Archive for ◊ 2008 ◊

Dec. 27: After doing my quick Christmas morning post, I’ve been away from my laptop for a couple days.  I’ve just sat down and sorted the photos from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the 26th.  Christmas Eve we spent here at my house.  My siblings, their sig-oths, and Dad came over, and we had rib roast, Yorkshire pudding, and a heap load of side dishes.  It was a lovely evening.  Everyone helped, either with childcare or cooking or cleaning.  Then we had a nice Christmas morning here with our little family.  Around noon on the 25th, we headed over to my Dad’s house for the day.  My dad’s brother Scott, and his wife, Marcia came up from Chicago to join us, and we all made a huge fondue meal.  It was a lot of fun.  The Zilics were in Chicago for the day, so we missed them, but it was a fun Christmas. 
Pictures are in the gallery from Christmas Eve (and a couple days before), Christmas Day, and December 26th.  Enjoy!

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Dec. 27: We’ve had such a great time these last couple days seeing friends!  Bryan and I are currently crashed on the sofa after Fondue Part Deux. 
On the 26th, Anne & Owen and Heather stopped over for a visit.  We all had a fun time catching up and indulging in the wonderful hot chocolate from Aunt Kate.  Maretta and I went shopping in the afternoon for a work-blazer.  We had lots of success at Macy’s.  It was one of the first times in recent memory that I was shopping without any children.  It was a delightful afternoon!

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Dec. 25:  We had a lovely Christmas morning here in the Dotzour house. Sylvia is currently dressed up in an adorable dress, and she’s crawling around the room with her new doll from Granny and Grandad.
Last night, my family came over for a feast, some singing, a bit of present opening, and a lengthy game of Christmas poker.  Between going to bed past midnight, getting up three times with Sylvia, and having Andrew come in at 6:30 (as per normal), I’m less than bubbling over with energy right now.  But it’s a good, mellow kind of feeling.
Andrew had no idea that he was getting more presents this morning.  However, he quickly became a speed-demon present-opener.  Sylvia doesn’t get the ripping paper thing yet.  However, she loves to maw down on bows:)
The big present of the day is a kitchen for the kids.  I LOVE it.  They love it.  We’re going to have some fun!
Photos from our morning are in the gallery.

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Dec. 23: Thanks so much to everyone who gave me feedback on this year’s photo for my holiday cards.  I was pretty happy with split-screen result.  Life is just too chaotic to depict it as serene:)
What follows is my 2008 Christmas card letter.  Merry Christmas to all!

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Dec. 22: We’ve been doing a lot of fun things to get ready for Christmas.  Our refrigerator is covered with containers of cookies and candies.  The tree is filling our living room with pretty lights.  Last week we had our neighbors over for our annual cookie exchange.  A couple weeks ago, we went to Olbrich Gardens with my dad to see the holiday trains.  On Sunday, my dad took me and Andrew to A Christmas Carol.  It was Andrew’s first play (or movie for that matter), and he did wonderfully.  He wore his tie and looked adorable.  What a fun afternoon we all had! Photos of some of our holiday preparations are in the gallery!

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Dec. 22: Last week, Andrew packed up some of his animals in his lunchbox and requested that Bryan take them with him to work. To our delight, we got a report mid-day on how Andrew’s animals were enjoying work at OpGen. It seems that all got straight to business. See photos here!
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Dec. 21: I’ve gotten behind on taking and uploading photos.  I blame Christmas.  And reading Eragon.  And Syliva not sleeping so well.
However, I believe that the situation has been rectified.  There are now many photos in the gallery for perusal.  Lots of playing in the snow pics.  Lots of Sylvia-being-cute pics.  Even a couple friendly dog pics.  Enjoy!

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Dec. 21: We’ve had a lot of snow here the last several days.  Our sweet neighbors again dug us out on Friday.  Bryan’s office closed due to the storm, so we had a long weekend home together. 
Joe was supposed to fly home tonight, but unfortunately, the weather out East has been terrible.  His flight was canceled, and he won’t be able to get home until Tuesday.  Instead of flying from Portland to Madison, he’ll be flying Boston to Milwaukee.  We’re sad that he’ll be away from home for a couple extra days.  We were all looking forward to seeing our dear Uncle Joe.
Today, Andrew learned how to read -2 degrees on our thermometer.  And it’s windy too!  Check out a video of Andrew, Alivia, and Sylvia for some fun in the snow.

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