Last week we lost Tim's Grandma Vera(89) and my Great-Aunt Kay(98) all in the same week. They were both extraordinary women and will be deeply missed.

Grandma Vera and Lila.


Great-Aunt Kay with Tim and the girls.


During this holiday especially, we're grateful for the simple things in life and everyone who's here to share it with us.

In the beginning of December we put up the tree (along with little Cindy Lou Who).


Tim went to Elsa's preschool class for "I" week and played an instrument. The teacher kept reminding the kids how to ask a question, but most often you'd hear something like,"This one time! My cousin! She had a guitar!" or "At my house we play guitar on the TV!" "Rock Band?" "YEEAAHH!"
They also asked a lot of real questions, wanted to touch the guitar, and asked to hear songs. Ol' dad was a hit! Elsa was so proud. She held his arm the whole time and sometimes just stood there and hugged him. It was too cute.


The kids took their first shower and loved it. They were probably in there for 20 mins.


We also went with some of Tim's family from Kentucky and had breakfast with Santa at Famous Daves. Lila was so excited, she stomped right up to him and couldn't stop smiling. Elsa was a bit more stand-offish, but was very vocal when it came time to tell him what she wanted!


Some other holiday cheer from this month:







Merry Christmas to all!