Family Visit & Merry Christmas

Our annual winter visit from Badamma, Auntie Raji, and Uncle Josh delivered big on fun and family time! We love you guys!

Making cookies for Santa

Note Mommy and Daddy on the tree too - represented with the angel and Belf our elf :)

Iyer five ready for Christmas Eve Mass

What a blessing to have our family here.

Our new pajamas on Christmas Eve tradition.  Riley picked out all the pj's for the adults and said the animal print was the most perfect pair ever for Badamma! :)
Ken, Meg, Mesh, Riley, Radha
Ben, Nate, Josh, Raji

3 Iyer beauties

Belf's note on Christmas Eve morning, he headed back home to the North Pole with Santa on Christmas Eve night.

Nate following along to the songs at church 

Skating on Christmas day.

Salish Lodge brunch on the 26th...yeah you see me wrangling Ben, he didn't really care to sit at the fancy brunch.

We are leaving diapers behind in 2012!!  Woot woot! We dedicated the break from school to potty training Ben.  He's had a few days without accidents and there is no turning back now! Our kids are so close in age that we've been changing diapers for 6 1/2 years straight so this is truly the end of an era, but a happy transition to life with three big kids! I really thought I might cry like I did when we took the crib down, but I'm good with this. :)

School Break!

The kids and I have been out of school/work since Tuesday and we are enjoying our time off, mostly staying home and relaxing but also getting out and about for some fun.  Badamma, Auntie Raji, and Uncle Josh will be joining us tomorrow...we can't wait!

On Monday I was scheduled to volunteer in Riley's class but her school was closed due to a power outage so we had a fun girls day - mani/pedis at 9AM, relaxing at a bookstore, Christmas shopping, and meeting up with our friends Isabella and her mom for lunch!

Lots of fort building!

 We celebrated Christmas with our dear Peps friends, the mom's group that has been meeting since Nate was just 4 months old.  There are too many kids to meet at a house so we now celebrate at the bounce house, though we did end up inviting over all that could make it for pizza afterwards to keep the party going!

Christmas ships on the Kirkland waterfront...I am one lucky mama.

Christmas Season

The month is half over and it's time for a blog update!

Looking for the perfect tree.

Snowflake Lane under cover...

and in the rain.

Christmas jammies from Noni.

Riley and Olivia at their gymnastics performance.

Nate doesn't hide how he feels about waiting in line to see Santa. ;)

All smiles for good ole' St. Nick!

brothers

Bellevue Botanical Gardens with the Roses.

Belf the elf was playing tricks on us!

We tracked down Santa in the neighborhood!

We had a few snow flurries and the kids got a bit ahead of themselves in their excitement. It didn't stick but we are prepared!

 And yes, this evening Nate, Ri and I went out to see the Santa firetruck again.  It was way past their bedtime and I was just about to tuck them in but there is always time for the magic of Christmas. 

I don't feel right posting without mentioning our heartbreak, everyone's hearbreak, over the horrific, tragic event in Connecticut yesterday.  We are praying for the families and their unbearable loss and we feel compelled to do more.  There are many discussions going on about gun control, mental health funding, and increasing support systems in schools and we hope to continue those discussions and work with others to take action.  

November Catch Up

Some of our other November moments:

Election night - Nate loved coloring in the electoral college map as the results came in.

We celebrated Benny Ben's half birthday. 2 1/2 years old, time flies!

Nate was awarded a yellow belt!

I went on the computer one night and found this - Nate had googled it.  What a privilege it is to be a mom and witness these sweet days of childhood.

Peeking in on Nate as we wait for him to get out of school:

 Nate lost his first tooth the day after Thanksgiving. The tooth fairy delivers big time for the first tooth! :)

Nate and Mesh had their first Y Guides event - the pineblock derby!

Our sweet little guy!

A VERY Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so very thankful that we got to spend Thanksgiving with all the Kieffer cousins together.  It is amazing and so touching to see how much my children love my brothers' children. They laughed, played and made some awesome memories to cherish.  Thank you Andy, Val, Sadie, Joey, Sabrina, Cameron and Colin for spending the holiday with us.  We are blessed!

Colin-2, Cameron-4, Riley-4, Sadie-4, Nate-6, Ben-2

So fun to have girls the same age!

Cousin hug!

Nate had school on Wednesday so Andy and Gramps went and had lunch with the first graders. :)

buds

Ben and Colin - the two year old cuties!

The Kieffer kids: Joey-35, Meg-34, Andy-37 :)

Happy Thanksgiving!