The End of 2010...Camanche Style!

Keith had a great idea spend New Year's together at Camanche this year! He's come a long way when he chose to spend the holiday with our parents and me! So glad he asked because we all had the best time!

The girls loved it too! They always have so much fun together. Can't beat matching jammies and a movie in the trailer together before bed!

The next day Allison was all set to go play! She loved modeling her new Christmas gloves and beanie.

The sun was shining and that meant the girlies were ready to go out and play! Kiley was behind the wheel so we had to watch out!

Dad had to hold his feet up so the girls wouldn't run them over. Even crazier than Kiley behind the wheel was Emma behind the wheel! That girl just can't steer straight! Dad didn't last long before he got up to leave the race track.

So, while the kids played, the boys went off to fish the pond.
Creek stayed back with us and soaked up the sunshine.
Later in the day I had an art project for the girls. They made hand print wreaths on a piece of potato sack. My job share partner, Jen, had a couple extras after a play date she'd done, so she gave them to us to use. Thank you, Jen!
I had to help Allison place her hands on the fabric. She did a great job when it was all done.
Brynn was adamant that she could do it by herself.
Night two proved to be an early one. The girls were all tuckered out, but Emma was still hanging in during movie time.

2010 was soon a distant memory. Our neighbors created their own ball drop for midnight. They rigged a snow flake "ball" in the tree and let it drop at midnight. Who needs NYC when you have Camanche!

Reddings Christmas Celebration

Families have grown over the years; therefore, there is a need for many Christmas celebrations! Our Reddings Christsmas celebration was a great one this year because Cliff, Julie, Lauren and CJ were in Cali visiting from Texas and joined our celebration!

Mary enjoyed sitting with Em and Allison.

Present time! Emma loved her Minnie Mouse watch from the Tripletts.
Allison was excited to open her gift from the Tripletts...an art set. Fun! It was perfect in the trailer.

CJ enjoyed his Best Buy gift card!
Aunt Bonnie got Mom her very own cookie jar for Christmas. I sent Aunt Bonnie a few of my favorite photos and she did the rest. The jar looked great!

Lauren was so good with the girls. They loved reading books with her.

Time for dinner! Most of the kids sat at a table together...Mary, Shandley, Allison, Lauren, Brady, Brynn, Kiley and Emma.
Grandma Rogers had such a great sense of humor despite loosing her hair during chemo. Phillip gave her gray locks a try while Grandma smiled big!
It's not often that we can get most of the 2nd cousins together since we live all over the country. We took advantage of getting a picture of the 10 of the 11. From the bottom: Lauren, CJ, Brady, Emma, smiling Brynn, Robert, Allison, Mary and Shandley. Kiley was there, but refused to get in the pictures. We were just missing Annika.Some of us first cousins joined in the photo too...Keith, Danielle, Kim, Jenn and me! Just needed Erik and Cliff.

Christmas at Home

Back home again for more celebrations! Mom and Dad arrived at our house to continue the holiday fun. The girls opened more gifts and shared their gifts with Grandma and Papa. They opened most of their gifts at their house on Christmas Eve, but they had one more to open at our house...the Wii Balance Board. Santa told Grandma they were getting a Wii, so they had to wait to open it until after Santa delivered the Wii!
Allison was so proud of the gift she picked for Papa at the Teddy Bear Tea. The funny part was that Emma picked the exact same gift for him! He had a matching pair of boot candles.
Allison was Grandma's girl.
Emma loved the new Wii! First she tried her had at some bowling.
Allison was a fan of the balance board while she attempted to stay afloat on the ice floes.
Gotta love the Christmas pose...rain boots and all! Of course, in the photo, Allison included her signature hip pop and eyes looking off into the distance!
Family time...with Lemon the parakeet in the background. We were babysitting the Hatches' bird while they were away for a couple weeks. He fit nicely on the drawer set next to the tree. I think he kinda felt like he was back out in nature with the tree right there.
Smiling Christmas girls.
Grandma and Papa take a pose with the girlies.
Another visiting pet, Lola, enjoyed her holiday meal of lettuce. Lola belonged to Emma's K/1 teacher, and even though Em is in 2nd grade, her teacher doesn't trust many to take Lola home. We are one of the lucky ones!
Game time! The girls just love spending time at home playing with all their new gifts. One of their favorites this year was Pretty Pretty Princess. They thought it was so funny to watch Grandma get all dolled up in her princess jewels. I do too and even made her picture on my phone one with all of her beautiful jewels!

Christmas at Carl and Judy's

After the girls opened their gifts at home, we headed over to Carl and Judy's house for a bit so the girls could open their gifts there. Judy always makes such a nice presentation of their gifts. This year their stockings and pillow pets were arranged neatly on their individual colored cubes.
Emma was thrilled with her gift...a new camera!
Allison loved her V. Reader, although she thinks it's called a "Re-reader" and calls it that every time she talks about it.
Each year I make a calendar for my mom and Judy that includes pictures of all the grandchildren. The girls love looking through the calendar reminiscing about the past memories.

Wii!!! What a Fun Christmas Morning!

Merry Christmas 2010!!!!

The girls walked downstairs on Christmas morning to find...
... a Wii! They were excited to begin playing!
Allison's new clipboard!

Emma got one too. I bought one for Jeff and myself as well. It's a great way to keep everything organized for all of us. There were just too many papers to keep track of for all of us and this was a great way to take care of them!

The girls show of the gifts they bought for each other all by themselves at the Teddy Bear Tea Secret Santa Shoppe.

Daddy's girls proudly display their gifts they purchased for him at the Tea too!
Emma was so excited to receive new book sets: The Baby-Sitters Club (I loved these when I was a kid!), Ramona and Fairies.

A is for Allison. I made Allison an ABC book of all of her favorite things. It is something I'd wanted to do for quite some time because I made one for Emma's first birthday party and wanted Allison to have her own scrapbook too. I really liked the way it turned out, and she loves to read it.

Taylor Swift came out of Emma's stocking. She's till one of her biggest fans!

Preparing for Santa and His Reindeer

Every year the girls love getting ready for Santa and his reindeer. They set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam
This will guide them to your home.

They also sprinkle their reindeer food on the lawn! This year, their friends Aidan and Layla delivered a freshly made jar on our porch just in time! Thanks, kiddos!

Christmas Eve in Meadow Vista

Happy Christmas Eve!!!

Brynn and Kiley posed with Keith in their new outfits from Nana Sue. Even though she couldn't be there, we wanted to capture their cute smiles in their new outfits.

Allison loved sitting with Uncle Keith and Kiley.

Time for a Jeep ride! Watch out though...Emma is behind the wheel and she is one crazy driver!!!

Brynn took off on her Harley. That girl can drive! Emma needs some lessons from her!
Cute girls riding around the yard before we headed home on Christmas Eve.