Christmas Morning 2010

A small, but excited, line up to see what Santa brought this year.  OK, Keith isn't quite awake yet, but I'm sure if we look to Christmases past, we would see that's part of his Christmas celebration technique.

Oooh, the ab roller... looks painful.

Soccer ball. Good times ahead.

Best Christmas present he's ever had, I'm pretty sure.  He still can't figure out where Eric and I found this amazing technicolor coat.  He's never seen this, his dream coat, in stores.  Shh, don't tell him we shopped ONLINE this year.  Pretty slick, huh?

From Katie and Josh, Lies You Learned at School.  I don't know, is this really appropriate reading material for someone still IN school?  Yikes! Of course, Eric couldn't put it down.

Cool tie from Josh and Katie.  I like it!

Yes!  My own beautiful copy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles.  Great story.

Thanks Katie and Josh!

Hey, he looks like a Super missionary in his new stuff.

We also finished opening gifts from Devin. This is the best.  He made a scrapbook for us.  The caption on this picture reads "They didn't have a barbershop in my area.  I just tried to be Filippino and do what the locals do.  Just kidding.  It's a wig."

A Unique Christmas Eve!

With only Eric at home, and Grandma Schenk in the hospital, we had a very different celebration this year.  So after lots of time in the kitchen making a turkey dinner and finishing up the Christmas baking, we delivered cookies to some neighbors.  We also got permission from Devin to open the package he sent us.  Notice the plethora of stamps covering the entire right side of the package! 

Inside we found a variety of mixes and biscuit type treats that Devin wanted us to try.

I love how everything is written in English.

 Eric is stirring up some of the Energen drink packet.  Yum, it tastes like tapioca pudding!

There were wrapped gifts as well.

And now for the highlight....

Devin!!!! Elder Schenk!

We not only got to have our "phone call" we actually got to skype with him.

Hurray!  We got to see our missionary!  He looks great! 

At first it was a bummer for him because we could see him, but the connection was bad, and he couldn't see us.  But after about 10 minutes or so, the picture came through for him, so he cheered up considerably! 

We had 40 minutes to talk with him, so we had our questions listed out, and we got them all answered!  He even spoke in Visayan for us.  He's doing so well, it was great to see him looking and sounding good.

A Snowy Day at Baker!

Gingerbread House EXTREME Makeover Edition

At first glance they seem fairly normal.  Cute, festive,lots of candy.  But take a closer look and you'll see gingerbread in a whole new way...

 Reindeer on the roof.  Nice touch.  A definite favorite of mine.

 Wow, are those real puffs of smoke coming out of the chimney?  They look a little like popcorn, but no, it's actually made from marshmallow.  That chimney is in serious danger of getting eaten before Christmas.

 Ok, so we've got some crazy stuff happening in the back of this house.  A pond, yes, oh, it's a palm tree next to it.  And a zipline?  Mmmhmm.  That's right.

 An American flag next to a Canadian Olympic mascot along with a mini trampoline.  Nice.

 Look at the cobblestone path leading up to the Christmas tree in the house being guarded by Frosty's friend, who by the way is ready to make his getaway on the sled nearby.

 Nice roof.  Eric and Wynter Cross's creation.

 Rudolph on the roof, Gavin Murray and his date.

Andre and Joscelyn Axthelm.  She said this was her best date ever.

On the Eighth day of Christmas...

This last picture is a preview of what's happening tonight.  Eight kids, now, eating dinner, decorating gingerbread houses and playing games.  Eight!  Wish me luck!

Gettin' the Tree

As we were driving to the Christmas Tree farm in west Mount Vernon, Eric and I reminisced about last year's escapade to get the tree.  Keith was super busy, so one evening Devin, Eric and I set off in Devin's truck to get the job done.  There are so many unfamiliar roads out in tree farm country that we were relying on Devin's GPS to guide us to our destination.  Apparantly the roads were unfamiliar to the GPS as well, cuz it guided us right up to a dyke with a dead end road!  Our navigation systems on our new phones worked much better this year, and we went to a farm we've cut a number of trees from, the place where they give you hot apple cider.  The weather was clear, just a cool breeze blowing, we all had our hats, thanks to reminders from Eric, and the search was on.  We picked out this beauty, and Eric did all the cutting himself, complete with the tree tackle method Devin used last year to knock the tree to the ground.  Yeah, we know how to milk a situation for all the fun you can possibly get out of it! 

On the way home we could be heard singing "Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches..."  as we drove out of sight.