas' visit. Here are some pictures of Alissa on the Morning of St. Nicholas Day.

Our Elf on the shelf found Alissa's treats before we woke up in the morning. That silly Elf on the Shelf.

Alissa received a special ring that she is wearing in the bottom right picture. She took it to daycare and promptly lost the gem out of the ring. Poor Alissa came home in tears and was broken hearted. A few days later, one of Alissa's providers, Ashley brought the ring to daycare with a new gem in it. She had taken the ring home, found a new gem, and glued it into the ring for Alissa. Ashley is so sweet. Alissa idolizes her and is always talking about her. Here are some of Alissa's quotes about Ashley:

"Mommy, will you rub my cheek the way Ashley does?"

"Mommy, your rubbing my back wrong. Please do it the way Ashley does it."

"Ashley, it's o.k. for you to read stories to the other kids as long as they don't sit on your lap. That is my lap."
When the daycare owner, Jen, heard this comment, she laughed and said, "Ashley, I'm going to come over and sit on your lap." Alissa promptly put out her hand and said, "Jen, you are too big for Ashley's lap."

"Mommy, I want to wear that U of U shirt today because Ashley has one like it."

"Mommy, will you pretend your Ashley and drive me to Disneyland in our pretend car?"

Ashley and Alissa have a special relationship. We are so happy that Alissa loves her daycare and can spend her day with such great people.

November 30, 2012 Alissa invites Rose to her Gymnastics Class

Here is a collage I made of Alissa and Rose at Alissa's Little Gym Gymnastics class. This week was "Invite a Friend to Class" week so Alissa invited Rose. They both had a wonderful time together. Rose is the one below with a light pink t-shirt and light blue knit pants. Alissa is also wearing a light pink t-shirt, but with dark gray pants.

Rose had so much fun that she actually cried when it was time to leave. We will make sure to invite Rose again in the future.

Thanksgiving 2012

This year we had Thanksgiving with Kim's family. Wayne and Natalie agreed to have the celebration at their house. We had a wonderful time visiting and eating the delicious turkey dinner. We all brought different food items to contribute to the feast. I made some pies to include banana cream, chocolate cream, and pumpkin. I also purchased a double lemon cream and Razzleberry pie from Marie Callendars since those are also family favorites. Here are some pictures of the delicious feast.

Liz, Jon, Mykin, Dick, and Dad/Grandpa

Mom/Grandma, Alex, Zach, Brooke, and Robbie

Rosemary, Marie, and Heber

Natalie, Me (Kim), and Steve

Mike and Natalie

Wayne and Alissa

After the delicious meal, Alissa enjoyed playing with her cousins outside in the back yard. Wayne and Natalie have a super fun back yard since they have three different levels of lawn with a fire pit on the highest level. Alissa, Rose, and Heber loved to pretend that the fire pit was a castle and the three of them were super hero's who saved the day. They ended up saving the castle from dragons, fire, ice, etc. It was so cute to watch them. They have such incredible imaginations at their ages. Alissa and Rose are both three and Heber is now six years old.

Halloween Time 2012

Halloween is my favorite holiday! Part of what I love so much is the fact that I can celebrate it for the entire month of October. I also love the traditions that have been established since Alissa was born. These traditions include the Neighborhood Trunk or Treat Party that we attend each year with Grandma and Grandpa D. This year, that Trunk or Treat party was on October 26, 2012. Since mommy had the day off work, Alissa got dressed in her costume early and mommy spent an hour curling her hair while she watched the movie Snow White (yes, she chose the movie). Once our princess was ready, she was so beautiful that mommy had to take pictures of her on the beautiful fall day. Of course, Alissa needed to blow her bubbles too since that is a fun thing to do on a beautiful day.

Snow White

Getting ready to blow bubbles

Blowing Bubbles

After having fun outside with mommy taking pics and blowing bubbles, we drove to the trunk or treat party where we met Grandma and Grandpa D, Daddy, Heber, Rose, and their parents.

Alissa as Snow White, Heber as Superman, and Rose as Supergirl...


Daddy as Dopey Dwarf, Alissa as Snow White, and Mommy as Grumpy Dwarf

After the party, we drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up a special surprise that they got for Alissa. She is such a lucky girl to have grandparents that loves her so much.

She got a princess castle to go with her beautiful Snow White costume. She also got some PJ's, a sticker book, a puzzle, a Winnie the Pooh wash mitt, a dart gun, and a bucket with candy...

Grandma, Alissa, and Grandpa

Halloween day was on Wednesday this year so mommy took the day off work to spend with Alissa. Mommy's work has a Halloween potluck each year so she decided to bring Alissa. When we got there, Alissa was extremely excited to see her friend Lily. Alissa had recently seen Lily at Black Island Farms for the Adoptiversary of Lily's older sister, Julia. Lily and Alissa had so much fun together.