Only Two More to Go!

Christmas celebrations that is! We've had a busy time since Olivia got out of school. We celebrated with Patsy and my Dad, Sharon, Dylan and India on Christmas Eve. Olivia and Carina had a great time. Olivia got a Playmobil Castle - "some assembly required"...I think there were about 10,000 pieces or so (maybe slightly exaggerated). It's done now. Here are a couple pictures from Christmas Eve and Project Castle that just ended tonight at 7:05....

Carina got a toy that she plays with at a local toy store every time she visits. She was a little excited.

Olivia wrapped herself up for India. I'm almost a little afraid of this crazy look....

Olivia took a picture of Carina and I with the completed castle... (Aunt Joan - you can see my new red highlights if look carefully!)

I really wish I had a picture of all the pieces, but here is the first page of the directions...it was a 12 page book.

And a closer look at the completed castle. I almost can't believe it worked!

We had a great time on Christmas morning...here is a before....

and after!

We had Christmas dinner at Anne (Matt's sister) and Brad's. Here is a picture of the family dressed in our fancy Christmas outfits.

Finally, Matt got a Wii for Christmas. We've played a few different games, lots of bowling and boxing. Matt has yet to win - I even beat him at Tiger Woods Golf. Carina has beaten all of us at bowling and Olivia has beat Matt 4 or 5 times at boxing. Watching Olivia play these games is enough to make me fall over laughing. She's constantly jumping all over the place. Here are some pictures of her boxing. I played her last night and she had to have Matt take over for her because her shoulder was hurting! She plays with very high effort!

I hope you all had great Holidays with your families - we're not done yet folks! We've got Tuesday and then down to my Mom and Steve's on the 1st. HO!HO!HO!

The Excitement Continues

We had our first Christmas celebration with the girls' aunts, uncles and cousins on Matt's side of the family.

The ladies...Olivia, Greta, Audrey and Carina



Trevor, Anne and Brad's oldest is wearing the stripes, and Owen, Dave and Sue's youngest, is wearing the vest. They are great pals.



Hopefully everyone is surviving these final days of crazy excitement!

Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

That is the sound of the girls bouncing off the walls. They are getting pretty excited about Christmas. Carina has her program at school tomorrow night. Olivia is just as excited about it as she is. They both have their fancy dresses all ready to go for the occasion.

Olivia's concert was last Thursday - but she was home sick! She was disappointed, but seems to be over it.

This photo is from Dec. 1. Carina is enjoying the snow as much as Olivia this year. I talk about moving somewhere warm with no snow and they tell me snow is their favorite and winter is their favorite season. It seems like we have had some significant snow every week. We're supposed to get 3-5 inches again tomorrow.

The girls got Santa nightgowns from St. Nick. Here is a picture of them modeling. I did not request the glasses. I don't remember what the purpose was, but I had to take a picture of the look.

Until later....bounce! bounce! bounce!

All The Kings Horses

It's been one year and 8 months to the day since my first surgery. Today, I had what will hopefully (emphasis on hopefully) be the final one to put me back together again. There will be a medical tatoo artist step after this, but that is done at the doctor's office.

The surgery started at about 7:30 or so. The doc was talking to Matt 9:10 and we were home at 12:15. I've been hanging out on the couch and enjoying my pain pills. I'm not sure how things turned out because of bandages, so I can't report on the success. I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday, so I'll know more then.

I'm not supposed to make any "big decisions" until 24 hours after the anesthesia, so no online shopping until tomorrow!