Christmas 2012 in Chicago

Joe and Brek had fun setting up our Little People Nativity. Brek enjoyed trying out each character up top in the angel's spot, but this one was definitely his favorite.

The full set up

 Just a sweet shot of my boys all cuddled up and coloring:

Meeting Santa and Mrs. Clause. He definitely did better this year, but he wouldn't sit on Santa's lap. He did give him a hug and pat on the back when he was leaving. It's a step up. He told Santa he wanted an Elmo book for Christmas.

We went to Chicago for Christmas, and spent a week with my sister Tracy, her husband Dustin, and their 3 daughters. It was awesome! It's been 3 years since Tracy and I have spent a Christmas together. Joe was sick most of the week, and the rest of us took turns not feeling well too. But we still had fun and I loved it!

Joe, sick, wrapped up, but still smiling

Tracy made truffles. They were so yummy! These little 2 had fun watching, hoping for a taste.

On Christmas Eve, the kids got to decorate Christmas trees. Here we are hard at work.

I know I'm cut off, but Brek was so proud of his creation.

And the best part - eating it!

That's good stuff!

Adelynne & Amy with their finished trees

Rori liked eating hers too

Then the kids opened up their Christmas outfits from Grandma. Here's my little stud in his blue velvet vest and tie:

All 4 of our beauties

Different pose, and better picture

And one of my sister's family. Sure do love them!

And then the kids opened up their Christmas pj's, also from Grandma and Grandpa.

 Skyping with Grandma and Papa and showing off their jammies

The opposite view. Look! There's Grandma!

Cousin train down the slide. Fun playtime before bed.

This is Amy and Adelynne Christmas morning, but wanted to show off their pjs, and their smiles.

Brek playing with Aunt Tracy's fancy camera. Maybe we've got a future photographer on our hands.

Christmas morning:

A view of most of the presents. We had already opened some at this point. It was quite the stash.

Brek's big gift was a Chuggington train set. He got Wilson, Koko, Harrison, and Piper to go with it.

This is my brother-in-law Dustin, wearing the apron I made him. This is how he took Zuzu out to go to the bathroom. I've got the coolest bil ever!

The day after Christmas, we ventured out into Chicago. I have always wanted to visit Chicago, so I was very excited. It was a cold day, but I had a blast.

First stop was to see the Bean, or Cloud, or whatever it's called.  

Our Reflection

Up close of all of us.

Looking up from underneath

The beautiful Chicago skyline to the left.

And to the right.

My boys underneath the bean

From there we went to the Lego store. Then Joe went and got us a table at this awesome authentic Chicago pizza place, while the rest of us hung out. Here's the little guy hanging out with cousins Rori and Adelynne.

The pizza was amazing.

We also visited the Disney store, which was very fun. And we couldn't help ourselves - Brek got his first pair of super hero pajamas. We love the cape! And as he says, he "runs really fast!"

the cape

Our little Super Mickey from the front

It really was an awesome and amazing week! So glad we got to spend Christmas with family, especially my sister. Excited for next year when we'll get to be with all of our family!

Christmas Presents

So this post is all about how amazing I am. Well, sort of. :) This project did not originally start out so big. See, I like to cross-stitch. It's a craft I can do while we watch TV or while Brek is sleeping. Just after Christmas last year, I finished a couple really big projects. And I was in need of another one. The problem is, I want what I cross-stitch to be of value. There are all those nice kits at the craft store and whatnot, but I wouldn't know what to do with them once I finished them. You get the idea?

So anyway, I was looking for a project, and I happened to have borrowed a Disney Princess book from my mom with cross-stitch patterns. At the time, I only had 6 beautiful nieces (and no nephews). So I thought I could cross-stitch their favorite princess and then turn that into something. And I settled on aprons. So that's how this started - I was making 6 aprons. 

Then during a conversation with my mom and sister, they both told me that they wanted me to make them another apron. (I made them aprons back when I was in college, pre-mission. I used towels. It was a fun pattern I got from a roommate.) So that was 2 more aprons I needed to make. And then my brother got re-married, so that added a sister-in-law, plus 2 nephews. And once they got added, I figured I might as well get the rest of the men in my family. Which brought the total to 15.

Shortly after we moved here to Nebraska, as I was thinking about the project, I really considered backing out. My depression was "flared" up, or however you want to say it, and I just didn't want to. But by then I had almost finished all 6 princess cross-stitches, and my oldest niece is almost to that age where princesses are not so cool anymore, and I figured this was the last year I could get away with something like that. So I sucked it up and got to work. And boy was it work! But I think it all paid off, and here's the photogenic proof of my craft-i-work. I like how almost all of them turned out, and that's saying something, tho they are far from perfect or even close to perfect craftsmanship.

For all of the aprons except for my 6 nieces, I picked a material for one side, and a towel for the other. The aprons are reversible, with a pocket on each side. And the straps are adjustable too, so you can wear it where you want. 

This is my dad's

His material is measuring tape, cuz he's a contractor.

This is my mom's. It was the first one I did, so I actually altered the pattern after it was finished and made the neck line a bit thinner, which I think works out better. But I still love this one. Even tho I'm not totally into pink, I really love this one and think it seems so fun.

This is my brother David's.

His material has lizards (I think) playing sports, soccer and baseball and stuff. I think it's really fun.

This is my brother Mark's.

His is Star Wars.

This one is for my sister-in-law Eliana.

I tried to do a little pucker thing. I proved to be much more difficult than I thought, so I didn't try it again.

My new nephews are 11-year-old twins - Cody and Colby. They both really like sports. I did one in green and one in blue. To be honest I can't remember which one liked which color, and I was pretty sure I mixed it up when I mailed them all wrapped. The green one is probably my least favorite. The shades of green really don't go well together, but I couldn't change it, and I'm hoping said nephew won't mind too much.

 

This one is for my brother-in-law Dustin 

His material is Batman. It's really hard to find "cool" or "manly" materials. I wish I had grabbed a picture of him wearing it at Christmas, especially after he wore it outside to take the dog out. :)

This one is my sister Tracy's.

And now for my 6 princesses. These ones are not reversible, but the back layer is also a towel so it will still be nice and thick and absorb well.

This one is for my niece Heather.
Her favorite colors are brown and purple (the towel is purple, you can see it along the bottom.)

This is for my niece Katie. Her favorite colors are pink and blue. 

This is for my niece Anna. She's 2 and doesn't really vocalize favorites yet, but it followed the same design as her big sisters, so I picked this one for her. It actually turned out that the red material was double sided. It was so cool to work with. You can't tell in the pictures, but I used that and so the pockets and the neck strap are the opposite material as the main body of the apron. I think it turned out awesome. Her towel is also red.

And yes, I made my son model for me.

He stands up on this couch so he can look at himself in the mirror.

Love his cheesy grin!

This is for my niece Adelynne. Her favorite colors are blue and purple. I didn't have as much material for this one, so the inside of the pockets are a yellow rose material, which I thought was fitting for princess Belle.

This is for my niece Amy. Her favorite colors are yellow and pink, but I thought the teal towel went better with Ariel's design, so I used it instead of a pink towel. I only wish the yellow wasn't as see-through.

And finally:

Aurora, for my niece Aurora, who we also call Rori. Her princess is pretty much a given.

And yes, I had Brek model for me again. Rori's was so tiny and cute. I've never made something so small before.

He makes such a pretty princess.

Again with the cheesy face. :)

And well, since we celebrated Christmas with my sister and her family, we got to be there when they opened up their aprons, and I got pictures of my nieces wearing their's.

You can see Brek and Joe and Amy and Dustin and Tracy's foot, and my parents on the computer..

Adelynne holding hers up.

And then trying it on. Hers turned out practically perfect, so I love it!

Amy is showing her apron to Grandma and Grandpa on the computer.

Putting it on.

Mommy tying it in the back. 

And smiling for Aunt Amy. Brek's smiling too.

So there they are. My sister-in-law Eliana sent me a picture of their whole family wearing their aprons. But it's on my phone and I don't know how to put that on the blog. Oh well. I love my family, and I'm happy they all like their aprons. 

Still to come, the rest of December, which is mostly Christmas. Stay tuned.