A Late Christmas with the Hokanson's!

We finally managed to have everyone home in both families and all people healthy and tonight got together for pizza and a small gift exchange with the kiddos.   The girls received a Barbie Guitar and electronic drum set from the boys and they gave the boys a marble run kit, legos and a couple of the bad guys from Cars 2!  The gifts were all a big success with all the kids and I think the few pictures Tammy managed to capture with all four of them show it!

And, of course, the obligatory silly face picture:

Christmas Day ... Dresses from Farmor

We had a great Christmas this year.  We started the day with the girls opening their gifts from Santa Claus, mommy and daddy and Farmor.

We had a quick breakfast of cinnamon rolls and orange juice before heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's to enjoy the remainder of the day with the family.

We had a wonderful day and everyone received great gifts.  We were even treated to a Christmas win by the Packers ... perfect ending to a wonderful day!!!

Christmas Eve Breakfast

The sun was shinning brightly in our room overlooking the bird watch during breakfast and most of my pictures got washed out ... I am not complaining though, as 42 degrees on December 24th in Minnesota with sun is never something to complain about!

I will share these two pictures though ... the girls were definitely loving their jumbo sized hot cocoas while waiting for breakfast to arrive!!

We had a yummy breakfast with about 15 people from the family and extended family.  It was a great way to start the holiday!

Making Gingerbread Houses at School

Mommy and daddy headed into the elementary school this afternoon to join our little Kindergarteners in making gingerbread houses (graham crackers actually).  The girls were excited to have both mommy and daddy there to help them make their projects.  We both even got to wear the handmade Rudolph hats from the girls!

The girls used graham crackers instead of gingerbread and we glued them to small milk cartons with frosting.  Once the milk carton was covered, they went to town decorating them with lots of frosting and candy.

The finished projects ... although later we went back and added coconut on the plates to look like snow!

We had a lot of fun at school today!  They even had the chance to leave early and come home with mommy and daddy, but they opted to stay at school and ride the bus home so they could see some friends!  :)

Christmas Concert ... The Kindergarten Classes x 3!

The girls had their first big Christmas Concert tonight at the high school.  Their class and two of the other Kindergarten classes performed together.  Alyssa had an individual speaking part and she did a wonderful job and remembered all her lines perfectly.

The girls chose their own dresses for the holiday concert and we ended up wearing our spring dresses, but since it has been in the 30's and 40's the entire month of December with no snow, why not wear spring dresses??!!  Here they are ready to head out the door for the show:

Alyssa is off to the left in this picture and Madison to the right behind the microphone.  They are singing "The Mitten Song".

We did take a video of some of their songs and of Alyssa speaking and we hope to have that ready to post soon ... :)

Impulse Dance Informal Winter Recital

Tonight was the Christmas Informal Dance Recital for Impulse Dance.  We picked up Grandma and Grandpa and headed down to Mankato for the big event.  The girls spent their pre-show time getting ready to dance and playing with some sticker books provided by the dance company to entertain the troops.

Just hanging out waiting for show time!  Madison is still sporting her bright pink cheeks from the Fifth Disease episode we had in our family.

Our beautiful little girls trying hard to give mommy a picture perfect smile ... :)

These are Alyssa's flowers from mommy and daddy given to her after their performance.

These are Madison's flowers from mommy and daddy.

The girls did a great job on their dances and sat very respectfully watching the rest of the show with us in our seats.  We were lucky enough to have Aunt Carrie and Uncle Kory attend the show as well and cousin Josh and his girlfriend Ciara were there helping out too.  We all headed out to Bobby Joe's Pub for a late dinner together and had a wonderful time!

Hopefully daddy will have a short video of the dances for mommy to post soon!

Making Christmas Cookies at the Hokansons!

Today we headed over to the Hokanson's home for our annual cookie making and decorating.  The kids had a great time making their masterpieces out of the sugar cookie dough.  I think we managed to make more than  we ate in the process, believe it or not!

The boys had a great time too and did their share of cookies as well!!!

Finally ... Our 6 year portraits!

Alyssa:

Both Girls:

Madison:

Dear Santa ...

All we want for Christmas is Rapunzel Princess & Me Dolls x 2 ... we have been good, mostly ...