Christmas Day

Nothing more special than seeing the wonder and excitement of Christmas morning! Santa was very good to all of us!

Erika checking out her stocking.

Marilynn tearing into her presents.

Erika was so cute - she was so careful in opening each one of her presents and playing with it fully before moving onto the next one. She opened about 8 presents over the course of 8 hours.

Test driving the Marilynn's new scooter and Erika's new bike on Christmas morning. Erika sped past Marilynn in no time on her bike. She even fell off of it, but then got right back on. Thanks, Maw-Maw!

Twas The Day Before Christmas . . .

I started out Christmas Eve. with a nice walk with my dad, brother and sister-in-law along the Dungeness River while Ken and the kids stayed back at the house with my mom.

We started the Christmas Eve. evening festivities with some cocktails and juice and the girls felt very grown up in their pretty dresses!

Caitlin's first Christmas with the Nilsen clan!

Cheers to all!

Reading the Christmas Story before opening presents.

After presents, we had a yummy dinner and did the traditional chocolate pudding. The person who finds a nut in their pudding wins the marzipan pig! And, Caitlin was the winner!

Merry Christmas to all!

La Conner

On our way back home from Birch Bay we stopped in a little sleepy town called La Conner for a little lunch by the water and a little window shopping.


Marilynn dancing with Santa.


Erika realizing that a tree trunk is far bigger than she is.

Birch Bay

We took a little weekend trip to Birch Bay - known as the bird watching capital of the Northwest. We didn't see any birds, but we certainly threw lots of rocks into the water!

Extra! Extra! Read All About Us!

Thanks to this lovely blog, the Mills Family has officially hit big time. Check out this article in the local newspaper about our recent Christmas tree hunt: www.issaquahpress.com/2010/12/14/christmas-tree-hunt-offers-old-time-cheer/

Gingerbread party

We hosted our first gingerbread party today! We started off with a kid-friendly lunch (PB&J sandwiches in the shape of gingerbread men (and women), star-shaped pizzas, fruit, veggies and cheese and crackers). From there, we went into the straight into the sugar rush with dozens of kinds of candies (okay, I went overboard on the candy) and everyone getting their own gingerbread house to decorate and take home with them.

Marilynn invited two of her friends from school and the Collins kids to the party. She was the perfect hostess!

Marilynn got just about every kind of candy on the roof of her house.

Rocking Around The Christmas Tree

The girls had so much fun putting up the Christmas tree.

Marilynn got the honor of putting the star on top of the tree.

The girls put a second, smaller tree up in Marilynn's room.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Cornerstones Christmas Party

We hosted a Christmas Party with our church group and had a great time with 17 kiddos - all under the age of 7! Oh my.



Marilynn awaiting Santa's arrival to the party.



Here comes Santa Claus! He passed out presents to all of the good little boys and girls.

And, we made Christmas cookies for Santa.

More Christmas Tree Farm Pictures

A bag of Kettle Corn to share - yummy.


Bouncing around in the Bounce House.

Trains!

Christmas Tree Search Adventure

We got so inspired to chop down our own tree while we were in Sequim, that we decided to check out and see if there were any Christmas tree farms in our area. And, oh boy are there! Today we headed out to Trinity Tree Farm in Issaquah in search of the perfect tree for our house. This was no ordinary Christmas Tree lot - they had train rides, a bounce house, hot chocolate/cider, a fire pit, Santa visits, and just about everything else you could imagine. It was a great day to be outside!

First, Marilynn and Erika take a ride on the train all around the farm to find the best tree.


We found one!

Whoops. Changed our minds (that's what happens with 3 girls in a family). This one is better.

Daddy cut it down with the most non-sharp saw ever.

Me and my girls (in front of another tree).

Marilynn guarding our tree with great gusto.

Finally, tree is bought, put on the car, and now we can enjoy some kettle corn and hot chocolate by the fire. Such a great day! Tomorrow, we will decorate it!