Christmas 2012

We started our Christmas celebrations in Baldwin City with Swedish Pancakes and presents at Grandpa and Grandma McKinney's house, where iTunes giftcards, American Girl Doll clothes, and hacking putty were amongst the pile of wrapping paper and bows.

Conman and the attack of the bows

Uncle Craig spent the Christmas holiday with us in Liberty.  Mandy, Jordan, Sarah, Cara, and Collin all joined us for Christmas Eve.  We loved spending the evening with family, enjoying a soup supper and attending LCF's Christmas Eve service.

Christmas Eve also found Kylee making special preparations for Santa, including leaving a special note and a healthy snack!  Kylee wanted to leave something extra nice for Santa as she had quite a detailed Christmas list this year.  

Kylee's Christmas List 2012
-Money
-Clothes (neon if possible)
-White board with markers
-Chair with wheels
-Desk
-Something that would make me fly
-Binder
-Composition notebook

Santa really spoiled us this year, bringing the kids each a new personalized suitcase and toiletry bag.  Connor's number item on his list was a pair of new headphones (both to drown little sisters' voices out and to listen to music...LOL!).  The girls got new American Girl accessories to use with their McKenna dolls.

Big things come in big packages!

Hooray for headphones!

Jammin'

McKenna all dressed in her new gymnastics outfit.  Her bar and beam were waiting under the tree for Kylee.

McKenna's bed was Hadley's big present.

Lego engineers hard at work

The new Star Wars Lego creation all assembled

We concluded our Christmas fun with a trip to Lindsborg, where we celebrated the holiday with the Carlsons.  We enjoyed time at Great Grandpa's house with Grandpa and Grandma Carlson and the kids had a blast opening their last round of presents.

Christmas gifts from the North Carolina cousins

At the piano with Grandma Carlson

We loved celebrating Jesus' birthday with family and friends.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas is Coming!

December started with a bang for The Carlson Crew!

The month started with Kylee auditioning for LCF's Christmas program for the first time.  Kids who were interested in being a part of the program sang "Silent Night" acapella for a panel of adults.  Kylee was so brave and really enjoyed being a part of the rehearsals and program.

Aunt Sarah, Cara, and Collin joined us for the Christmas program in early December and Aunt Sarah helped get Kylee's halo on and hair all ready on the night of the performance to go so she could make her debut as an angel.

We were so proud of our girl!  She even performed as a part of a small ensemble singing "The First Noel" and did a great job.

Kylee also participated in the inaugural season of the Liberty Youth Chorus throughout the fall semester.  The group performed in the Liberty Fall Festival parade on a float in late September.  Performances at the Mayor's Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and a longer performance at William Jewell were fun to attend in December.

Up on stage with the Chorus

Our beautiful vocalist

Hadley made her debut as a pig at the manger scene as a part of the the Second Friends Christmas program.  The morning started out on a sour note when Hadley (loudly) protested the dress choice Mommy made for the program.  She pouted for most of the morning, but then did a wonderful job singing Christmas songs.  Aunt Mandy and Grandpa and Grandma McKinney joined us for the program.  We all enjoyed attending Hadley's class party afterwards, which Mommy and another preschool mom teamed up together to plan.  Hadley and her classmates had fun making reindeer antlers and playing "Pin the Nose on Rudolph".

This is Hadley's "photo smile".  Far from natural, it's what we get when she poses.

Antlers!

Hadley and her teacher, "Miss Cole" (Nicole)

With Aunt Mandy

Pin the nose on Rudolph

Hugs for Grandpa and Grandma McKinney

'Tis the Season!

2012 | So Much to Be Thankful For

In November, the girls had Thanksgiving feasts at school.  It was fun to attend both of them.  For Hadley, this was her first program at Second Friends.  She wore an Indian costume and did a great job singing a few songs with her class.  We also participated in this program when Connor and Kylee were in preschool.  It was a bit surreal to see our youngest up there taking part in the ritual.  Wow.  Time sure does fly by.  After the group sings, we are treated to a "feast", complete with table decorations specially created by little hands. :)

Hadley's table decor.  You'll see she noted so was thankful for "hot dogs and mac and cheese" on her Thanksgiving pumpkin decoration.

Kylee also had a special second grade "feast" at Alexander Doniphan:

It has become our custom to spend Thanksgiving Day in Baldwin City with the McKinney family.  We eat way too much and enjoy a relaxing day together.  Friday isn't a holiday for DST, so it's nice to be able to stay in close proximity to home.  This year, the weekend after the holiday, we headed to Lindsborg to spend some time with Great Grandpa Carlson and Grandma and Grandpa Carlson, who drove in from Colorado.  We played games, ate good food, and enjoyed some nice family time.

We went with Grandpa to feed the cows out at Uncle Dan and Aunt Jane's house.  Brrrr!  It was cold.

I LOVE this picture of Great Grandpa and Kylee

Cuddles with Grandma

The crew with Great Grandpa

We are thankful for so many things....for health, for family, and for grace.  It is humbling to reflect on how God blesses us each and every day!

Random Fall Fun

Fall brought a flurry of activities.  From flag football to soccer to church and school, we were on our toes.  Fall is a busier semester for Brandon with his schooling, and this fall was unexpectedly busy for me, too, with work.  The kids were great helpers and we all pulled together and made it through.  Jordan and Mandy stepped up the plate, helping with transportation and attending concerts to lend support.  We were very grateful.

Speaking of Jordan and Mandy, we were pretty excited that Jordan accepted a new job at William Jewell College as an Admissions counselor.  It has been fun seeing him around campus and big sister couldn't resist snapping some pics.

Both Connor and Kylee had music concerts at school.  Audience participation was a highlight of both.

Kylee's concert: Family photo op

Connor's concert: Audience participation=playing the xylophone

Flag football was a blast.  Several returners played on the team and the Packers, led by Coaches Jason, Todd, and Doug, had a great season.    The first two games of the season ended in losses, and after that, it was all VICTORY.  I am sure a highlight video will be coming soon. :)

Kylee had a great soccer season with her team, the Sharks, too!

One day, Hadley told me her nose hurt.   This is how she solved the problem.  Cracked me up.  She has a serious love affair with band-aids.  This girl keeps us smiling!

These are the kids' best "mad faces" while we were out to eat one night.  Don't ask me what prompted this...but it was funny to see their expressions. :)