Christmas 2011

After staying up so late on Christmas Eve, we thought (hoped!) the kids would sleep in a bit.

NOPE!

Evyn was up by 6:30, and Andrew about an hour later.  It didn't take them long to start tearing into the packages that Santa had left for them.

Santa is a pretty clever guy.  He brought Evyn an electric keyboard, even though there was no mention of it on her wish list.  In fact, she had only told us a few hours before Santa's expected arrival that she was really hoping for a piano for Christmas.  What luck!

Later in the afternoon we went to Grams & Pops' house (Scott's parents) for a wonderful meal and- you guessed it!- more gifts.

Evyn opening her cherished American Girl doll

The kids were exhausted but happy by the time we crawled into beds Sunday night.

Christmas Eve 2011

Saturday night we hosted our annual Christmas Eve shindig, with Aunt Lori & Uncle Larry, cousins Emily & Elisabeth, Grandma & Grandpa B., Gloria & Larry C., and Michelle.  Unfortunately, Aunt Lani & Uncle Ryan were feeling under the weather and couldn't come.  The kids got lots of great gifts, and the grown-ups had fun doing a "re-gift" themed gift exchange, and deciding who had the worst presents.  We're already plotting what trinkets we can squirrel away for next year's exchange....

We were so busy enjoying the company of our guests that we didn't get many pictures (and none that turned out well) but you'll get the idea:

I'm not sure what I did differently this year, but whatever it was, worked great, because after everyone left, we had very little cleaning up to do, and half the number of dishes as usual waiting to be washed.  Which gave us time to relax after putting the kids to bed- awesome!  Andrew zonked pretty quickly, but Evyn stayed up until close to midnight, putting together treats for Santa:

Aunt Lori's cookies, a pair of Hershey's kisses, fruit salad (because Santa needs something healthy to give him energy!), extra-chocolatey chocolate milk, and celery for the reindeer.  Evyn was pleased to find an empty tray on Christmas morning.

a day full of Christmas

This past Saturday we indulged in all things Christmas- starting with picking a tree from Bowser's Tree Farm, followed by decorating while listening to Christmas tunes, then watching as many Christmas movies as we could find, and wrapping up the evening with our annual trip to Christmas Village.

the kids picked their tree

watching it being cut

Andrew was excited to "help"

not fully decorated, but it was time to go!

Andrew tried to eat many of these candy cane path markers.  They can't have tasted very good, but it didn't seem to stop him.

Great-Grandma Martin

Scott's Grandma died early this morning.  We had taken the children to see her last night after dinner, and while we will miss her very much, I am confident that she is glad to have rejoined Grandpa after a three year separation.

Dorothy P. Martin
2011-12-01

Dorothy P. Martin, 89, formerly of Reading Road, East Earl, died December 1, 2011, at Ephrata Manor. She was preceded in death by her husband Lester H. Martin in 2008. Born in Caernarvon Twp., she was the daughter of the late Barton M. and Rita (Kessler) Huyett. A homemaker, Dorothy was a member of Churchtown United Methodist Church where she had taught Sunday School for 30 years. Surviving her are children: Eugene L., married to Audrey (Graybill) Martin, New Holland, Harold R., married to Beverly (Fryberger) Martin, Mohnton, Sandra F., married to David Bailey of Ephrata, and Randy L., married to Rosalie (Myer) Martin of Reinholds; eight grandchildren, five great grandchildren; two sisters, Evelyn Miller and Geraldine Huyett, both of New Holland, and two brothers Raymond L. Huyett, of Lancaster, and Melvin Huyett, Ephrata. She was preceded in death by her sisters Ruth Kurtz, Mildred McEldorney, Arlene Gregg, Blanche Yohn and Alice Hollenbaugh. Funeral services will be held on Monday, Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. at Churchtown U.M. Church, 2170 Main Street, Churchtown (Narvon), with Pastor James Bamberger, D. Min. and the Reverend E. Earl Trauger officiating. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Family will receive friends on Monday from 9 a. m. until the time of service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Arthritis Foundation, Central PA Chapter-SE Branch, 204 Butler Ave., Ste. 102, Lancaster, PA 17601. Arrangements are with Groff-High Funeral Home, New Holland. Online condolences may be posted on our website, www.groffeckenroth.com.

how hard could it be....

.....to get one good photo of two trick-or-treaters?

Impossible, if those trick-or-treaters happen to be Evyn & Andrew.  They were just too excited to go!

arrr!  my little pirates, ignoring my pleas to "just stand together for one second."

Maybe it was the snowy weekend, making them crazy. 
I did get one picture of Evyn:

After giving up hopes of getting a good shot of the two of them, the kids tromped around the C's neighborhood for two hours, with a brief pit-stop midway:

Evyn & cousin Emily

sharing with Daddy

A late-to-bed, sugar-filled school night!

snowy Halloween

Halloween weekend brought lots of excitement this year!

First, there was Evyn's tooth, wiggly #6.
We waited for it to fall out. And waited. And waited. For weeks.
Poor Evyn hadn't been able to take a bite of pizza or sandwich for nearly three months, between wiggly #5 and wiggly #6.

Thursday morning I woke her up for school. As she pried her eyes open, she realized, #6 was gone! We searched high and low, to no avail. Which can only mean one thing.....

calling Daddy before school to tell him the news

On Saturday, our plans for going down to the farm for pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns was foiled by an early snowstorm! We spent the afternoon knocking snow off our trees and shrubs, and clearing power lines, every hour or so, to prevent them from breaking under the weight of the heavy snow.

our crape myrtle, right of center- bent in half and touching the ground

We had the generator on standby, but thankfully we didn't lose power, like they did in many other parts of the county. Meanwhile, the kids (with a little help from Daddy) made a snowman - Halloween-style.

snow witch!

Andrew's cheeks were cherry-red from eating snow, puppy-dog style

apples

After missing peach-picking season, and neglecting to pick cherries now two years in a row, we knew we had to make good on our promise to take the kids for apples before the season ended- which we did, early in October.

We meandered around Cherry Hill Orchards for about an hour, grabbed lunch at George's, then went home where we spent the afternoon transforming our pickings into this

applesauce

and this

apple butter

with plenty of fresh apple snacking while we worked.  Evyn alone ate four apples, in just the first afternoon!