Saturday, December 25, 2010

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having my sister close!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so fun to make the trip down on Christmas day to Kim and Morgan's house! What a treat to have family to spend Christmas with! We had a neat dinner...Morgan's family's tradition is to eat a "Nazarene" dinner, like something Christ himself would have eaten. So we had fish, raw veges, fruit, grape juice, shrimp, and bread sticks.

It was great to see the kids getting excited to see what each other received. And then we danced the night away with their new Wii game Just Dance 2. Talk about entertainment. My favorite was watching Matt and Morgan dance to Kris Kross Jump! Everytime I hear that song I will think of you! he he he

We had such a great time that instead of leaving Sunday after church, we couldn't peel ourselves away until Monday morning. What a great weekend.



This picture cracks me up because they all got DS's and were all lined up playing them at the same time! Cute kids!






Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

Oh what a wonderful Christmas! It is a Rose family tradition that on Christmas Eve we cook clam chowder, and it is so much more fun to have people over to share it with! So we invited Matt's home teaching family the Czachers, to come share it with us. So Dannette and her daughter Breanna came. It was so cute because Breanna walked in with a hat that Emma has and so Emma had to run up and put hers on.

Matt did a GREAT job at cooking the clam chowder. I think it was his best batch yet! Then he also cooked King Crab legs and we had bread sticks and a vege platter. It was wonderful. Then we read the Christmas story from Luke 2 together. After our guests left we let the kids stay up and watch The Christmas Story (not THE Christmas story of Christ, but the "You'll shoot your eye out" Christmas Story). I thought they would be excited to stay up but they kept saying "Shouldn't we go to bed so Santa can come????" They were so anxious :)

We were all watching the movie and SUDDENLY there was a knock at our door and guess who it was....SANTA! I think he really likes to warm up in Florida before making his rounds because each Christmas Eve he seems to stop in to check on us before his busy night. Emma was a little skeptical this year and thought it was our neighbor George. But it couldn't have been because Liz had just sent him off to the store. Hmmmm????

Then the kids were off to bed. BUT you can't say "not a creature was stirring" at our house. Poor Emma, just before going to bed, with all the anxiety and anticipation, she started to get nervous. She didn't like the thought of someone being in our house, not even Santa. She woke up every HOUR! She said "I just don't like to hear noises when I'm sleeping, like the clip clop of Santa's boots or the reindeer hooves!" She was soooooo anxious! Finally at 3:30 am Matt went into her room and he said she was shaking! He told her Santa had already come and the gifts were downstairs. I thought this would keep her up because she would want to go downstairs and see everything, but immediately she RELAXED! She did ask if Matt could see a bike down there for her :) So she got up and took a 3:30 am shower and then slept soundly until about 6:45. What a funny little girl :)

Emma makes me laugh because of all the nice gifts she received I think if you asked her what she got she would say "A picture of Santa and Mrs. Claus". That is the thing she is most proud of! :) Too cute.

We had a wonderful morning and day. I love technology...we were able to skype with both sets of parents and that way they could SEE what the kids got for Christmas. How fun! Then that afternoon we went down to see my sis in Port St. Lucie. What a wonderful day!

































































Emma made a cute little ornament at school and I thought the cutest part was the paper bag wrapping that she decorated to put it in...How sweet!



Friday, December 24, 2010

Milk and cookies and the cutest darn letter I've ever seen...

Here is the cute little letter that Emma left Santa with the milk and cookies...



The kids 2010 Christmas lists...

These are the Christmas lists that the kids mailed off to Santa this year...


Gavin

Luke

It's a little hard to read Luke's list...it says:

  1. Bike
  2. The Red Pyramid Book
  3. DS Game Major League Baseball
  4. Big Nate 2 (Book)
  5. Big Nate 3 (Book)
  6. Pokemon cards
  7. New Tampa Bay Rays hat


Emma

Emma's says:
  1. Foldable crib (she got this for her birthday)
  2. A "fake" lap top
  3. Webkinz Weiner Dog
  4. DSI game "Cooking Mama" and "Littlest Pet Shop"
  5. Smencil (a good smelling pencil)
  6. Jelly Bag
  7. Fake phone
  8. Wipe and Erase board
  9. Photo of you and Mrs. Claus

Luke teased Emma after she wrote a lap top and said that was too much and so she hurried and added the word FAKE lap top. And my favorite on the list is the photo of Sant and Mrs. Claus :)

Then she decided YESTERDAY that she wanted a bike so she wrote this letter to Santa for me to email to him...


Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Living Nativity


Last year the wonderful Hawkes family, from our ward, opened up their property and barn to the ward so we could have a wonderful Christmas Live Nativity. It was sooooo special and memorable and we were fortunate this year that they wanted to do it again. This year was extra special because our family got to be involved. Matt was Joseph, I was Mary, baby Eva was Jesus and Luke was a wiseman. It was complete with chickens, goats, and a mule. What a neat and memorable night and a wonderful way to get in the Christmas spirit!

Just about 2 hours before the event I invited my neighbors Liz and George Hanus and their family. Nothing like last minute :) To my surprise they said YES!!!! I was thrilled!!!!!! Thank goodness my sister Kim and her kids were up to visit because they were able to socialize and keep the Hanus's company while the rest of us were getting ready. It was a wonderful evening.


I am so thankful that my Savior Jesus Christ was born on this Earth and lived a perfect life so we could have his example to follow. And I am very grateful for his marvelous sacrifice that made it possible for me to return back to my Heavenly Father! Merry Christmas!


(Tons of people took pictures and promised to send them on so I will keep posting more as I get them)














Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Downtown Disney Christmas

Have I mentioned how much fun it is to have my sister living close by????? Well it is TONS of fun! I've never had anyone HERE for Christmas and so it has been exciting this Season. We met up at Downtown Disney and had a great time looking at all the lights, the legos, the fake snow, and riding the train. And then they stayed over night and the kids have played and played. By the pictures it looks more like fall then winter with the leaves they collected and slid into. I love that the little cousins are making memories!


Yes these dogs and people are made of LEGOS! Very cool!










Cutest picture EVER of Matt and Eva!