Since my last post we have celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's! Crazy. Overall, we had everything spaced out nicely this year so we didn't have to attend more than one event on any given day, which I must add is amazing!!!
Sanders Thanksgiving
We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Sanders family the Saturday before Thanksgiving and everyone was there all day! Even though Erin, Dad, and I came up with a menu we ended up having way more sides than necessary and not enough appetizer/snack items. The good thing is we'll know better for next year! We had a smoked turkey and a deep-fried turkey this year and both were delicious! Erin and I also introduced a martini bar to our festivities this year. I will just say YUMMY to that one! After lunch we played games and hung out all day. It was definitely a good day!
Santa Lighting
Our next event was the Santa Lighting downtown. We had to walk quite a ways and weren't thinking real well when we decided to not take the stroller with us! FYI our kids are HEAVY!!! We had to wait for a bit before the Santa lit up but we did get to sing some Christmas carols beforehand which Mia enjoyed. Finally when Santa was brightly lit Mia thought it was beautiful. :) We caught up with the other Kurtzs/Ohlsons after the wreath was lit and then headed back to the clubhouse to eat pizza and set up for our Thanksgiving feast. It was a little crazy with the amount of people downtown but we still had fun!
Kurtz Thanksgiving
On Thanksgiving day we had our annual lunch at the Clubhouse (Mia thought we were going to see Mickey Mouse when I told her we were going to the clubhouse!) We had a lot of really good food and a wonderful time hanging out with family. Jared and Brian went out and played football with their other boy cousins who had a blast. I can't wait until Hunter is old enough to tag along! Mia went on a walk with the Hemsoths and fell and got a little dirty! (Nice job Holly!) Mia then preceded to show off her vocals by singing "You are My Sunshine" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" while standing on the table!! She definitely thought she was hot stuff and LOVED being the center of attention. She even made sure that everyone clapped for her. All in all, a great day!
Christmas Time
After Thanksgiving it was time to gear up for Christmas! I got the house all decorated and Mia was fascinated with all the Christmas trees this year. She thought they were all beautiful and liked to point out each one she could see. She and Hunter also liked all the pretty lights, they especially liked to point them out on the way to daycare each morning. (Too bad Daddy never got the up on our house! :( Oh well, maybe next year!) On Saint Nicholas day they got the book "The Night Before Christmas" and the Ice Age Christmas movie. They were much more interested in the book and Mia could pretty much recite it by Christmas!
This year was the start of hopefully a new tradition! Erin, Leah, Mackenzie, the kids and I all got together the weekend before our Christmas party and made all sorts of wonderful treats. The kids helped us make cookies and unwrapped kisses for another treat we made. They also ran around and watched movies. We had a lot of fun but decided that we started a little late (we were working until 11pm) and were too tired to watch a Christmas movie when we were finished. However, we were not too tired to drinkl a few glasses of wine! Everyone spent the night and we had a lot of fun! Eventually we will take turns hosting it at different houses but we decided my house works the best for now! Hopefully Mom, Liz, and Jordan will be able to join us in the future and we may eventually ban all boys!!!
Simerman Christmas
Our first Christmas party was at Kurt and Pam's house on Saturday, the week before Christmas. Suzi and I had the kids exchange names so they could each get something fun and they opened them as soon as we walked in the door! Hayden just couldn't wait for Hunter to open his awesome new gift! Hunter got a mini racetrack with Chuck cars and Mia got a glow doodle. I must say, there have been several fights involving both of these gifts so I would say it was a success. Mia also had a wonderful time trying to pick up the cat and hiding in the "cave".
Sanders Christmas
Our next event was Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house the Sunday before Christmas. We started in the morning with breakfast and started digging into presents not long after everyone got there. We had a wonderful time and everyone got lots of wonderful new presents. This was the first year that we decided to do an exchange between the cousins Mia got her first doll house and Hunter got a big race track! They also got a lot of other fun stuff. Mia even got her first sleeping bag! I can hardly imagine her on overnights but I know it's coming!! My big gift this year was my T-shirt blanket with all my Manchester running shirts. It is amazing and HUGE!
Beatty Christmas
We have now made it to Christmas weekend! The Beatty Christmas started everything off on Friday night after work. Renee and the girls watched the kiddos all day before hand (I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time!) and then we were off for the party at Karen's. Mia had to make sure that everyone was going to be at the party before we left Renee's house and had to repeatedly ask each person. She also had to bring one of Audrey's babies with us. Hunter and Lauren had a little thing going on too and I think Lauren would have liked to keep him as her own little brother! We had a good time at Karen's house with lots of good food and fun. The kids each got some fun presents and I think Hunter really likes Mia's new puppy purse. (He carries it around at home making this crazy noise which I guess is the sound a doggy makes although it sounds more like a yip or something to me!)
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve we all went to Nonny's house for a wonderful prime rib dinner and fun. We forgot that we usually like to sit at tables to eat and had to make do with some patio furniture since the card tables were left at Mike & Laura's from Thanksgiving. (Oops!) It all worked out though, and besides, what fun is a family event without a little chaos and improvisation! The kids all had a great time. Mia got a new tent and a new Baby Alive! Hunter got a train set and a remote control Thomas the Train. All wonderful presents!!! Thanks everyone. We then set off for home so we could make sure that Santa would come!
Christmas Day
Christmas morning Mia woke up at around 5 and climbed into bed with Jared and I. (Way to early to talk about Santa coming but too special of a day to send her back to her own bed.) We all went back to sleep and then when Mia woke up again around 7:15 Jared started talking about Santa coming the night before. Mia got really excited and wanted to know if he was still downstairs! Ha! We let Mia go in and get Hunter up before we headed downstairs and then the real fun began! We opened lots of wonderful things from Santa and then had to get a little organized before Nana, Pops, Uncle B and Kayci arrived (with truckloads I might add!) Hunter started to get tired of opening and he just wanted to play with what he already had so Mia "helped" him open the rest :)
Once the rest of the gang all got here we reloaded the gifts under the tree and prepared for round 2. Luckily, we had breakfast casserole and ham and cheese croissants to help keep us fueled and ready to go! It was really nice to stay home this year and not have to pack up as soon as we finished opening from Santa. It was also fun because we got to open and play with all the new toys as soon as they got them. Hunter had to take a break and grab a nap before he could finish opening. Three days in a row was a lot for that little guy! He was zoning out while sitting on my lap and we all felt so bad for him. Mia repeatedly tried to open the rest of his presents while he was sleeping and then when he did get up she did end up "helping" him once again. I think one of the favorite presents of the day was the football tent from Uncle B! They each spent most of the day in there with the rest of their new toys, pillow pets and bean bag chairs. Everyone went home around 3 and the kids took a little nap. We ended the day with a picnic dinner, watching our new movie, Toy Story. It really was a fabulous season!!
I feel that I must mention one of the funniest moments...Mia and Hunter each got new toy guinea pig/hamsters and when Nana asked what its name was Mia said "Aunt Krissy". It shows that a 2 year old's mind forgets nothing. When we were at Kurt & Pam's, Kris and Mia were looking at the hamsters and Kris told Mia that she needed one. She also told Mia that when she gets one she needs to name it Aunt Krissy and sure enough! We now have an Aunt Krissy! Thankfully it is just a toy!
So Monday morning Mia wakes up and asks if we are getting more presents today. SO CUTE but kind of hard to explain that Christmas is over! SO now we are waiting for her birthday so we can have cake and more presents!!!!
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