December 2009

What would Christmas be like without a visit to Santa?? When Claire was Aspen's current age, she would have nothing to do with Santa, but Aspen and Santa are apparently tight....she kept going back to him over and over....
We had lots more family visitors this month, Grandma and Grandpa got to come visit!!
(Aspen did not want to stop playing to sit still for this photo...) One day they even got to go with Claire on her school field trip to the art museum and they went to school to eat lunch one day with her another school day. Here is a photo of Claire and her 4th grade teacher whom she loves.
There was lots to do while Grandma and Grandpa were here and we tried to do it all! We took them driving to see Christmas lights and to the church creche display (this creche was Claire's favorite) and the church Christmas play (where Claire was an angel). Grandpa read to Aspen a lot which she loved! Shortly after our visitors left, Brenda and Claire got to attend a concert in an arena filled with thousands of pre-teen girls screaming.....

Then there was that mischievous elf of Claire's...she puts him on the mantle every night in the month of December, and you never know where you'll find him come morning. Here are just a few examples. I am glad I finally had a chance to sit down and update the blog site...we are running at break neck speed it seems!

Christmas Eve was fun with friends that came over for dinner. Claire was so excited she could hardly stand going to bed in anticipation of Christmas Day!
Christmas morning came far too slow for her, but at last it was here and what a fun, fabulous day as a family!! Aspen enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper and playing with her new toys.
Gma and Gpa gave the girls a larger than life stuffed Teddy Bear!!!
Another Grandma sewed Claire a cute little purse

Some friends gave Claire 2 dwarf frogs, which she was thrilled about as she LOVES frogs! Claire was so excited to get a gift certificate in her stocking to go and get her ears pierced!! She has been wanting to do it for a long time but was too fearful of the pain involved....but she obviously got over that! Claire got her ears pierces at "Claire's" jewelry store, quite fitting!
She chose amethyst earrings as they are her February birthstone. She was so brave she didn't even flinch. She wanted me to put the video on here so you can see how brave she was...

Claire and Aspen love to play and sing together, here is Aspen's favorite song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", sung by both girls.
Here is a video of Claire at a piano recital, it was actually a couple months ago, but it is easier to add it here while I am working on this entry...

This brings us to the conclusion of 2009...and on to new adventures in 2010!!! We wish all our friends and family the very best and hope that this can be a happy and healthy year full of learning experiences that make us all stronger and wiser :-)
Much love from David, Brenda, Claire and Aspen