Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve

 

 Our tree this year... quite packed with ornaments. : )

 

Elfie's last visit. If you look closely, you will see that Juliana made him a little scarf. After he received this gift, the kid's started to call him: Elfie "Wild Child" Carmello.. as he started to get a little crazy with his landing spots.. such as landing upside from the chandeliers. He was quite the character. Nathan says that next time he has to draw a picture of our family, he would include "Elfie".

Until next year, Elfie....

Every Christmas Eve, we celebrate with our friend's Matt and Ellen and their kids. Here the kids are exchanging gifts. Every year they surprisingly get the same things. : )

And, then back at home.. opening gifts from Mimi and Papa.

One last Christmas jammie photo before bed...

Christmas Day

Christmas morning.... Look!.. they look pretty much the same as the night before - sure wish I could wake up like that. 
 

Juliana was into making gifts this year. Here is a sign I found outside her door:

Homemade "puffles" that Juliana made for Nathan.

- A "Moody Puffle" that says "I'm Happy. What's your mood?" and

- An "Australian Puffle" that says "Hello Mate or Mr. Nathan"

 

A much desired gift.. Jules finally got a new iPod cover. 

Nathan gives Juliana his gift.. Just Dance 4.

Another homemade gift. Juliana gave us a family "collage" made out of a gift box. So special.

Waiting for Santa

The Nutcracker

Juliana attended the Nutcracker over the holidays with several of her girlfriends from school. 

Spirit Rock at School

I painted the spirit rock at school to commemorate Jule's 8th birthday. 
 

 Juliana's 8th Birthday Party

Here are a few photos from Juliana's 8th birthday. We had a small "American Girl" themed party at the house on her "real" birthday. It was fun. The girls decorated mini gingerbread houses, did an American Girl craft, sang karaoke and played with their dolls.

Tooth Fairy

 Nathan lost his first tooth yesterday.  Here he is with his very loose tooth taken on Sunday night.

 

And.. after school yesterday. : )

And, ready for the tooth fairy. A note and the tooth.

October Fest

Scarowinds

Our local amusement park "Carowinds" gets all decked out for Halloween.. We spent the day there with some friends - great fun!

Our Annual Pumpkin Patch trip

We went to a new place this year about an hour away. I always love to get fall photos at these places! This year, Jules was not wearing the suggested beige shirt. : ) And, no.. she doesn't wear glasses now.. strictly a fashion statement. 

Tega Cay Fall Festival 

Since Frankenstorm prevented us from meeting up with Uncle Jack in Alexandria, we spent the Saturday before Halloween at the Tega Cay fall festival. This is the festival that Juliana won the costume contest wearing her Mike Wazowski costume a few years ago. Well, to our surprise, Nathan won this year! He was pretty excited to win. 

Receiving his goodie bag.

All of the contestants.. Check out Jules in her homemade "Vampire Fashion Sense" (as she named it), complete with oversized sun glasses, vampire gown, witches hat and a mustache! 

Our Hallween movie night. Here is Jules attacking the popcorn-- her favorite!

Prepping for the big day!

Juliana with her BFF, Brianna. She joined us for Halloween. 

Brianna and her mom. 

Ryan and Daniel

Nathan and his matching jack o' lantern. 

Jules and Dad. 

Candy Break. 

Beer Break. 

Sleepy Witch. 

NATHAN GREW! 

At the beginning of the summer, Nathan was almost a few inches short of the 48 inch mark. Now, look at him! Now, he can ride the really big rides.