Celebrating our Savior!

We had a wonderfully, peaceful Christmas celebration. Time with family, Christmas Eve church service, presents, fantastic food, and time to just be.

Christmas Eve after church….

Josh was up until 1:00 in the morning putting together the girls presents….. our girls adore playing “office”. They pretty much weekly clean us out of all paper, tape, envelopes…… thus their gift was inspired. Each have their own desks packed to the brim with every office supply (age appropriate) that you can imagine.  (Thanks Aunt Becky for stocking us up for at least a year.)

so here is the 1 a.m. shot…… “Santa Daddy” and “Santa Mommy” are off to bed….

The girls first view on Christmas morning….. 

stockings….. Christmas day outfits with their new dolls.

Then over to Grandpa and Grandma’s for the rest of the day…..

Rebekah got her very own sewing kit and sewing machine from Aunt Becky. :) Now to learn…….

Happy Birthday Jesus! NOTHING compares to the gift that was given in you!

Christmas with the Nelsons

Sunday was our Christmas celebration with Josh’s side of the fam. Our girls can’t get enough of their cousins and we had such a pleasant evening with our Nelson family.

After a beautiful dinner we exchanged gifts….. Josh’s sister Christy and her husband Josh live in Oregon and were not able to make the trip down so they joined us via Skype! Isn’t technology amazing!? :)

Grandpa and Grammy Nelson  got each of our girls  a “Bitty Twins” set from American Girl. I am thinking they like them. ;)

Just the cutest dolls ever!

Bekah with her little brunettes……..

and Anna with her blondies…….

After gifts the kids (and some “kids at heart”) put on a performance of the Christmas story. Bekah thought she would be a shepherd for this performance. :)

Anna was an angel……

Our cast was quite eclectic.

As you can tell………

OK……… (slight side note)……………… I must be an extreme glutton for punishment, but here you go. This picture even got a “WHOA!!!!!!” from me…. and I see myself every day! Here I am in all my 31 week glory! Seeing as the main purpose of the this blog is to have a record of…… well…… life…… for my kids, I can’t hide every picture I hate.

I guess you could say, I am being very vulnerable right now…. 

But here is a word to the wise……. before you post any comments…….. if I get any commentary that looks like this (because i already get it all the time) … 

   “ Are you sure you’re not having twins?” or…..

“OH MY GOSH, you still have 2 months left!?!?!?” or……

“I could tell you were having a boy the minute I saw you…..”  or……

and this is my favorite……

“You look like you could go any day now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!……… oh, but you look great!”

Let’s just say………… you might ( or you will) have a very pregnant, slightly exhausted, very often… overheated… and possibly a little bit of a crazy woman a little disturbed  with you .   :)

Ok…….. I am done with my hormonal tantrum………. take a deep breathe, Emily.

And back to Sunday………

Well since I am on a roll right now , showing  you….. reality…..

Here is basically what our attempt to get a picture of the four of us was like…….

It was either show a picture of Bekah crying or one of Josh and I wish our eyes closed, so this was the best choice. ;)  

Our night only had that one moment of tears……. the rest of the evening was full of delightful conversation, squeals of joy, lots of laughter, A LOT of  little feet hitting the floor, and plenty of memory making moments.

Here is the majority of the Nelson family.( We missed you Christy and Josh!)

And no Nelson Christmas is complete without a pajamas picture. This has become a steadfast tradition and it is fun to look back and see how the kids have grown. :)

We are truly blessed!

December……. so far…….

It seems like all my posts lately are a random gathering of moments…….

This one is just that…… a mish mash of activities. We have been able to experience some cooler weather (like in the 50’s and 60’s) in the last few weeks and for my overheated, overextended body it has been simply wonderful. The beginning of the the month brought it usual December craziness, but the last week and a half  have been all about being home, and loving and anticipating the REASON FOR THE SEASON!

We’ve enjoyed time in the backyard. (My girls favorite room in the house!) Anna got a mini-trampoline from Aunt Becky for her birthday and it is the perfect thing for our monkey. Now if only the screen had a way to lock her in there we would be set! ;)

  Cooler weather has inspired me to bake (a little……. just a little)…… cobbler, bread pudding and a couple batches of cookies……. all of which were quickly consumed….. by yours truly:(.

Bekah is for the most part done with naps….. a new stage that the Kindergarten status seemed to bring along with it. :( But she is still required (not without argument) to have a quiet time in her room. And I love when quiet times turn into this……….:)

Why do I feel so victorious when this happens?

Every year our church hosts an annual “Angel Breakfast” for just the kindergarteners. This was such a special morning. We appreciate our church and are so thankful for the opportunities it has provided our family.

Bekah with some of her friends……

Getting special ornaments from a special Angel…..

A BIG event for us this month was Rebekah’s theatrical debut. Our homeschooling group put on a modern day version of “A Christmas Carol” and Rebekah was chosen to play the role of Mary. She was so excited and I am pretty sure this is the only time I have ever seen a portrayal of the nativity where the mother of Jesus walked out onto the stage giving a parade wave to the crowd. ;)

She even had a little solo dance. Just her and the baby Jesus. It was a proud moment. And her daddy, sister and I along with both  sets of grandparents were there……… 2nd row, dead center to watch our Bekah. :)

(I am trying to get Josh to put the video on here so we can show you……. sorry for the gushing…….. it was just so darn cute. )

This month is zooming by and it is hard to believe that we are just 2 days from the 25th!!!

Now to clean the house…….

Happy December all!

officially THREE!

Yesterday our Anna turned 3! It will take her some time to get used to, as she just mastered holding up 2 fingers! We started our day with, what else, doughnuts and presents.

After church we headed over to Disneyland, as Anna is now “of age” Disney speaking, in other words….. we now have to pay for her. So our 3 year old got her first pass. And she could not have been more thrilled!!!! She is always quite bothered when we walk through the gate and she has nothing to hand the attendant. Now she does……

But before we entered the park…… a few snap shots.

A is for ANNA!!!

R is for Rebekah!!!

N is for Nelson!!! 

We really had a very pleasant day as a family. Our girls chose to put on their best behaviors and had such sweet temperaments all day. They especially loved all the time with Daddy. (He was the choice partner for every ride. )

And here is one of my favorite pictures!!! One of Anna’s favorite shows is Handy Manny!! THE only thing she requested for her birthday was a “handy manny tool set.” Look at this picture…. she couldn’t even look at the camera, she just kept looking at Manny with adoring eyes. (She might have been a little scared of his being over 6 foot tall…. but either way, she was smiling.:) )

Happy Birthday Anna! We have faith that the Lord has a great plan for your life and we are honored to get to watch you become the little girl and eventually woman God wants you to be!

bits and pieces……

Well here is a photo blog of a couple things that were picture worthy over the last couple weeks….. a few bits and pieces that needed a place to go. :)

San Diego Zoo a couple of weeks ago…always a good time and you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day, weather perfection!

Rebekah being………………………. Rebekah…….

Baby bump, up close and personal……

Anna Banana…..

Daddy helping his girls to get the best view.

Daddy and Anna on the sky tram.

Putting up some festive trim.

Our tree…..

Our school activities have taken on a Christmas theme. Here the girls are making a countdown calendar.

yep…… that’s about it!