Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Christmas eve we spent the night with the minten side of the family.  before we left the kids sat by the tree for a picture.


 

great grandma minten with baby grey.

 


lilly and max playing with the new train set at grandma and grandpa elricks.

the family gathering around the food!

more food.

lilly's gift from great grandma minten:)

max reading the card great aunt jenny made for the family:)

grandma elrick holding baby grey.

 

max opening his present from great grandma minten.



a car... he loves it!



jenny, max, annie, ashley, and baby grey.  this picture was really funny because max would climb down and then back up and wedge himself right between jenny and annie and look back and forth at the two of them! (writing it down doesn't seem to show the true humor...but, it was hilarious!)



cousin ashley and annie were very smart at the end of the night they sent lilly around with a tip jar while they played the piano... lilly's cut was three dollars! big bucks for a three year old:)

max on Christmas morning, we got a late start because the kids slept in to 8:30.

max's big gift from santa.

lilly got a leapster explorer that she loves.

baby grey got diapers from santa oh, and a pillow pet.

lilly and max had such a good time opening their presents, they were so sweet and took turns and shared all of the things they got... it was a great Christmas morning.



max and the family gift from santa.




baby grey exploring his newly found fingers!

for the last few years we have been picking names on the elrick side of the family.   big cousin riley picked greys name and she came up with this gift all on her own.  she made a book off of shutterfly for him!  every page has a different cousin on it and it tells what their favorite color is. i think this might be my favorite gift the kids got.

max and his great big smile for the camera.

lilly and her new princes costume.



aunt dana and uncle adam giving lilly a big kiss.



max got a tun of animals from aunt jess and uncle ben!



grandpa elrick and baby grey.

 

grandpa pingel and max:)



lilly showing of her gift she got:)



a few of the pingel cousins.



max and his new mickey mouse!



baby grey and his new finger puppets:)

we had a wonderful Christmas with our family:)

Merry Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from the Pingel family

streets of Bethlehem.

last friday night nick, lilly, max, baby grey, aunt mel, jacqui, jake, and myself walked the streets of Bethlehem. it was a really neat experience for all of us.
this advertisement explains it perfectly,

As you enter you will travel back in time to 3AD and experience the sights, sounds and smells of a busy street in Bethlehem the night Christ was born. Your family and friends can actually walk though a live drama and interact with people who lived in Bethlehem. Realistic dwellings, a quick taste of village life, live animals, Messianic dancing, Roman guards and a most important, a visit to see the new born Savior, Jesus. Visit the Streets of Bethlehem and create special memories this Christmas for the whole family.

the streets of Bethlehem is put on by a local church, i suggest if you live around here you go next year:)

max and aunt mel waiting in line:) i know that i mentioned before, but max is the biggest ham around a camera... on a side note he had a dr. appointment today and he was not a happyboy, he wouldn't even look at her until she took out her ear checking thing with the light in it, he then gave her the biggest smile he could make... i think he thought it was a camera:)
jake, jacqui, lilly and max. before we were able to walk the street(that is all inside.) we all had a short movie to watch about baby Jesus and his birth. when you first walk in you are greeted by the three wise men and this sweet baby camel.
people asking us where we were traveling from, and how many days it took to get to see the new king... the baby Jesus.
at the start when we were waiting in line they passed out coins, we were able to buy things on the streets of Bethlehem. lilly bought a bracelet for three coins... it was a little like the farmers market the things were more expensive at the beginning then at the end:)
lilly and max petting a tiny miniature pony:)people were dancing to music under a huge tent. a girl passed out instruments to play,

the kids loved it.

people were washing clothes and weaving baskets in the river.

at the end of the night i went back to look at the pictures i took and this one was in it. i have no clue how or why it was taken like this i didn't do anything different with my camera, i just thought i should share it:)

the kids petting rabbits.

you were able to buy food with the coins you were given, max really enjoyed the dried cranberries.

nick took a picture of me and baby grey... just so we remember we were there:)

max and lilly petting the donkey.

jake and jacqui smiling for the nicest picture:)

max wasn't up for one more picture and lilly didn't care to smile:)

that was our trip down the streets of Bethlehem:)

wordless wednesday.

friday to sunday:)

friday morning we went over to grandma mintens for a visit.

max and great aunt jenny, max is getting really good at smiling for the camera:)
lilly, great grandma minten, and baby grey.
we were home by lunch time and spent the rest of the day in the house. on saturday we had our monthly DS gathering at the mom and pop place, it's a cafe that also has a toy store on the other side. it's a great place to meet because they have an area for the kids to play all the different toys they sell.

we got there an hour late because there was the first snowfall here and the roads were a little slippery, but not to bad... oh, and we woke up late, i would have to say now that i think of it was more about the waking up late then it was because of the roads. so we get there and not one other person was there! not anyone from the group or any other family just there to get coffee.

we did miss our friends,

but it was really fun for max and lilly to have the whole toy area to themselves.

this is the loudest toy they had there, it is a little wooden alligator that snaps different pieces together as you pull it. lilly loved it and ran it all over the store:) the lady working there mentioned maybe we should get one for her...all i could say was "no way!"

max loved playing with the train set:)

we stayed for about an hour or so, then headed home.

max fell asleep on the way home and took an early nap, lilly played outside with her dad while he shoveled. they built the first snowman on the block... we didn't have a carrot for his nose so it's a piece of asparagus!

great aunt lynn was home from milwaukee and stopped over to say hi and give the kids their annual singing Christmas cards:) and they love them.
lilly and baby grey sunday morning on the couch.

we are snowed in, it's a blizzard out there this morning! we plan to stay in the house and drink hot chocolate and play games.

saint nick.

saint nick came this last week, and brought a few new toys and a new movie for the kids! we didn't yet see the princess frog, and we were lucky enough that was what he brought for baby grey. that night we watched it and i can say it is a wonderful disney movie, right up there with beauty and the beast. it had a great story line and really good songs.

it was strange to see five stocking hanging up on the fire place this year... our family of five didn't seem like a big family until i saw the amount in stockings.... five, wow:)
max and lilly laid down on the floor and watched the whole thing(first time)! baby grey didn't think it was that interesting, he dozed off a few times throughout the movie.

it's been awhile since we had a family movie night.... after every time i think we should do them more often. maybe i should put it on the calender and then it would actually be done:)

wordless wednesday.

lilly and santa's list.

lilly and i were sitting at our kitchen counter yesterday looking at an american girl catalog when she came across a page with her doll kit (who she calls little lilly because it looks a lot like her:)) on it. kit was in her pj's sitting on her bed. i always thought that would be a great gift for santa to get her so for the past few months i been saying to lilly wouldn't it be great if little lilly had her very own bed to sleep on. then this is how our conversation went.

lilly: "mom look, look a bed for my lilly!"

me: "oh, yeah look at that."

lilly: "we should ask santa for a bed for lilly."

me: "that's a great idea" (so i got out her list we have been writing to santa and as i wrote it i said it out load... "a bed for lilly.")

lilly then sat there quiet for a second just looking at me.

lilly: "mom, maybe we should put down a bed for little lilly so santa doesn't bring me a new bed."

me: "good thinking lilly."

lilly holding baby grey.

wordless wednesday