Early Christmas with Grandmom Maron and Pop pop Steve

 I know, I don't publish any posts for a month and then do three in one day.  I finally had the chance to catch up a little bit today and decided to sieze the moment!  Mom and dad and Cathy came out for my graduation  and to celebrate Christmas with us a few weeks early.  We had such a wonderful time and it went by too fast, as usual.  Some get togethers we don't have much going on but this one was the exact opposite.  We never stopped!  My graduation was on Friday and then on Saturday we went to Georgetown CO to ride the Santa Christmas Train followed by lunch at Cathy's (and my) favorite CO pizza place, Beau Jo's and then to Boulder for a graduation get together at my advisors house and a night out in Boulder.   Elizabeth and Andrew really loved the Christmas train and getting to see Santa. Elizabeth asked Santa for a lady bug pillow pet and new brown socks for Uncle Ben (because his have holes in them).  And Elizabeth and Andrew even got bells from Santa's reindeer to ring on Christmas Eve.

On Sunday, mom, Elizabeth and me went to the long awaited Nutcracker ballet.  Elizabeth has been talking about going to the Nutcracker for two months now and we've been reading the book almost daily.  The actual experience did not disappoint.  She absolutely loved it!  She was totally enthralled the entire time.  We were seated in the front row of the balcony and Elizabeth was able to stand up and watch.  It was adorable because at first she kept asking me, "mommy, where is the nutcracker?"  And then when the nutcracker finally arrived on stage, he precious face was priceless. And she loved clapping at the end of each act and announcing who all the characters were.   Mom and I had more fun watching Elizabeth watch the Nutcracker than anything.  And it was so special being able to go with my mom.  She and I went almost every year when I was growing up.  We have not gone since my senior year in high school and it brought back so many wonderful memories.  Thanks mom for joining us for a wonderful Christmas tradition!

Andrew could not look any cuter in his little snow suit.  He waddled around and would fall down and not be able to get back up.  He looked so cute that people were actually stopping to take his picture.

Kate's graduation

I had my official graduation ceremony this past weekend!  It was so wonderful that my mom and dad and Cathy could join us for the special day.  The festivities started at 7:30 am with breakfast and a hooding ceremony followed by the graduation ceremony at 9:30.  I'm mentioning all the times as my family always gives us a hard time for starting everything so early in he morning (for starters, we go to church on Sundays at 7:15 am) but this time we could not help it!  And of course immeasurable gratitude goes out to my wonderful husband.  I could not have made it through without his love and support.  I think he is just as happy as I am that I'm finally done!

I tried to play off the robe and hat with Elizabeth, saying that mommy was playing dress up.  It did not work very well, making it difficult to get a good picture with my kiddos.  But I guess that I really like this picture as it shows how things usually are in our house.  A perfect picture would be boring.  

Andrew's 1st Birthday

Our little boy is one! Andrew is such a wonderful little boy filled with so much love.   Elizabeth was more excited for Andrew's first birthday than he was, but he did have fun with the balloons and streamers.  Elizabeth's favorite was decorating the train cake (and sampling the icing every chance she could get)!   Andrew's favorite game right now is peek a boo.  He loves to play, hiding behind the door.

 Andrew actually did like wearing his hat around, despite the look on his face.

And our buddy Gregario has not made the blog in a long time.  He is still doing great (I think he's about 12-13 years old now) although does not get around like his younger years.  He has some arthritis in his back hips so running is a thing of the past for our old boy.  Andrew and Elizabeth love him to death.  Andrew is always trying to pet him.  Gregario is much more tolerant with Andrew than he ever was with Elizabeth at this age and just sits there and lets Andrew pet him.  He does a good job and really does not try to pull Gregario's fur.

The park behind our house is the best.  It is so perfect for young kids.  It has a little path around it that Elizabeth rides her tricycle and Andrew attempts to keep up with his push walker (until he gets distracted by a pine cone or a leaf that seems interesting to pick up).  I've tried to get Elizabeth to go on ahead of us and lap us but she likes to wait for her little brother and will constantly encourage him in such a loving way.  Elizabeth is a natural leader, whether it is with her brother or with her friends at school.  It is really amazing to watch as I've always debated in my own mind whether leadership is a born or learned trait but with Elizabeth it is definitely a gift.  Jan was picking Elizabeth up from school the other day.  Elizabeth was selected by her teachers to be the class leader for recess.  She had to pick the kids that were quiet to then go stand in line to go outside.  Elizabeth was so excited.  She went over to the teachers chair and sat down and then told the kids that she would select them when they were quiet.  She looked around and made gentle comments to some of the kids and then would quietly say each kids name and they would go line up at the door.  She was amazingly commanding the class with just a whisper.  What a beautiful lesson and reminder for me too.

And yes, baby doll still comes with us almost everywhere.