We went to Oklahoma for 10 days around Christmas and it was good to see Steve's family again. We haven't been to Oklahoma since Thanksgiving 2007, that's 13 months. Traveling with the girls can get a little hairy so we waited until we built up enough frequent flier miles to fly us all there. 1 1/2 hour plane ride or 11 hours in the car? Hmmm. Which would you choose? We celebrated Christmas there early too (12/23) so his sisters could go to there in-laws for Christmas day. Steve also got very sick with we think tonsillitis, man were his tonsils swollen. That was a bummer but we did manage to sneak away and go to a movie Christmas Day while his parents watched the girls for the first time. Mamoose said they did great.
Making a Gingerbread Christmas Tree with cousins
New p.j.'s and robes from Mamoose and Papaw for Christmas
Macie with her oh so surprised look when she opened the shoes we all got her that she knew she was getting.
Christmas brunch
We went to a Christmas Eve service at Steve's parents' church and Papaw sang "Mary Do You Know". He did a great job!
The pastor's wife asked us if the girls would want to be in a skit and be angels. Well, Olivia was too shy but little miss crackerjack wasn't shy at all. The pastor read the story of Christmas from the Bible and as he read the part about the angels Audrey walked up the aisle with Mamoose and stood at the front with a huge smile.
The real Christmas Day the girls got to open their stockings
Here is the picture and letter we sent out for Christmas this year. If you didn't get one it's because we only sent a few to mostly family and a few friends who live far away. With Steve losing his job this last October we have been cutting a lot of corners and that includes shortening the Christmas Card list. Hopefully next year we'll be back up and running. Oh yeah, Steve wrote the letter again this year.
7th Annual Lee Christmas Letter - 2008
Hello family and friends… remember when your grandmother told you… enjoy the time you have now because the older you get… the faster time goes by? She couldn’t have been more correct… and I’m just 37! What will life be like in my 80’s? Not sure it will be slow enough to remember.
Earlier this year, we did manage to make a trip to San Diego and visit the California Lee’s. We had a blast, Matt (my cousin) was determined to watch my ankles swell and nearly pass out from walking all day at Disneyland from 9 to midnight! With this “girth of mine” it was a challenge but we had a great time. We went to Sea World and played a little golf too, good times. The girls also saw the ocean for the first time!
Olivia will be 4 in January and is turning into a beautiful little girl who is knee deep in music class and dance. The other day her momma got her all fixed up with her hair and make-up for her 1st dance recital… seriously, drop-dead cutie, can’t wait for her teen years! (Me and a shotgun). She learned to count to 10 in Spanish, can spell and write her name… and loves to help her mom cook and do dishes. We participated in the JDRF walk again this year. Olivia was even more involved and we raised $3820 thanks to many of you!
Audrey, now 2,is tipping the scale around 24 pounds, her nick name is “lil bit” and she is a ham. She loves to snuggle and will speak her mind… every chance she gets. She goes to music class with Olivia once a week and loves it. The girls and I read books nearly every night and Audrey hates to be taken away and put to bed. Every night it’s like pulling teeth. On a brighter note, the other day she was sitting in the rocking chair, pointing at the TV, saying “ootbal, ootbal dada” (translation: football, football daddy.) I’ve never so felt so warm and proud. lol
In July my mom and dad came and visited, we hung out and visited mostly. We love it when they come to town. We did manage to take a road trip to EstesPark which was a lot of fun. Maybe next year we can see other Okies up here (hint, hint).
We drove to Wyoming for Thanksgiving this year and hung out with the Thompson & Hager clan… I mean serious clan… like 41 family members! Let’s just say the younger generation knows how to… how do I say “procreate” around these here parts. Seriously, there were babies all over the place.
For me, I’ve decided to start a new career path… will most likely be selling independent products and starting a company in the medical industry so wish me luck!
Heather is still hanging out all day with the girls and then looks at me for “adult conversation”… yeah like that is going to happen. She enjoys Sundays to get out of the house. She was appointed the Nursery Chair (yes I make fun of it too) but she does a good job for the nursery at church… man, you should see her business cards. j/k She’s a great mother and wonderful wife, our lives would be worthless without her. (Yes, I am trying to get some brownie points here). One thing Heather does enjoy is blogging, you can see more of us at: www.highlightsofmylife.blogspot.com
Once again running out of room. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and the very best in 2009. We hope God will bless you like He has us over the years… and one more thing… GO SOONERS! National Championship Game is Jan 8th!
My parents took them to see Santa at Winterfest, a local festival.
There were little houses around where Santa was so the girls went inside. They were smiling and hamming it up and others were looking in talking about how cute they were posing. Then a man came by and told my parents that no one was allowed inside the little houses. OOPS!
We celebrated Christmas early with my parents since we are off to Oklahoma for Christmas. The girls opened one present the night before we opened the rest and as our tradition goes, they got p.j.'s
The next morning opening their presents. They got their babies that they asked Santa for.
Well, the recital came and went and we didn't have a dancer. Olivia looked beautiful but when it came to getting on that big stage she froze. Oh, she was on stage but she wouldn't dance. Just stood there trying to look out in the audience with the bright lights shining in her eyes. Then she turned around and faced the back for awhile. Finally turning around again watching her teacher in the curtains. She kept looking at her teacher and shaking her head and saying no. Her teacher was probably trying to encourage her to dance and she wasn't going to have anything to do with it. Oh well, maybe next time. At least she didn't cry or panic and run off the stage. It's funny because later she wouldn't stop doing the dance for my parents at home.
I told her to do a plie and this is what she did, hee hee.
Olivia had her ballet pictures on Monday in her recital costume. Well, sort of. The other moms got together the week before at their ballet lesson and decided they all wanted to buy matching leotards instead of the purple t-shirts we were supposed to buy. We weren't at that lesson because the roads were bad in Wyoming so we couldn't make it back in time. I guess they thought it would be too hard to call me and let me know so Olivia in these pictures is the only one not matching. Oh well. She will have the matching leotard for her recital this Saturday. Anyway, Olivia has become shy over the past 6 months. She struggles when adults she doesn't know very well ask her questions, she hides behind me and puts her head down. She also has struggled a lot in ballet. The first two lessons she mostly stood there and cried. The moms stay in the hallway but every once in a while the teacher lets us in to watch them dance and Olivia melts down. She doesn't want anyone else to watch her. SO I knew these pictures would be tough. Everyone staring at her, yikes. I talked with her before hand and told her that the other mommies came to watch their daughters and not her and she just needed to only look at me and no one else. She was excited to have her hair and makeup done so I think that helped. At first she started to cry in the group picture and I just told everyone to stop and I went to talk to her. I reminded her about the ice cream her dad told her she could have if she did a good job. She started to smile but I could tell it was incredibly difficult. Then came time for the picture by herself. She did great. I was so proud. Underneath I could tell she was dying inside from shyness but she was doing it for her mamma and for the ice cream. They practiced her dance and the first time was o.k. but after that she wanted to be done. The teacher said one more time and I think Olivia was going to scream. I begged her to do it one more time and she did. She smiled big when the teacher reminded them to and she jumped big and did great. I was so proud of my painfully shy girl to do what she did. I almost cried. This semester has been tough because all the other kids seemed to do fine. Why was my daughter struggling? I left sad some days. But she made me proud on picture day. She did it even though it was very difficult! Now, the recital may be a different story and I'll fill you in on that later. It's at a HighSchool auditorium. Pray for her if you think of it.
This is the year we usually go to Casper, Wyoming but plans changed because our family is getting too big and there are not enough places to stay there anymore. So we moved it to Rock Springs because a lot of our family lives there therefore more places to stay. The downside was we didn’t get to all stay together in one big house and be with each other from morning to night. We still had a great time. There were 41 of us at our Thanksgiving table and 5 of those were new babies this year. Lots of kids and lots of fun.
My Nephew Jason
Sara snuggling Jason
Sara, Faith, and I made these turkeys with Oreos, candy corn, frosting, and malt balls. We put them at each plate at dinner. Making them
Audrey and my cousin Nathan's son Dalton playing a game together.
Many of the kids 7 & under piled on the couch for pictures. With 5 babies this was a difficult task. As you can see one baby and one toddler are trying to escape the scene. With all the adults taking pictures it looked like paparazzi. I wasn't at a very good angle but when my cousin Annie (hint hint) sends me a copy of hers that she took straight on I'll share that too.
My cousin Lance and Heather's first baby. Sweet Chloe.
My cousin Jason and his 4th child, cutie pie Christopher. Don't they look like twins?
Cousin Tony hanging with his nephew Christopher
Tony and Michelle's sweetie, Emma.
Cousins. I did their hair the same that day and they even dressed similar. Olivia is starting to act shy sometimes for pictures when there are a lot of people around.
My smart two year old
Steve, Matt, Sara, Audrey jamming with the Rock Band game. Vanessa was playing the drums to the left but I couldn't scoot back any farther to get her in it.
My brother and his 5th child Jason.
I love this cute face of my cousin Annie and Matt's son Henry.
My mom holding two of her grandkids, Audrey and Jason
My hubby and I have been married for 10 years and we have two wonderful daughters and two sweet boys. This blog is meant to keep our family and friends up to date with the highlights of my life.
We went to Oklahoma for 10 days around Christmas and it was good to see Steve's family again. We haven't been to Oklahoma since Thanksgiving 2007, that's 13 months. Traveling with the girls can get a little hairy so we waited until we built up enough frequent flier miles to fly us all there. 1 1/2 hour plane ride or 11 hours in the car? Hmmm. Which would you choose? We celebrated Christmas there early too (12/23) so his sisters could go to there in-laws for Christmas day. Steve also got very sick with we think tonsillitis, man were his tonsils swollen. That was a bummer but we did manage to sneak away and go to a movie Christmas Day while his parents watched the girls for the first time. Mamoose said they did great. 
