Christmas

Evan with his new Wii games from Santa

Gracee with her LalaLoopsy doll from Santa

Carrots for the reindeer and cookies for Santa

Sleeping kids ready for Santa

My Dad and Mom with the kids Christmas Eve

Happy Birthday Jesus chocolate cream pie

Dody and David Christmas Eve

Dody, David, Gracee and Evan Christmas Eve

SeawWorld with my parents

Getting ready for the 4D Polar Express show

*Pictures are a bit out of order...sorry

What a wonderful Christmas week. It has been nice having the kids home and not having a routine every day. Today, I actually put my house back together. I am one of those types of people that like everything put away when Christmas is over, to ring in the New Year with a clean house and all the new stuff in its place.

My Parents made it to our house On Wednesday the 22nd. They were supposed to come in on the 21st, but were grounded in Tri-cities due to fog. They drove to Seattle that night and flew to Orange County the next day. We hung out and relaxed that day. On the 23rd we went to SeaWorld. It was not too crowded and the weather was significantly better....No rain. (we had about 14 inches of rain in 5 days the week before) On Christmas Eve we went to Toms farms and then we went to church. When we came home we had an appetizer dinner and opened up gifts with the kids. Before bedtime the kids got cookies and carrots ready for Santa and the reindeer and wrote letters to Santa. Christmas day was a nice day of eating and relaxing. The kids were happy to spend time with their grandparents...the first family members that have visited us since we moved here in March.

I am not sure if I will write again before the New Year, so if I don't, we wish you a happy, healthy and safe new year. ~Dody

1st Lost Tooth/Amazing Light Show

After a great church service last night, we went to Five Guys for dinner, followed by an amazing Christmas Light show that 12 families put to music in their neighborhood. At dinner, Gracee was eating some peanuts and she thought she had a peanut stuck in her teeth. It was not a peanut, but a tooth hanging on for dear life. I gave it a few little twists and out it came. How ironic that our little "Peanut" lost her first tooth on a peanut. Bittersweet moments :-)

Christmas Time

Gracee's Choir program

Gracee as pretty as can be

Our tree

The kids with Santa

Grace and Evan at his Preschool program

Christmas is in full swing at the Garcias. We have our tree up, decorations up, reading our advent passages each night, Christmas cards out, gingerbread house made, visited Santa last night, Evan's preschool program yesterday, Gracee's Christmas program tomorrow....now all we have left is a few last minute gifts to buy, baking and waiting for Grandpa and Grandma from Washington to come visit. We are enjoying a balmy 70+ degree week here in Lake Elsinore. Hopefully the weather will be lovely during Christmas week. We are taking the kids and the grandparents to SeaWorld.

The kids are doing well. Grace has become quite a reader and will be moving into advanced reading after Christmas. She is also enjoying ballet each week. Evan is doing well in preschool. I see maturity in him every day, although he is one of the most stubborn children I know. Part of his discipline now is writing sentences. Writing is hard for him, therefore he does not try. Now when he doesn't obey the first time, we make him write: I will listen the first time. This hopefully will do two things. (1) Get him to work on his writing more and (2) help him to obey the first time. I know writing missed spelling words helped me learn how to spell growing up, so hopefully this will work in all areas. Oh parenting....the trials and tribulations. Anyway, his speech is continuing to improve. I am hoping it will no longer be needed for kindergarten next year. I signed him up over the weekend for spring Little League, so that should be a lot of fun for him.

This Christmas season, I know how blessed I am. I am thankful for the health of my family. I am thankful that I have children who know and love God and I am thankful for my hard-working hubby. But most of all I am thankful for Jesus.