Shopping, Remodeling, Plays, Christmas and Vacation!

Let’s just say December was busy!

December started out getting ready for Christmas. The kids were excited to trim the tree and to decorate for Christmas. I was excited because I got a special gift for Nadya. Last year when we were decorating the tree I was sorting the ornaments and was handing the kids their “special” ornaments. They usually get a new one every year and usually end up making some sort of ornament as a project in school. It occurred to me that I kept handing Nadya the generic ornaments because she didn’t have as many as the others. Of course, though, she was in Russia for 8 years! It just didn’t occur to me prior to decorating the tree and she was so excited to be decorating a tree for the first time, that it didn’t even faze her. But, it did me. So, this summer when I went to Russia I found some hand painted Russian Ornaments and I bought her 8. One for every Christmas she spent in Russia. I gave them to her when we were decorating the tree and she now has just as many “special” ornaments as the rest of the kids. She really enjoyed putting them on the tree and we all enjoyed looking at them the entire month. Russia will always hold a special place in all of our hearts.

The boys had their Christmas program and did a fabulous job. Carter sang thru most of it and Alex sang every single song. Alex’s class also did a live production play of Jesus’ birth and Alex had the only speaking part. He was one of the Angels and told everybody of his good news. We practiced his line many times, “Wake up! I have good news!” and he nailed it! It was adorable.

Christmas was a hit in the Johnson house hold. Nadya got her skateboard, Hallie got her fairy stuff, Alex got his Robot and Video Game and Carter got his car that rolls over, (complete with rolling hands when he talks about it) and his very own “yeapster” (leapster) and hi ho cherrio. All of the kids got an X-Box 360 from Santa. We have been very anti-video games but apparently Santa felt they earned it. Alex was super excited as this is what he asked Santa for. I got a new camera, a Canon Rebel XSI and I LOVE IT! Finally, I can take pictures without a delay. Doug got a new watch that he was desperately in need of.

We packed up the day after Christmas and headed to San Diego for a week. We love the beach house and always enjoy this vacation. The kids enjoyed their time on the beach and although I thought it was cold, they played in the sand and in the water. We spent three days at Sea World and decided we didn’t want to fight the crowds at Disneyland this time. We did manage to visit Balboa Park and we all enjoyed wearing flip flops in January! On our way home, we spent the night in St. George and visited Carole and George in their gigantic Mansion that they call a home. We came home to find our basement all sheet rocked and mudded. It was amazing to see the transformation from dark to light! (PS. I am not leaving Hallie out. I already posted her pics for Joni a couple months ago.)