Oden Adventures

December was mostly filled - of course - with getting ready for Christmas!  We started out the month, having hung & filled the stocking "advent calendar" that Grandma G. sent for the kids last year, by beginning the countdown to Christmas Day.

Below, one of Vianne's developing self-expressions:  the angry/frustrated face + double fist clench/shake.

Grandma sent her little wagon, much to Oliver's delight

The I Love You sign is trickier than it looks!  This took an adorable amount of effort.

Grampa visited early in the month

Vianne tried out a hair bow...

...while Oliver tried out rain boots.

We got our first Sacramento Christmas tree - fresh from...Oregon!

The kids were enchanted with the whole tree process!

Vianne had her first performing experience at church and, naturally, took center stage.  I don't think her class had actually learned the songs, but they were still cute!

Couple of Cuties

Vianne was promoted this year from Gingerbread Taste Tester to Imperial Placer.  She did a great job!

Oliver enjoyed his first year as a Taste Tester!

The Gingerbread Brigade!  Another year, another kitchen...same cookies!

We also made star-shaped sugar cookies but I forgot to take pictures of the finished product.  I used a new recipe this year from the Mrs. Field's website and they were amazing!  This is Oliver "helping"...

Drawing some pictures

The tree with everything on it!

We still need a topper for our tree, but we finally got a tree skirt this year!

Stuffed nativity from my childhood :-)

One of the highlights of the Christmas season was a movie night party at with the community from Sanctuary Covenant Church in downtown Sacramento.  The people welcomed us right in like we were old friends and both kids jumped right into the fun and had the time of their lives!  Our sugar cookies even won an award. (I told you the recipe was amazing!) :-D

Vianne helped me make toffee - my first time!  It turned out really well and I think I probably ate 2/3 of the pan myself over the next couple weeks.

More treats we made: microwave caramel corn...

 ...Daddy's traditional peppermint ice cream...

...and banana bread (it was a highly caloric holiday, needless to say).

A lot of fun stuff out for Christmas to do silly things with!

It seems I forgot to take pictures on Christmas Eve...I have this one of Granma & Vianne before heading to our church's evening service...

...and these of the tree & filled stocking just before bed.

Then we skip ahead to our quiet New Year's Eve...put the kids to bed and enjoyed a cozy evening at home with some smoked salmon, camembert, and a few of our favorite people, and by people I mean The Avengers.