Our Early Christmas, December 23, 2011

Matt and Holly came over in their PJ's. We were celebrating our Christmas with them early because they were going to Wisconsin to have Christmas with Holly's family. This was my first Christmas without Matt since the day he was born. For 24 years I have had Christmas morning with Matt, so I was a little sad to not have him with me this year. However, I am glad we have Holly, and understand I must share. The compromise is they go see Holly's family for Christmas and I have them every other day of the year. So, I guess that's fair enough...sigh...
Family Christmas photo...
Taylor and Holly were sharing and trading hair clips and head bands.
A little dance central in the living room...always fun...
Matt and Taylor...my kiddos...they grow up so fast...
Ben made another fabulous prime rib.
Grandma and Grandpa joined us for our early Christmas celebration.

Matt and Holly gave Taylor this wonderful little Princess tent. She loves it!
Taylor made a bed inside and spent the night in her new tent. We even set up the DVD player and she was quite comfortable, and enjoys this quite often. It's a great place to play with her Princess Barbies. It was a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas at the Grange, December 21, 2011

I love the big Dowers family Christmas gathering at the Grange. It was a nice sunny day so the kids were able to run around outside and play. We started off with a nice brunch and finished off with the traditional lasagna for dinner. It's a nice time to catch up with everyone and play some games.

While playing some "leap frog" with her cousins, Taylor bumped her head on the floor. She kind of looked like a little unicorn that lost her horn. It was very sad to hear her cry, but she recovered pretty quickly to enjoy more fun.
A picture of all the great grand kiddos with Grandma and Grandpa Dowers.
These are all the grandchildren with their spouses with Grandma and Grandpa Dowers.

Christmas 2010

This is the happy face you would expect to see on Christmas morning, from a little girl who woke up several days in December asking, "Is it Christmas?" However, that is not how it played out at our house on Christmas Day. We waited, and waited for Taylor to get up. Matt did not spend the night on the chair, I do have a room for him. Here he and Charly are patiently waiting (perhaps napping) while waiting for Taylor to wake up.

We tried to get her up a few times. Ben went in and said she's awake, and within minutes she was in the living room doing this...

She had no fever, and was not complaining, but was very tired and did not seem to feel well. By lunchtime, she seemed to be in better spirits. We decided to go out and visit Grandma and Grandpa for lunch, as we had planned, and would open our presents in the afternoon. I love visiting Ben's parents. My mother in law is a gifted decorator and home maker. She makes a very welcoming and cozy home. Her home changes with every season. I love it.

Although we thought Taylor might be doing better, she just laid around at Grandma's and Grandpa's too.

Charly loved running around outside. We thought it would be great if she could learn how to hunt for sheds. Get 'em Charly...

Aside from our little girl not feeling her best, it was a gorgeous day!

Taylor and her very coveted jar of "grandma's pickles," which is something she can never get enough of...

We opened gifts and had a nice lunch.

One of Matt's gifts were framed pictures Aunt Tamira had taken of him and Holly.

Every once in a while, it seemed Taylor may be feeling better. She got some wonderful books that make different sounds on each page based on the animals on that page.

We returned home and opened our gifts. Taylor loves her little Pony's...

After gifts, Matt stayed for awhile, but then took Charly home in the evening (to have accidents at his house). Shortly after that, we thought Taylor had taken a turn for the worse. She was complaining about a pain in her abdomen. Ben was concerned about her appendix. We were about to take her to the emergency room, when we told her again to try to go potty. She remained adamant that she did not need to go. She had not gone (at all) all day. We kept asking her throughout the day, but she said she did not need to go. However, once she went, she felt better. She did not have an upset tummy, this little girl literally held it all day. We don't know why, but we are glad she was not seriously ill.

A Christmas Visit with Grandma Peak 2010

Taylor and I went to visit my Grandma Peak on December 23, 2010. We had a nice little visit, like we always do. We were talking about our current economy and she shared some old stories with me. About in the 1940's when they had food rationing. They lived in Wisconsin at the time. Yes, the dairy state, where there was a time you could only buy real butter. She told me when they first were able to buy margarine, "Oleo", it was white. There would be an orange colored capsule in the packaging, so you could mix it and change the color to a yellow. It is so comforting to talk with my grandma, who has her priorities straight. Nice to know that over time, things can get better, because they have been bad before.

My grandma makes wonderful date bread. We had some of that too. She also let me have the angel I put in my tree. It was from her sister, Shirley, in Wisconsin.

On my grandma's last visit with her sister, Rosie, in California, they were making little ornaments. My grandma sews most everything by hand. She is not able to do much of that anymore. The little red and white square ornament on my tree is one of them they made during that visit together. I think that was her sister Rosie's last Christmas. I'm so glad we live close enough to visit my grandma. Taylor enjoys it too!

Christmas Eve 2010

I'm so behind on my poor little blog. Here it is February and I haven't even gotten to Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Matt always comes to stay at our house. This year, he brought his new puppy, Charly. Adorable...Yes. Potty trained...NO. She was pretty good most of the time. Grandma and Grandpa came over and Ben made a prime rib, which we all enjoy!

This is to prove I'm part of the family as well...

We had a lot of snow in November and December. It was so pretty! After dinner, Grandma, Taylor and I went for a little walk around the neighborhood to enjoy some of the Christmas lights. This is Taylor holding a bear that Matt bought her on her first Christmas...

Taylor sometimes says, "I wish my brother lived here." Matt has his own house, so Taylor was enjoying the fact that he was staying the night...

And, here are my sleeping children...

Merry Christmas Eve!

Our Very "Holly" Christmas

Since Holly was leaving on Christmas Eve, to fly back to Wisconsin to spend Christmas with her family, we had a special dinner and gift night at our house on December 17th.

We took pictures for our family Christmas card. We had taken this picture on Thanksgiving during the past few years, but we didn't get it done this year. Therefore, my Christmas Cards went out a little later than usual.

Taylor got a Scootaloo on a remote control scooter. She loved it!

We got Holly some wine and some clothes from Express. Which was one of my favorite stores when I lived in California.

Ben made a ham, because Holly loves ham....

Rick and Daniell came over to spend the evening with us as well. We love it when they come over too!

Taylor played while we played poker and I quickly ordered up our Christmas cards from Costco.

We missed Holly on Christmas, so this was our Holly Christmas party :)

Santa Brunch at Clinkerdaggers

This is actually a picture of Taylor with Santa at River Park Square.
I received an e-mail one day about a Santa Brunch at Clinkerdaggers. Ben was off hunting, and I had left over gift certificates. We were able to get reservations, so Taylor and I went to lunch.

From our table, we could look out the window and see the river flowing.

Taylor colored while she was waiting for her lunch. Her favorite part was the fresh strawberries. I love Clinkerdaggers. I love all the heavy wood accents, beams and brick...and it was nicely decorated for the holidays.

After lunch, Taylor and I went for a walk along the river. The walkway was completely fenced and safe, but I have noticed Taylor does not like heights lately and did not want to stand to close to the fence. The river was moving fast. Although it was cold outside, it was pretty to watch.