Christmas Eve.

Well, we didn't take too many pictures Christmas Day. Daddy got some video footage and we'll try to get some of that up eventually. For now, we took a couple of photos on Christmas Eve.

We have decided that our Christmas Eve. traditions will include opening of the Christmas jammies and stockings. So, we have one of Lily and her stocking in her new jammies and Noah in his new jammies with all of the contents of his stocking. Lily got a few soft toys and a few balls in her stocking. Noah got a bunch of train tracks from Ikea and some flashlights and a dinosaur in his stocking. All of the tracks from Ikeas didn't fit in his stocking, so we wrapped them. He has played with the train tracks every single day, for hours on end and when he is not playing with them, he is asking to play with them (or watch Frosty.)

We had a lovely Christmas, though we were all sick, we had a nice quiet Christmas. Noah would get so excited about a new toy he opened he'd forget there were other presnets under the tree. Then, he'd notice the tree and presents again and say 'ooohhh, presents', open one and then play again. This was nice.

Our gift to each other this year did not fit under our tree, it fit our tree in it. We love our new home and our first Christmas here was just wonderful. We hope the same was true for everyone else!

Christmas Eve.

Christmas cookies.

This is my last post for the night. Earlier this afternoon I thought I'd just have time to post the Christmas letter, but I have been able to sneak in a post here and there. I ate lunch and dinner in front of this screen so you all could see the kids and get a chuckle and I had one less thing on my 'to do' list.

This morning Noah helped me make some sugar cookies. Two kinds to be exact. One that was organic and well, hard to form, oh yeah and hard to eat. They were hard as a rock, I like crispy cookies, not hard. So, we made another batch, the ones to give away. We are only giving a little away this year. We have new next door neighbors and our across the street neighbors invited us over for Christmas Eve. (You all know, I don't go anywhere without cookies - I cheated though, these were from a bag. I will make another two kinds, just not tonight.) Anyways, After Noah's really long nap and then dinner, we frosted the sugar cookies. He frosted his organic rocks and I frosted the ones to give away. Noah had fun, this was his first time.

Enjoy!

Christmas cookies.

Christmas photos - take 492!

Ok, so everyone has had a couple hundred takes of their kids or the family or the pet for a Christmas photo. Well, I may be a mean Momma, but I just couldn't help but laugh at the majority of our 'takes' on getting the 'perfect' photos for our Christmas cards. I had these hopes and dreams for one of Lily sitting pretty holding her Christmas Moose and one of Noah being handsome and giving me his million dollar smile and then one of them holding each other lovingly. Well, you should have all received the card by now. You can see we went with 'funny' this year.

Christmas photos - take 492!

What Lily can do...

Lily has been a busy girl just these last few days. On Friday she decided to pull herself up (using Momma of course) to stand. She and Daddy practice standing every morning. On Saturday she decided to sit up from a laying down position - all by herself. (We now find her sitting in her crib.) Then on Monday she took two of her first cruising steps. She is really wobbly still, but she put one foot in front of the other using the trampoline and took two steps. All by herself! I was expecting her to ask for the car keys, but she didn't. Anyways, here are a couple of Lily shots from the past few days.

Lily

Misc. Nov. Dec. Photos

Just kicking back. These photos were taken at both houses.

Misc. Nov. Dec. photos.

Advent

We received an early Christmas gift to the kids from Chuck and Lynne Weygandt. This is our first and probably last family advent calendar. Lynne made this and just beautiful. We'll never need another again because we have started our tradition of using this one. We started pretty late due to the move and other things, but Noah really enjoys sticking his fingers in the pockets and looking for his treats. Though he is constantly asking for more treats. We explain to him that the treats only come once a day and that Advent is about waiting.

Thank you Lynne and Chuck.

Advent calendar

Van Dusen visit December 2008 and a couple of house photos.

We were pretty busy working on the house during our recent visit with Grandma and PaPa Van. I only thought to take pictures as they were heading out the door to go to the airport. (Bad Momma)

Anyways, we had a very productive and nice visit. Lots got unpacked, an attic ladder was installed, holes were put in walls to give the cats a place to 'use it' and we had an early Christmas celebration as well as a few nice meals. It was a whirlwind of a trip. We are working on getting a more comfortable bed to sleep on. (Why is it we say 'sleep in bed' ? We are really on it, aren't we?)

Grandma and Grandpa Van Visit 12/2008

I haven't really gotten around to taking a lot of pictures of the house. Right now you can imagine it is mostly boxes all over the place. The Playroom is the room I started in first. Here are a couple of shots. The built-in bookcases are now full of books and stuffed animals. I'll take more later, but this was early in the moving process. The kids didn't care that the room wasn't done. (Please admire children and newly stained built-ins.)

Playroom shots

Morning Coffee

One morning in either October or November. Daddy was sleeping in a bit and Mommy decided to make the morning coffee.

Morning Coffee

Merry Christmas!

For those of you viewing our blog for the first time, Welcome! We hope you enjoy updates on on our family's comings and goings, as well as looking at our gorgeous children!

We kept our promise and are saving 'a few' trees by not sending our typical letter and cards. We'll try to keep up the tradition of sending a photo though. We do think our kids are pretty cute AND we LOVE getting pictures of your families as well. (If you have not gotten yours in the mail in a week, send me your address and I'll get one out to you.)

2008 has been an amazing year for us Krol's. Lily Adeline joined us on March 25th. She has made our family perfectly complete. We have been amazingly blessed in a time where our economy is not at it's best. We were able to purchase a house large enough for our family of 8! Yes, we include our 4 hairy cats. So far the move has done well for our furry family members. More room to spread out and get into less fights. Lily and Noah each have their own room, as well as a designated playroom AND a yard, with grass! We are in awe of the Blessings the Lord God has bestowed on us. How grateful we are.

As 2008 comes to a close we can't help but think and pray for our dear friends and family. We know that many of you may be hurting during this Christmas season. We know so many of you have lost loved ones this year. We know that some of you are hurting physically and or financially. Please know we are praying for you and we think of you often. We pray that you will find JOY and PEACE this Christmas. We also pray for everyone to have a happy and healthy 2009!

We love you all, our dear family and friends.

Susan and Monte, Noah and Lily.

TO COME: Some 'after pictures' of the house.
Tons of pictures from November and December!

Thanks for stopping by!