An Afternoon at the Ballet

Emma and I continued our tradition of going to the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. This year Aimee and Claire joined us and we had a wonderful day in Seattle! Emma has conquered her fear of the giant Mouse King that creeps onto the stage during the big fight scene. She told me, "It's just a cardboard mouse, Mom :)"

Celebrating The Holidays With Friends

On Saturday the Warthen's hosted their annual party and Holiday Boat Parade put on by the Bremerton Yacht Club. Our camera didn't make it out of the house, but there was a long line of festive boats and Santa gave each one of us a personal greeting has he sailed by!

I think we might need a bigger kids' table for this gang!Camden and his buddies, Logan & Hunter
We're so lucky to have great friends like Louie and Heather!

Bring on the presents! :)Chris and I celebrated our 9 year engagement anniversary on Saturday!

Hooray for Winter Break!

Ahhhhhhh, after a wild and crazy week, Winter Break has arrived! We spent the morning making cookies and playing games-I can't think of a better way to start a vacation! :)

New Roles

Last night we officially became Uncle Chris and Aunt Vanessa! Coleton Miles Kasparek is our handsome nephew and we couldn't be happier for Tim and Lori! Emma and Camden have been anxiously waiting for their first cousin and I think Camden's quote on this picture captures it best: Ohhhhh a cute baby!

Christmas Carols

These cute little carolers might not be singing at your doorstep, but here's a little holiday cheer from Camden and Emma. Camden's "go to song" is Oh Christmas Tree and Emma's been practicing Silent Night for her Christmas Eve performance at church.

THE LIGHTS! ('09 edition)

The master light man made us proud yet again and we are some tough competition to the rest of the Twelve Oaks community for best house! In celebration of the season (and Chris's hard work) we hosted a wonderful party Saturday evening. We had a small crowd this year, but still enjoyed lots of good eats and laughs! Alison and Camden enjoying dinner
Such a gentleman already! Logan offered to keep Claire warm outside. Drum roll please...

The Three Musketeers

The Kasparek, Warthen, and Bugenig Sensational Six!

Tree Trimmin' '09

The star on our Advent Calendar moved to 23 today, so it was definitely time to get our Christmas Tree! We headed to the tree lot this evening and picked out a real beauty (too small in Chris's eyes, but it didn't require both of us shoving it through the front door like last year's tree!)

Last night I unboxed and unwrapped all the ornaments. Emma and Camden snacked on popcorn and watched diligently as we talked about where each ornament came from and who it was given to. Emma and Camden love their First Christmas ornaments and I am excited to see my growing Snoopy collection each year.

There is a pair of fragile gingerbread people in an old tattered box that I get out each year just to smell. They are from Avon circa 1985 and hung on the Seaward family Christmas tree for years. The smell of those ornaments brings back so many holiday memories. I hope that the smell stays with those ornaments forever.

As for Christmas 2009, here are some memories we made tonight...