Holiday season - a flurry of activity

December is always a blur looking back.  So much anticipation and so much to do for that Christmas Day.  Here is how the Jensen Family spent our December getting ready and celebrating Christmas this year.

Decorating the tree - tis the season - and even those with height challenges, no matter their age get some free help.  Here you Noodle, I'll lift you up to the top of the tree!

Mixing cookies with Grandma.

Decorating cookies....clearly a couple amateurs.

Let the pros do some decorating!

The Fire and Ice Parade!  The first time they had big inflatables....when did we get to NYC....feels like the Macy's Parade....big leagues!

Staying warm at the Parade with the Thatchers.

Christmas Day at the Ossman house.

Does Nora look excited?

It's mistletoe, Alena, pucker up!

Gift opening at the Jensen house - looks like Santa was happy here!

Matching outfits made by Grandma....just for this one photo op.

November

First snow at the new house

Little wallpaper stipping helpers

Jones doesn't seem bothered by anything

The girls have enjoyed wearing their underwear on their heads for quite some time

We went to Mall of America with the Minnesota cousins.  They replaced me with this Lego person that looked a little like me.

Daddy took the wooden sash down from above the kitchen window after our Thanksgiving meal.

Halloween

We went trick or treating at the Cahalans' house this year.  Alena was a cheetah, Nora a purple kitty (she chose her own fabric and pattern), and the Cahalan girls were all Elsa from Frozen.  Nora was the most eager of the kids and she ran from house to house.  They got quite the haul.

Alena designed and carved her own pumpkin this year.  She did a great job!  It took some effort to convince Nora to stick her hand in to scoop out the guts.

Alena's Birthday

On Alena's birthday she had her friend Maya over to play.  The next day was Sunday and we had a party with the family.  Alena is still in love with cheetahs.  She received a giant cheetah from Grandma Dee.  She saw it in a toy store, and Grandma picked up on the very subtle hints.  She loves it!  Grandma Diane sewed her a cheetah jacket which is very styling.  We gave her a new bike, and Aunt Melissa refinished a desk for Alena to put in her room.  Now the cheetah (Seetah) has to sleep in Alena's bed.  Seetah gets more room than Alena.

The big move

We moved into our new house on October 10th.  Thanks to Jeff and Juston, along with the help of families, we moved in pretty quickly.  Alena liked playing around the waterfall.

School is just under a mile walk.  On the way home we stopped at Bever Park to play.  The girls wanted to pose in the new Bocce court.

I needed to escape the stress of the move, so we went back to Marr Park for a camping trip.  They had the Halloween hike with jack o lanterns and luminaries set up all around the lake's trail.  Grandpa offered to sleep with Nora.  She was so wound up she refused to settle down, even though she was tired.  She left his side of the camper and then we didn't hear her.  She wasn't on our side and she wasn't on Grandpa's.  We were really confused when Daddy located her sitting against a sleeping bag, sound asleep.  The next morning we found her wedged up in the corner.

Ta Da! with Grandpa.

The girls show off the new kitchen.

We have a great new climbing tree.  Uncle Andrew had to show off his climbing skills while Lucie and Nora played in a leaf pile.

Camp Wapsie

When Daddy was young, he was in a YMCA group with his dad called Indian Guides.  Now it is called Adventure Guides, and Alena and Daddy joined along with Tillie and Uncle Andrew.  There was a campout at Camp Wapsie.  There were a lot of fun activities, and Alena did a great job of participating.  There was a pumpkin carving contest, tug of war, bingo, a scavenger hunt, and a campfire.  Her favorite activity was using a stick to pull algae out of the lake.  It was a cold weekend, but the cabins were nice and toasty. 

September

Alena and Nora like to make a pillow pile to watch tv in.

We went to the Kernels' baseball game.

When we were in Wisconsin we visited Kirstin.  We went to a restaurant where the waitresses brought food on roller skates.  The girls decided to recreated the experience at home.  I got to relax in the shade while they prepared and delivered food to me.

Nora's favorite color right now is...Pink!  Grandpa Ed gave her an ear of field corn and she loved it so much she had to sleep with it, even after we got home.

Grandma Diane made Alena a cheetah costume for Halloween.  She likes to wear it often.  Maya came over to play and Alena shared the head with her.  Alena's love of cheetahs began this summer.  She saw The Lion King and loved it.  She pretended to be Simba for awhile.  I checked out a movie at the library about a real lion and a real cheetah.  She decided after the movie that she preferred cheetahs and gave up on lions.