Christmas

I apologize up front for any typo's the post may have.  It is 5 in the morning and I am not quite awake , but I realized if I am going to get caught up on my blogging it needs to be done now!

We had a very busy 3 days!!!  I took Friday off to try to get ready for the busy weekend.  I am very glad I did!  Friday night Kyle took Jenae and Aubree on a "date"  They went out for pizza then to the movies.  They went to see the Muppet's at the theater in O'Neill.  Whitney & I stayed home and finished up some last minute wrapping of gifts.  Santa came while Kyle & the girls were gone and we had our little Christmas when they got back from O'Neill.  Of all the things Aubree got, I think she was most excited for her electric tooth brush she got ;-)

Saturday we got up and did things around the house in the morning.  After dinner we went over to watch Kyle rope the new toy, ReRun the calf roping dummy.  It was entertaining!!!  I actually got a chance to ride, I didn't rope ReRun yet, but I am looking forward to it once Kyle gets the horses used to the dummy.

We went home and got ready for the evening and went back over to Chip & Marilyn's house to begin our Christmas Eve Celebration.  We took a bunch of pictures of the kids in front of the tree & then it was time to go to church.  It was a nice service and a great way to start of the Christmas Holiday.   After church it was supper time!  Marilyn made a really delicious supper that we all enjoyed!  Opening presents was of course the highlight of the night for the kids.  We spent the rest of the night sitting around and enjoying each others company ;-)

Sunday we got up and headed to Newman Grove for the big Forre Christmas.  Grandma had made the traditional Norwegian meal of Lutefisk & Lefse as well as an American meal of ham.  It was a fun day, but I think my girls and I were so tired we were ready to go home and call it a day by mid afternoon.  We finished up the evening watching Rio Bravo, or at least part of if.  I was so tired I was in bed by 9:00 that night!

It was back to work on Monday morning for me.  Kyle and the girls had a great time trying out the new saddles.  It was hard on me to be at work and not home with them.  We have been so blessed this week with beautiful weather.  It is going to be in the 50's most of the week, it should be a great Christmas break for all the kids to get out and enjoy the outdoors. 

We still have 2 Christmas celebrations left!  We go to my parents house on New Years to celebrate with my siblings & then we have the big Whitaker Christmas on January 8th.  Two more weekends of fun ;-)


Jenae trying on her new snow pants.



Aubree with the basketball Kyle gave her.

The Whitaker grand kids in front of the tree at Chip & Marilyn's house.
We have found it nearly impossible to get them all to look one direction for a picture!

Whitney & Chase on their first Christmas.

Never again will I buy white Christmas dresses for my girls!  Trying to keep them clean during supper
I tucked their napkins in their dresses.  Trey made sure everyone else did the same!

Chip & Marilyn opening their gifts from the grand kids.  New lawn chairs for them to
take to jr. rodeos!!!

Ben helping Trey open a gift.

Aubree with a shirt from Aunt Hope.  A very fitting shirt for our little fashionista!

Aubree with her new saddle.  She was very excited to be getting it!  First we had her open the new cinch that went with the saddle.  When we asked her if she was excited about her cinch she said "NO!  I wanted a saddle!!!"  Next she opened a headstall and breast collar (which she later referred to as a breast pump!! :-) and we asked what she thought of getting that & she responded the same way "I wanted a saddle!!!"   Finally we let her open her saddle :-)

Jenae when she realized she was getting a new saddle!

We knew if we had a big box under the tree with Jenae's name on it, that it would not take her long to figure out that she was getting a saddle.  This fall the tree in her saddle broke and as much as she rides a new saddle was a necessity.  She was a little disappointed when she watched Aubree open her big package with a new saddle in it and all that was left under the tree for Jenae was one small package that was labeled "open last"  It was a new cinch as well.  We thought as soon as she saw she was getting a new cinch she would figure out she was getting a new saddle too, but she didn't.  She looked pretty sad when she opened the package. Chip then told her she better go downstairs and see if she could find something to go with the cinch. 
As you can see she was thrilled to find out indeed she was getting a new saddle  too! 

Happy little girls!!!

Trey with this Christmas present from Grandpa Chip!  As you can tell he was  excited ;-)

Whitney trying out Jenae's saddle!

The 2 night owls sitting in the bumpos.  The bumpos are for Whitney & Chase to sit in,
however the 2 year old AND 4 year old found them very entertaining!!!  The other 3 kids had all fallen
asleep, but not these two!  They had so much fun playing together on Christmas Eve.

Whitney woke up and was ready to socialize a little bit before falling back asleep.

Jenae fell asleep at Chip & Marilyn's.  She ended up spending the night there!

With in 2 minutes of being home on Christmas Eve, Aubree was fast asleep!

My Grandma Forre on Christmas Day with all of her Great Grand Kids that were there.

The count down until Christmas



Some years I have felt so ready for the Holiday season a least one week before Christmas.  This year was not one of them.  We sent our Christmas letter out on the 21st of December, cookie trays were not deliver until the 22nd of December and I was still wrapping gifts on the evening of the 23rd!  Oh well, it all got done in the end ;-)

This year we did a lot of our baking with Marilyn in her new kitchen.  Her kitchen was so nice with all the new appliance and the extra counter space.  Jenae & Aubree had fun getting to "help" with the process!  Toffee is a hit in our family.  I think we made a total of 8 batches along with many other treats!!!

Aubree & Marilyn making some Christmas Cookies



Jenae's Christmas Program

Jenae's Christmas Program at school was on Friday night.  The Chambers Christmas program is like no other school Christmas program around.  It is more like a musical where there is acting and singing.  This year the program was about Santa wanting to get his daughter married off and Jenae's class was all dressed as "old people" meant to convince Santa's daughter that being married was a great thing.  Her class did a dance to "Love & Marriage" it was so cute I think the entire gym was laughing. 

Chip & Marilyn, my parents and the Blackmore family were all there to watch the program.  Trey & Aubree were really into the program and watched it really well.  Chase was a really good baby, I do not think he made a peep the whole evening.  Whitney on the other hand, was not such a happy camper.  Kyle & the girls stayed for cookies after the program & I had Chip & Marilyn give me and Whitney a ride home. 

Jenae dressed as an old lady for her Christmas Program



Jenae in her class room before the program.



Jenae's class dresses as old people.



Aubree & Kyle waiting for the program to start.

Jenae & her" husband" in the program.

The "old couple" dancing during the program. 



Jenae with classmates, Cade, Ellie, & Cole.



The Blackmore family

Whitney, Kyle  & Chip at the program.

The Noble Christmas



Life is just not slowing down any!!!  We have went right from Vegas into the hustle and bustle of the Holidays.  I still have so much to do before Christmas, I guess I am going to do what I can and what doesn’t get done, just won’t get done!!!

I am going to go back a few days here.  We got home from Vegas late Monday night and I took Tuesday & Wednesday off.  Whitney had her 2 month checkup on Wednesday & she was 11 lbs 10 oz.  She is 50^th percentile in both height and weight.  She is such a happy easy going baby. 

Saturday afternoon we went over to Marilyn’s house to make some Christmas goodies.  Hope & her family were there as well.  We really enjoyed using Marilyn’s new kitchen to make some yummy Christmas treats.  We made toffee, fudge, oreo balls, chocolate dipped pretzels and chocolate dipped  ritz peanut butter cookies. 

Saturday evening some friends from church had us over for supper.  We had a nice visit and watched part of the NFR with them before heading home.

Sunday we got up and went to church, then headed to Albion for the Noble Christmas.  My Aunt Jean hosted it at her house and we had a lovely time.  She goes to so much work to make sure it is a special time for all especially the kids.  By the time Sunday night rolled around I think we were all exhausted!! 

This is my first full week back to work since before Whitney was born.  It was a bit of an adjustment to work a full week.  Whitney had her first shot on Wednesday.  It was a long night for her, she ran a fever most of the night and didn’t sleep very good.  I try to not wish my life away, but I will be so glad when the immunization stage is over!!!  I hate when my babies have to get shots L

I am looking forward to the weekend.  We have Jenae’s Christmas program, it sounds like it is going to be as cute as always.  Saturday I think I am going to go over to Marilyn’s house and make more toffee. All that I brought home from the first batch has seemed to disappear!!!  (Kyle really really fond of toffee ;-) Sunday I am hoping to stick close to home and work on Christmas preparations!

The kids waiting to eat their dinner.



Jenae reading the Christmas Story to the kids. 
All the kids got to help set up the Nativity Scene as she read the story.

Jenae looking for the pickle hidden in the tree.  One thing my Aunt always has for the kids
is "find the pickle"  It is a pickle ordainment hidden in the tree.  When you find it you get to pick out a prize.
My girls really look forward to see what prizes my Aunt has each year. 

Aubree with her pickle & her prize.

My Grandma Noble with the Great Grand kids.

Grandma with Jaxson, Whitney & Jace.



Whitney & Santa




Aubree, Whitney & Jenae with Santa



Vegas Baby!!! Vegas!!!!!


Yes, we took a baby to Vegas!!!!  Crazy as it sounds, it really did not go too bad. 

When we left for Vegas the weather was great!  It had been mid 50’s and the sun was shining.  We left on Friday morning after we got Jenae on the bus.  We dropped Aubree off with Chip for the day and we met up with our friends Matt & Heidi.  Our flight out was at 11:20 so we had plenty of time to ease down to Grand Island.  We are so lucky to have nice flights out of the Grand Island airport.  It is a very small airport and it is very easy to get around it.  I was pretty nervous flying with Whitney, I just didn’t know what to expect but she was a really trooper!!  She slept on all of her flights.  Even taking off and landing did not seem to bother her ears.

When we landed Heidi & I were in charge of getting the bags while Kyle & Matt went to get the rental car.  The guys picked us gals up and we went to get a bite to eat when Kyle’s cell phone rang.  It was baggage claims from the airport letting us know that still had a bag that we had not picked up.  I had kind of forgot that I was supposed to get Kyle’s bag in addition to mine!!!  I still can’t even believe I did that!!!  I am thinking me & traveling to Vegas is just doomed!!! (Look back at my blog post from last year’s flight out to Vegas to see what I am talking about)  Thankfully my wonderful husband had a good attitude about it and didn’t make me feel bad for starting our trip off on the wrong foot!

The PRCA put us up at the Mirage.  It was a nice hotel/casino.  I guess I should back up and explain why we were out there.  Kyle won the Linderman award for the 6^th time.  The PRCA flew us out to Vegas so they could present his award to him during the rodeo on Sunday.  It was a really special time for him and it just so happened to be in time for us to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  Matt & Heidi also celebrated their 10 year anniversary back in September.  It was fun for all of us to take a trip together. For our 5 year anniversary we took a road trip to Estes Park, CO with Matt & Heidi as well.  We are trying to figure out what we will do for our 15 year anniversary to celebrate!!! 

After we got checked into our hotel we rested for a little bit then walked part of the Strip close to our hotel.  It was a really nice evening, the perfect night to have a baby out on the town!!  We went back to the Mirage to watch the rodeo in the lounge.  It didn’t take long for them to kick me out of the lounge.  Apparently they do not allow babies there.  Whitney & I went up to our room and hung out until after the rodeo was over.  It was a bummer that I couldn’t watch the rodeo, they did not get the channel the rodeo was televised on.  We met up with Kyle’s friend Travis and he took us all out for supper to a Brazilian steak house.  It was a really fun experience, no one went away hungry.   It was 10:00 Pacific time (12:00 Central time) when we finished supper, needless to say we were all exhausted!!!

Saturday morning we got up and went to South Point.  Kyle, Matt & Heidi went for breakfast there while I hit the trade show!!!  Shopping is one thing that I could do with a baby in Vegas!!  From the South Point we went on a little tour of Vegas and made our way to Cowboy Christmas at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Matt & Heidi really seemed to enjoy shopping there, especially Matt!  Kyle & Whitney were shopped out which made shopping not much fun for me. 

Sunday Kyle, Matt & Heidi got up and had breakfast at our hotel while I stayed in with Whitney.  I didn’t want her to tired out for the rodeo that afternoon.  By noon we were headed to the rodeo.  Chip got to Vegas in time to get to the rodeo and he ended up sitting with us during the rodeo.  The Linderman presentation was really nice & it really meant a lot to Kyle that his Dad made it there in time to see.  Whitney slept through most of the rodeo. 

Sunday night my parents flew into Vegas.  The plan was for my Mom to watch Whitney while I went to Fremont Street with Kyle, Matt & Heidi.  Well as it turned out my Dad thought he was coming down with the stomach flu.  I for obvious reasons did not want to be around them so Whitney & I stayed in our room again that night.  It was kind of fun to just hang out with Whitney and watch Las Vegas local news.  Their news stories are very different than Nebraska news!!!  The Las Vegas Marathon was going on that night which made for a CRAZY busy night on the streets.  There were 44,000 runners and they shut down the west side of the Strip.  It probably would have been hard to meet up with my parents with the traffic that night anyway. 

Monday Kyle got up early to take Matt & Heidi to the airport to catch their flight.  Unfortunately  they were not there 2 hours before their flight and they would not let them on the flight.  They ended up having to buy tickets from Southwest and fly into Omaha.  I knew it was recommended that they be there 2 hours before the flight, but I did not know it was required!    Kyle & I flew out that afternoon. We got in to Grand Island about 10:30 that night.  Our car was covered in snow and ice. Not much fun to come home to!!! 

We had a lot of fun on our trip.  It had a few little snags along the way that make for some good stories!  

Kyle & Whitney on the flight to Vegas. 



Matt & Heidi at the airport in Grand Island.



Kyle, Whitney & me in our hotel in Vegas.

Kyle & his Little Honey

Whitney & Me at the Mirage.

Kyle & Whitney at the Mirage in Vegas.

Kyle, Heidi & Matt at the water show at the Bellagio.

Kyle, Me & Whitney out side the Bellagio

Matt with Woody & Buz.

Whitney in our hotel room.

Kyle & Chip with Kyle's Linderman Buckle.

Eating supper at the Brazilian Restaurant.  It was a neat experience.  They brought us all kinds of meats to try.  They would slice off how much you wanted right at the table.  We had a couple kinds of steak, chicken, turkey, lamb, sausage.  It was all really good!!! 

Matt & Heidi on Fremont Street.

Kyle & Chip on Fremont Street.

One tired little baby!!!  Whitney was played out from all of the excitement of Vegas!!