O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Boxing day came and went for us. And I am sad to say that our little tree wasn't boxed safely and put away till next year. Instead, we felt that it had served it purpose (4 Christmas' of joy) and it is time to move on. Our tree stood at an impressive (or laughable) 18 inches... 24 inches with the star on top! It was a good tree, you can find almost anything at the Dollar Store.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Last night we ate Christmas Even Dinner at my in-laws house. My mother-in-law decided to make Chicken Puffs, a recipe made frequently in my own home. She and my father-in-law were pulled away for a few minutes to do Christmas Eve things, so I volunteered to finish making dinner. FYI-Chicken puffs are chicken chunks in a cream cheese filling stuffed inside a crescent roll (yum-yum). As I was working on dinner my nephew Broc, who is 3 1/2, asked what I was making. I tried to think of how to best explain it and finally came up with, "It's like
a corn dog but instead of a hot dog wiener inside, it's chicken ." He looked up at me proudly and exclaimed, "Oh, you're making Chicken Wieners!" Then he went around the house letting everyone know that Aunt Kate was making "Chicken Wieners" for dinner.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Josh had to work today but thankfully he only had to work a half day. We spent time hanging out together relaxing (something we don't always get to do) and trying to get Coleman excited for Christmas and Santa Claus coming tonight... he smiled but I don't think he really gets it :) We also made sure to read him his new book "The Story of Christmas" it's a great book that explains Christmas at a child's level. I love it, the end of the book says, Wise men came and saw Baby Jesus and brought him gifts because they loved him. We give gifts to show our love and say, "Happy Birthday Jesus!" It's so cute.

***

Tonight we are heading over to Grandpa and Grandma Keil's house to spend some family time and eat a delicious Christmas Eve Dinner. Grandpa has a tradition of reading a Christmas Book to the grandkids and we will probably decide what time we are all going over in the morning (definitely NOT too early).

We hope Santa visits you tonight and brings you lots of goodies!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all a good night!

Our Christmas Card

Merry Christmas!

-Love the Keil Family

I intended on printed and mailing out our annual Christmas card but completely lost track of time and never got around to doing it... thank goodness for blogging! Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Did you think to pray?

Today I attended a dress rehearsal for our ward choir. Our big Sacrament Meeting production (seriously, there are 3 soloists, 2 violins, 1 flute, a narrator and about 7 songs) is this Sunday so the director called an emergency practice at 1:00 pm.

After practice, Brother O'Morey asked me, "sister Keil, do you have a piano in your house?" Long story short: He GAVE me his piano! They bought it and their 3 boys don't play it and it was just sitting in their living room. I offered to pay him for it and he told me, "I've been praying about who should take it, so if you want it, bring your truck over today and pick it up." THANK YOU BROTHER O'MOREY!

Stats on my new piano:
Yamaha Clavinova
Electric piano (great because I can play with the headset on while Josh sits and watches whatever game is playing)
Comes with Microphone and adjustable volume (karaoke at my place)

He just can't wait till Christmas!

Coleman found the
Christmas Presents...


What are these?




Gifts for me?!?

PURE ELATION!!!

He opened up a few

And now they're out of reach. oh man!

Coleman is a good little climber and fortunately the step is just barely too high for him. Christmas better get here fast! I have a feeling he might get there in a week!

Dear Santa, I can explain...

We took Coleman to see Santa Claus. He was awesome! He smiled and talked to Santa for a few minutes and when we left Santa wished Coleman a Merry Christmas and gave him a coloring book. Coleman gave him a huge smile when we were leaving and Santa said, "Oh, I love you." It was precious coming from Santa... any other old man might have been creepy.

keeping up the tradition:

Coleman at about 5 weeks old. We laughed so hard when we compared the two photos! Coleman is sitting on the same side of Santa's lap, Santa is leaning/looking at the same angle, and it is even the same Santa (of course, why would there be more than 1 Santa Claus).

Keil Family Christmas Card Photo

With Tyler and Melissa both gone on Missions this year we decided to just use the Grandkids in the Christmas card. Really, who cares about adults? Everyone just wants to see them anyway!

Well, it turns out taking a picture of 4 little kids isn't as easy as it sounds. I completely gave up on Coleman and took this picture of Jennie's kids:

Then I found a few pictures of Coleman and using the "paint application" cropped him into their photo. Tricky huh?

I also completely changed Adia's head in the above photo! Can you tell?

So, what's the verdict? Does this pass as one happy family?

Deck the Halls

I spy with my little eye:

- 2 Stockings (sorry Coleman, I don't know what happened to yours)

- 1 single strand of green Christmas lights

- 1 Ball of Christmas Lights

- 1 BYU NutCracker

- 1 Christmas Tree (you may have to look close to find this one)

- 1 Christmas Star (hint: it is almost as big as the tree)

- 1 Festive "Happy Holidays" sign... Politically Correct of course!

- 1 Push and Ride Fisher Price Toy A gift for Coleman from Grandpa and Grandma James that he found early and absolutely LOVES... we don't have the heart to take it back!

- 1 Blue balloon left over from Coleman's 1st B-Day party

- 1 VERY curious and excited 1 year-old

A Typical December Night in the Keil House

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving in Moab

Coleman and I spent Thanksgiving visiting our Family in Moab. Unfortunately Josh had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so he couldn't make... but it was still great to spend time with my Mom, Sister, and her kids.

The James Gang Grandkids
Preston, Hallie, Coleman and Tatum (minus Gunner)

This was our first time meeting Preston.

He is adorable. The poor guy was sick the whole weekend but he was still so good.

Tiny Toes

Coleman and his cousin Preston

Coleman looked so big next to Preston... I was afraid he was going to try to eat him! He was very sweet around Preston, only once grabbing at him. I can't believe that it was a year ago that Coleman was that tiny! (well, Coleman was never THAT tiny. I think Preston is a few ounces smaller than Coleman was but close enough!)

It was so much fun to spend the weekend with my family. I really wish Josh could have been there but maybe he wouldn't have enjoyed "Girl Time" as much as I did :)