Mark's mom came to visit this past weekend. She lives in Oregon with Mark's step dad and for most of the year they are traveling in their motor home down south so this visit was really special for us all. The next time we will see Connie is probably in April or May of 2010. While she was here we did some Christmas things since she will be back home during Christmas.
Here is Mark and his mom wrapping some presents......hmm, what's in there?
Lulu and Mema (what her grandchildren call her) baked sugar cookies and decorated them.
Lulu was so excited about decorating the cookies. If you look closely there is frosting in her hair and all over her face because everytime some frosting would spill she had to lick it off and clean up.
The first evening of Connie's visit we bundled up and went to "Snowflake Lane." This is a nightly celebration that our local city puts on. They have live toy soldiers that play music and have winter characters that walk around handing out candy. It's great because they do this every night until Christmas and then they make it "Celebration Lane" until New Years Eve.
Here is Lulu giving the Snow Princess a high five.
What is Mark pointing at? Oh, it's snowing!!!! Another cool thing about "Snowflake Lane" is that is snows every night while they are putting on the show. Lulu was in aww over this.
Levi and I got to say "hi" to Frosty the Snow Man......Levi's eyes were wide open the entire time we were there.
Once the production was finished we went out for some hot chocolate. Actually Mark and I got pumpkin spiced lattes and Lulu got the hot chocolate and Mema just enjoyed spending time with us.
Here is Lulu ignoring her hot chocolate and enjoying the candy that she got from the Snow Princess.
Once we got home Lulu wanted to be the Snow Princess so here she is all dressed up and looking just dazzling.
On our way home we drove around to see some Christmas lights. This was no joke the very first house we came across. Let me tell you, when driving around looking at Christmas lights this is not what you want to see right at the beginning. It makes all the rest seem sort of boring. So if you happen to come across a house like this look the other way and keep driving and then when you are ready to head home swing back by and enjoy.
Both my parents are on Christmas break. They work in the local school district and have two weeks off. So we were able to get out and enjoy some time together. We went to our local nursery and had fun looking at all the Christmas decorations. My mom and Lulu took their time and looked at EVERYTHING. They had a blast and Lulu really enjoyed the snow village.
Here is my dad with Levi. The guys had fun together while us gals enjoyed looking at all the pretty things. 
We had a great morning spending time with Grandma and Papa. I love when school is on break because that means more time with them!! You can see my mom's perspective of our morning on her blog. Merry Christmas!
Well, Mark searched high and low this year for our Christmas tree and he finally found it in our own back yard. This tree needed to be trimmed and it actually made a great Christmas tree. I love how my husband thinks. He's one of a kind and makes everything we do so fun. 
Mark made a stand from a bucket and put some rocks and water in it. Looks perfect!!
Lulu got to help decorate the tree. Our gold star is a bit to heavy for this years tree.
Yes, that's right, Levi got to take his first bath this morning. He's 3 1/2 months old and he's never had a bath. What I have been doing is giving him a really good wipe down daily and a nice sponge bath once or twice a week. He's never had soap on him until today. I feel that God has given babies nice natural oils to help them have that soft baby skin so why remove it? I even debated using soap today but the bubbles were just so fun for a first bath. Levi really enjoyed it and I had my amazing helper Lulu right there to pour nice warm water on him. I think this little guy just likes doing anything where he can see his big sister. He just LOVES Lulu so much and Lulu absolutely LOVES Levi and takes such good care of him. My heart feels like it's going to burst with joy. I love being a mom and I thank the Lord daily for our children. 
