Christmas Festivities

Greetings to all....

The Christmas events are over--We spent Christmas Eve with the Patterson side of the family, Christmas morning just the 4 of us & then Christmas afternoon with the Kraus side. There was entirely too much food in all locations--but I guess that is part of the Christmas celebration-- :) And thankfully we had decent weather for all of it...not as nice as this morning, but at least it was not sleeting or included freezing rain.


The girls received lots of nice gifts --as did we--Thanks Everyone!!!! We don't know what to play with next around here. Thank goodness we have 3 more days to get some serious play time in.


Hopefully, your families had a wonderful Christmas as well.


Take Care!!!

The J. Pattersons




Thanks Uncle Corey & Lindsey!!!!



Christmas Morning






Just what I wanted!!!


Playing a little "Trouble"












Dress Up time

The Tree is up......for a week now.

We spent Sunday afternoon getting up our Christmas tree and decorating it. It was a great time~the girls really enjoyed helping with all the activities. They are really getting excited about the holiday this year.

We got to spend yesterday afternoon with the Gill family. As always, it was a nice time--with lots of laughs, food and fun. Thanks to them for having us over on such short notice!!! The girls got to jump on the trampoline with Makayla and Matthew. Then we opened presents & played with them for a while. Afterwards, the Wii games began. Jared got his first opportunity to be a hero--Guitar Hero that is. It appears to be a pretty fun game.

Now, we just have a couple of days to wait before the holidays begin. It should be a pretty fun year this year with the girls being so excited about Christmas--and the reason for it too!!

They both will be in the church program that will be held next Sunday. So, if you want an entertaining show, come on down.

Happy Holidays!!!

Hooowwwlllling Good time...

We just got back from our weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge. That is a super cool place. I would recommend that anyone try out one at least once. The girls LOVED all it all~except for maybe the car ride home. Luckily, they were tired enough to nap for a portion of that part. :) But why should I tell you of all the fun, when I can just show you some photos!!

In the "tent" inside our hotel room
We love it here!!
Ready, Set.....

Slide!!!!!

Story time in the lobby

With the balloon flower & crown they got at dinner.

First School Bus ride

Yesterday Seanna got to go on her first fieldtrip for school. To get to their destination, they had to take school bus. She was so very excited about that part. Not so sure about where they went--Pioneers Park for a nature walk (and it was a bit cold and rainy yesterday). Seanna told us that one the of the teachers even dressed up as a beaver & "it was so funny". She also saw a turtle with a very long neck & a moose. Not sure where she saw that last one in Pioneers part, but she might have thought that an elk was a moose. Easy mistake to make. :) Then when they got back, she got to have a sack lunch--that part was a highlight to her as well--"very good lunch".

As for the rest of her day, she was a friend to a new girl and held her hand when she was crying. Awww, the compassion that Seanna has for others sometimes amazes me.

Halloween

Here are pictures of how the girls looked in their costumes. Seanna went as a kitty cat & Cassidy was Abby Cadabby (a character on Sesame Street).

Cassidy's 4th birthday party

The Birthday Girl!

Hard to believe that she is 4 already!!! On her birthday yesterday, her and I went to Paint yourself Silly & had a girl's day. Then we all went to Valentino's for dinner. It was a very nice day for her.

Birthday Cake

Opening the gifts

The little princess ballerina

A helmet? I think I know what is coming next!!!!!

Trying out the new bike

Getting a little help from Dad.

Awesome wheels~

Veggie Tales...Veggie Tales...VEGGIE TALES!

We went to see a live showing of Veggie Tales this afternoon....and what a time it was--never in our lives have we seen such large vegtables.

But the girls seems enjoy the show--and got to learn a new dance from them. It was a good time for all!!

Most of the cast....in the final number.

Before the "Lion sleeps tonight" performance

Jr gets his time on stage.

A rapping gourd

Bob & Larry

Ariel! Ariel! Where are you?

The girls decided to play dress up in the one outfit that they both have--the Little Mermaid. How cute to see them playing together so well & on the same wavelength (as least for a few minutes).

Cassidy is really ready for her birthday this year. She keeps reminding us that it is "coming up". And for the 1st year, she remembers when it is. Not that means a lot to her, but still an accomplishment in it's own.

Seanna is doing really well in school. We went to P/T conferences last week & her teacher told us that she in the advanced group, which will start to learn 1-1 reading soon. And she also told us that she wishes that she had 10 more like her in the class. Awwww!!! Must be doing something right.

Haircuts

Last Thurs. the girls went in for haircuts. Cassidy got quite a bit cut off & now has a new do. She loves having the new look.

Over the weekend Jared started to install our new dishwasher. There are a couple of parts that the store did not include with it, so we are waiting for them to be mailed to us. Hopefully by tomorrow we will have them. The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. We didn't have to travel anywhere or have anything that we needed to get done. We are loving having our Saturdays back this fall.

Later this week, we have Parent-Teacher conferences for Seanna. It will be our first meeting with her teacher since she started school. Not really sure what we should expect.

Otherwise, Jared and I are keeping busy with work & home. Both of us have pretty big projects going on at our jobs that makes for some very long days. But we have seeing the girls at the end of the day to make it all worth while (most days!).

Take Care & Enjoy the photos!~

A couple of nice long, enjoyable weekends....

Labor Day has come and gone!! Very hard to believe that the end of summer has arrived already. But with our fall schedule, I am thinking that it won't take long for it to sink in. Jared and I got to enjoy an evening out on Friday, going back to the fair to watch the car races. I had won tickets to them from my job. We had a quiet day on Sat. for the most part. Jared did get a tree ring put in around the tree we have in our front yard. It looks fabulous. Sat. evening we went to help Grandpa P. celebrate his birthday. Lots of chocolate desserts & some good homemade ice cream. Then on Sunday, it was a mostly free day--we went to church & I had a bridal shower to attend--but nothing overwhelming. And Monday was good too. Jared did some touch-up painting in the morning. Then in the afternoon we loaded up & went out to hang out with Greg, Cheri & family, and Kari. The siblings and cousins all together--. :)

This past weekend we were able to have a quiet Saturday with absolutely NOTHING that we needed to get done. It was wonderful. And then on Sunday, we attended church. It was my 2nd week holding my class for the little ones. It has been interesting. So....I am hoping that our calm weekends continue for a while. They have been very nice~

Take Care!
The Pattersons

We went to the fair..and had a yar-har-har good time.

So, last weekend, we spent the afternoon and early evening at the State Fair. Got to see a few animals, looked at some 4-H exhibits and rode some rides. We even saw a diving pirate show. It was lots of fun for everyone.

The evening before we had went to an event @our chruch--Crossfest & the girls got some pretty cool face paintings.