Hess Family Christmas Party 2012

A few days before Christmas we had our annual Hess Christmas Party.  The kids were SO excited to go to Grandma's Party as they like to call it.   We had tons of good food, acted out the Nativity, and played lots of fun games.  Because we did it on a Friday we were able to party until late in the evening.  We all had a great time and were exhausted when we got home.  Nate and I only managed to get some pictures of the Nativity so here are a few.

 Ashlyn the Angel.

 Gavin and Liam with their cousins.

 The Nativity.

Most of the Nativity participants.

Preschool Program/Party and a Piano Recital

Ashlyn had a little Christmas program/party the week before Christmas.  The kids all learned some Christmas songs that they performed for the parents.  Then we had a little party with some fun games like pin the red nose on Rudolph.  Ashlyn sang loud and knew most of the words to all the songs.  It was very cute.

 Ashlyn's snowman she made for "Once there was a Snowman"

 All dressed up for the Reindeer Hokey Pokey.

 Singing with some of Ashlyn's friends.

Gavin also had a Christmas Piano Recital last week.  He did awesome!  We are so proud of how quickly he is progressing with the Piano.  He learns his songs quickly and is able to memorize them with little effort.  I tried to upload the video of his performance, but failed.  I still haven't figured out the best way to add video.  Oh well.  Just believe me when I say he did a great job!! :)

Gavin's Achievement

Gavin received his Wolf Badge at Packing Meeting a week ago.  He has worked hard in the last 8 months to achieve this great milestone.  We are so proud of him and his great accomplishment!

 Me pinning the Wolf badge onto Gavin's scout shirt.

 Gavin pinning me!! 

Love my Cub Scout!!

Christmas Time is Here...

It is hard to believe we are only 8 days away from Christmas Day.  This month is flying by.  Not sure if we are quite ready for Christmas, but I guess we better be this week!  

I have spent a good part of the month stressing about some medical issues.  I have been having stomach problems for the last little while.  I thought at first that it was my gall bladder, but after multiple tests everything came back normal.  I finally went and saw a Gastroenterologist at the end of November.  He suggested I have an Endoscopy done.  So the next week I went and had it done.  I was super nervous because I didn't know what he would find, and I was a little scared about being put under.  Everything went well, but alas, my result all came back normal.  It wasn't that I wanted the Dr. to find anything, but it would have been nice to find a reason for my problems.  At this point I am just working on adjusting my diet and trying some over the counter meds.  It may just be something I have to live with for the rest of my life. Bummer!   

Anyway, enough about that.  Now I want to relate our adventure in getting our 'real' Christmas tree this year.  It is probably a boring story for most, but I want my kids to remember it because it was a different experience than in years past.  We decided to check out some Christmas tree farms close by our home the day after Thanksgiving because Nate would really like to cut down our own tree.  Sadly, the trees at these farms were pretty pitiful.  So we decided to wait until the next weekend and go get our tree at the nursery where was have gotten them the last few years.  Saturday the 1st finally rolled around and we headed out to get our tree.  We were surprised and shocked to find that the nursery didn't have many trees.  They told us they were getting a shipment in the next Tuesday and that they would pull some off the truck for us.  We left them our name and number.  Tuesday came (which also happened to be my Endoscopy day) and we waited for a call but never got one.  Nate finally called and was told the shipment would come the next day.  Once again we waited all day Wednesday to hear from them but never got a call.  That afternoon Nate was sitting in his office and had the impression that he needed to go to the nursery right then to get a tree.  He packed up Ashlyn and Liam (Gavin and I were at scouts) and headed over to the nursery.  When he pulled up they had just finished unloading the new shipment of trees.  Nate was able to get first pick.  He said that shortly after they got there people just starting streaming in, so that by the time Nate and the kids left there were only a few trees left.  We were so glad that Nate went when he did or we would have been without a tree again.  Now the funny (or not so funny) part of this is that Nate didn't really have any concept of how big of a tree he bought.  When he put it on top of the car it didn't look very big, but once we started dragging it through the front door we realized the tree was HUGE!!!  I think we have decided it is almost 11 feet!  We couldn't put it in the usual spot because of its size and Nate (who is 6' 4") had to stand on a stool that was on a chair to put the star on top.  It was a great adventure putting lights on it and decorating it, but it is a beautiful tree.  The kids love it and it smells divine.  Every year I question why we go through all the craziness of getting a 'real' tree, but in the end it is all about tradition!!! Here are some pictures of our HUGE Christmas tree!

I really need a picture of Nate standing next to it to get the full effect of how big it is.  I will try and get that before the tree goes out to the curb after Christmas. :)

November 2012

I'm back!!  Sorry for the long break from the blog.  I have been meaning to update forever, but when I finally sat down to do it blogger told me I was out of photo space.  I have spent the last few days trying to figure out how to make more room to blog.  Got it fixed today, so I should be able to catch up now.  November flew by!  We celebrated 3 birthdays: mine, Nate's and Liam's.  We had Thanksgiving at our house and we went to the Festival of Trees for the first time ever.  It was a great month.  I got Nate a new nice camera for his birthday, but I haven't figured out how to transfer the pictures he has taken to the computer, so you will have to live with our point and shoot shots.  Here's November.

Nate letting the kids open his birthday presents.

Checking out the new camera.

Blowing out the candles!

 Thanksgiving 2012

 The chef.  I knew marrying him would mean I wouldn't have to cook on Thanksgiving! :)  He made an awesome meal with a very moist turkey!

Liam's birthday.  (The rest of his pictures are on Nate's camera)

I was also busy during November making two of these Christmas advent calendars.  I found the idea on pinterest (even though I don't do pinterest).  I started to make one for our family and realized I had enough stuff to make two, so I made one for my sister Aimee for her birthday. 

 This was the Green Bay Packers tree at Festival of Trees. Gavin requested a picture.

Halloween 2012

We had a fun and memorable Halloween this year.  The boys school doesn't do anything for Halloween during the day i.e. no costumes, parties, treats etc...  I actually like this because it makes Halloween (and other holidays) a lot less stressful for us.  They did however have a surprise early out day on Halloween because the sewer in their school backed up after lunch so all the kids were evacuated and sent home.  The kids were thrilled!  :)   I wasn't too thrilled with the fact that I had to call every parent in Liam's class to tell them the situation and have them go pick up their child.  I am the class captain (room mother) for the class so the job fell on me.  It was an interesting afternoon to say the least.  The kids were all hyped up to go trick or treating.  They would have started at 4:00 if we let them.  They finally headed out after 6:00.  Liam and Ashlyn lasted all of 45 minutes then they were done.  Once they had some candy their motivation was gone.  I picked them up and Nate and Gavin continued for another hour and half.  Gavin came home with more candy than I gave out. :(  Now I just wish we could throw it all away!  I probably should mention just for memory sake that it was almost the warmest Halloween on record, 75 for high.  The kids didn't even need jackets.  Not like the old days when we went trick or treating in the snow! 

 The Spider-man

 Oh, it's just Gavin.

 My princess Snow White.

 My Mario!

Happy Halloween!

Preschool Halloween Party

Ashlyn had a little Halloween party with her preschool friends on Tuesday.  They played pumpkin bowling, frosted sugar cookies, and read Halloween stories.  It was a short and simple party, just enough for the kids attention span.  Here are a few pictures from the party.

 All dressed up at and ready to go!

 We tried to get all the kids in a picture.  It sort of worked. :)

Ashlyn are her friend London eating their frosted cookies.

Halloween Preview

What are you being for Halloween?  Here is a little preview of our choices for this year. 

Indiana 2012

It had been 2 and a half years since we went out to Indiana to visit Grandma and Grandpa Kohl so we planned a trip.  We were able to go over October conference weekend.  It worked out perfectly because the boys had parent teacher conferences (which we missed) so they didn't miss too much school.  We had a great time.  Nate's sister Anna and her family live about 15 minutes away so we got to play with them everyday.  Nate's other sister Kristin came up from Georgia for the week too, so we were able to have 9 of the 10 grandchildren there.  It was so fun!  Some of the pictures I took, but most of them I stole from Anna.  She has a much better camera and got some great pictures of the cousins!

 

The girls!  Liesel, Ashlyn, Vera, and Bryn

 Grandma and Grandpa made doughnuts while we were there.  They were so good!

 Grandpa-the pro doughnut fryer. :)

Grandma and Ashlyn

Liam, Ezra, and Soren

9 of 10 grandchildren.  Just missing baby Eva.

The boys: Gavin, Soren, Blake, Liam, and Ezra

The girls again.

All the kids on the bridge that Nate, Grandpa and Uncle Andy built while we were visiting.

The 3 girls.  All born within 4 months!

We had such a nice visit it was VERY hard to leave.  I know we can't wait another 2 years to visit or the kids will go crazy.  It is all they have talked about since we've been home.