Christmas 2008/Trip to ER

It started out as a typical Christmas morning. The kids were up early and ready to go. Daddy passed out the presents and the fun began.

Ty had no problem figuring out what Christmas was all about.

Ty was all about bath toys and toys he would grow into.

Garrett was all about Thomas and action figures.

Tasha was all about Barbie.

Then things turned for the worse. Tasha had mentioned that her side hurt earlier that morning but we didn't think much of it until she mentioned it again while we were opening gifts. We thought maybe she needed to go to the bathroom but she had a hard time walking to the bathroom and when she didn't come back I found her hunched over on the bathroom floor in tears. We spent some time on the computer looking up different things afraid it might be appendicitis. The pain was on the left side and the middle instead of the right. Since she was in so much pain and we were unsure if we should wait this out just in case these symptoms were something of a serious nature Rob took her to the emergency room. They took an X-ray and then hooked her up to an IV since she was dehydrated. Tasha was so brave. She didn't even flinch. It took all the energy she had so that once the IV was in, she threw up. After all was said and done, the pain was caused by none other than a big ball of POOP! Yes POOP! So after the IV was finished they headed home and we enjoyed the rest of the day as a family.

Battle wound

Part 2 of opening presents began....

MONEY! MONEY! MONEY!

The kids made sure we didn't have any trouble opening our gifts.

New toys kept the kids busy all day.

The gingerbread house gets demolished on Christmas Day. (This year however it happened a day late) Ty couldn't stop laughing. Too bad I didn't think about the camcorder until all was said and done.

A few pounds with the fist....

... and everyone started to feast on the house.

What was the best part of your day? When Tasha was asked this question her reply was, "My trip to the hospital." It sure didn't dampen her holiday spirit.

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve we had the opportunity to have the missionaries over for dinner. What a special treat. My thoughts reverted back to my mission. I was always grateful to those members who shared their holidays with us.

Other than having the missionaries over it was our traditional Christmas Eve. Dinner is always simple and consists of finger foods. Rob always shares the Christmas story. We each had the opportunity to hold the baby Jesus from our nativity set and share our thoughts and feelings about our Savior.

Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without opening at least one gift. Here are some pictures from that scene.

It's BYU attire. GO COUGARS!!



Ty discovered what a present is.



I actually get to rip the paper and mom and dad don't get mad at me.



Peek - a - boo!



Garrett trying to open his present the hard way.



Batman lives!

Tasha's up. What will she get?

Could it be another pair of pajamas? IT IS and not just any pair of pajamas...High School Musical pajamas.

Sweet Dreams!

Christmas Music Junkie

I love the holidays! I especially love listening to Christmas music. It makes me HAPPY. I must confess that I turn on the Christmas music during the month of November. Even though the holidays are almost over I must share this tidbit of information. Rob found an internet radio station that plays only music you like without comercials. It is called pandora.com and I have become addicted. It has a great variety of Christmas music. This is also how I get my Country music fix since they don't have a radio station that comes in here in Greenwich. I love it, love it, love it.

Another Spin on the Thankful Tree

I found this cool web-app that makes word clouds. You can make your own at http://www.wordle.net/.

Here is the word cloud from our Thankful Tree post.



Rob

Christmas in New York

The day after our first big snow fall we headed into the City with the Morris family. We bundled the kids up in their snow gear to prepare ourselves for a VERY COLD walk around the City. (Please excuse some of the pictures. I didn't realize the camera had a smudge on it so the pictures are poor in quality.)

We headed North on the Polar Express to see Santa.





The Jolly man himself.



We stopped by McDonalds for lunch.Ty took a short snooze while the rest of us ate.





We headed to Central Park. The walkways were very icy but it was a beautiful sight to see the park covered in snow.



Behind us was the Central Park Skating Rink.



The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.

The ride home on the train.

Gotta love HAT HAIR!!!

Traditions

I know every family has their own special traditions during the holidays. We wanted to share some of our traditions with all of you.

Our traditions begin the day after Thanksgiving. We start to decorate our home with holiday decorations. I remember when I was young how our home was transposed into a winter wonderland so I have tried make our home a magical place.

We also go pick out our Christmas Tree. Rob won't let us result to a fake tree so REAL it is. I hate the cost but love the smell.

We have done the 12 days of Christmas for someone when we have been in the position to do so. The kids enjoyed being Secret Santas this year.

We build and decorate a gingerbread house.

When I was a young girl I looked forward to a special tin that came from my Grandma Stucki. It contained homemade candy. It was filled with Almond Roca, Peanut Brittle, Toffee, Almond Joys, Peanut Butter Cups, Divinity, Penuche, Turtles, Carmel, and chocolate covered pretzels. We would also receive a Candy Roll with Riceballs, Popcorn Balls and Gingerbread Cookies. My mom continues this tradition today. I am learning how to make this special candy so this tradition will continue to stay alive for generations to come. Making candy is very temperamental. It takes a great deal of time and patience. Homemade candy is indeed a special treat.

I fondly remember spending time as a family in the kitchen baking goodies for our neighbors and friends. We have tried to keep this tradition alive but are realizing that it is starting to become overwhelming. I have a year to figure out how to keep this tradition alive but stay sane in the process.

We make a special trip to see Santa.

On Christmas Eve we each get to open a gift. Everyone receives a new pair of pajamas. We read the Christmas story out of the Bible. We also prepare a special plate of goodies for Santa.

In Rob's family they have a special breakfast on Christmas Day. It includes a sausage casserole, sausage, bacon, eggs, crepes, fruit, eggnog, and juice. Since we can't be with them during the holidays we have a condensed version of Christmas breakfast with bacon, eggs, crepes and eggnog.

O Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Tree tells a story. Each ornament comes with a special memory.

When we were first married we made our Christmas tree decorations since we were very poor. We made a paper chain and salt dough ornaments. They are still used today since our pockets always seem to be pinched.



Every year the "UGLY SNOWMAN" comes out of our Christmas box. Rob specifically puts this ornament out in plain view. In the past I have tried to move it but Rob always manages to move it to the front of the tree for all to see. Rob painted this particular snowman. I personally wanted to throw this snowman away. To me he didn't look like a typical snowman. He was different. I know that shouldn't matter. Each snowman is supposed to be special and unique. So, for this reason he still exists and has become a permanent part of Christmas at the Anderson house.



Decorating the tree always gets us into the holiday spirit.