Christmas Preparation

Dave was able to take three weeks off work. Lucky guy! This is a picture of him at 11a.m.. When do mommies get a vacation? :o)

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Dave and I alternate which family we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with each year. This year we were scheduled to spend Christmas with Dave's family. So the Draman family Christmas was scheduled for December 20th.

This year the Draman family Christmas was going to be at Dave and my house. We were really excited!

In preparation for the Christmas feast, I kidnapped my grandmas for the three or so days before to help in making Christmas goodies, appetizers, and parts of the meal. I had such a good time. I think my kitchen was used more in those three days than in the entire time we have lived here. Now after two trys at divinity I think a know what the "hard ball" stage is. My grandmas are troopers. They had to have been exhausted, I know I was, but they kept coming back for more. Here are some shots of my Grandma Draman, my mom, and my Taste Testers.

I also took some shots of the goodies we made. Don't they look yummy!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Persimin Cookies (not sure on the spelling)

First and second trys at Divinity

Mexican Wedding Cookies

And More...

After sampling all of the different cookies, fudge, peppermint bark, etc. my favorite had to be the Mexican Wedding Cookies. Num Yummy! :o)

The Christmas celebrations have begun!

Every other year Dave and I alternate spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with each others family. This year we are spending Christmas with Dave's family. Because my mom still wanted to celebrate Christmas with us we decided to have the Draman Family Christmas on the 20th.

So the plan was for my family to go up to Dave's family's cabin in truckee to celebrate the Draman Family Christmas on December 20th. I thought it would be so much fun to go up and decorate a Christmas tree, play games, watch Christmas movies, bake cookies...you know all the Christmasy stuff. Unfortunately, Jen and Anthony couldn't go because of a couple of cake orders. Darn it!

Anyway, Mom thought that just because we were not going up to the cabin didn't mean that we couldn't still do some of those Christmasy things here at home. So this week starts all of our Christmasy activities. Last night was the start. Mom, Dad, Grandma Draman, Jen, Anthony, and Caeden came over for dinner. Mexican Food! After dinner we watched Elf while eating popcorn and sipping on hot chocolate. It was lots of fun!

We took this picture of Payton while we were making dinner. We gave her an orange to play with while we were getting dinner ready. She is so cute!

The Park

I have been trying to think of new and stimulating things for Payton and I to do. This week while on a walk with my friend Jessica we decided to go hang out at the park for a little while. To my suprise Payton loved it. I thought she wouldn't be big enough to do anything but that wasn't the case at all.

The first time we went to the park (El Roble) she loved the swing. I should have thought ahead and given her a little more rest time between nursing and swinging...Fortunately she threw up on the back swing so the throw up hit the ground instead of going down her front. :o)

She also enjoyed the slide.

The second time we went to the park (Oak Commons) she loved playing with the colored wheels. She stood and turned them round and round for about 15 minutes. It is so much fun watching her learn and explore.

I want to try and get outside with Payton more. I will just have to find fun things to do in the rain.