Christmas 2008

I wish I could bottle up the sweetness from Christmas this year. The perspective of a 2-year-old was just priceless. I’m sure future years will have their own benefits, but I just loved Tate’s wonder and awe of all things Christmas. He never caught on to the time concept of when Christmas was, so it was quite the surprise and excitement to see presents under the tree. He isn’t in the “I want” stage (although I know it will come), so he was happy with anything and everything he received. Pure sweetness.

Santa was gracious enough to take a picture after he left all of the presents under the tree.





Purple, white, purple, white, fight, fight, fight! Why do pictures of ornaments looks so pretty…or am I the only one that thinks that?

As you can see from the video below, we are in the major car stage right now. Who needs the big presents when all you really want to do is color the car coloring book…right now…“puuuuuuuuuuuulease.”

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And this is after Tate pulled Lightning McQueen out of his stocking. The car never left his hand the entire Christmas morning. He quickly learned how to unwrap presents one-handed.

And yes that is a kitchen for our little boy. I’m training him now so that he’ll be a great husband one day who can cook!

Still holding the car.

This was the second year in a row (maybe a new tradition?) for a Christmas Day family game of Scrabble with my parents. They all humor me one time a year and play. I’m not that great (maybe because I only play once a year), but I love that game. I was pretty excited about my biggest word of the game...even if it didn’t help me win. Congrats Dad!

That evening we had the Strzinek Christmas at Poppy & MoMere’s house. This picture is in the car on the way. He just looked so big to me.

The wagon was a hit!

This is 1 of the 3 Nerf dart guns Trip received that he was beyond excited about. Will I ever understand boys? :)

Tate & Mo

Our niece and nephew are 9 and 11, and they think pretty much anything Tate does is hilarious. Tate, of course, enjoys being the center of their attention, so it makes for some fun times. They are really sweet and patient with him, and he adores them both.

Our third and final Christmas celebration was a few days later at my parent’s house with my sister and her family.

And I'm sure my Mom will be calling me about this video, but I couldn't not post it. Oh the lengths we will go to for a cute picture of little kids. At least it worked!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was a “Cars” Christmas.





The present that provided the biggest reaction and excitement of all was the little basketball hoop from Aunt Shannon and Uncle Brad. Tate was pretty excited about it. And the truth is, all of the adults had a good time enjoying it as well.

This picture was after he had played and played and played, working up quite the sweat. So it was time for a shirts vs. skins game.

And the biggest Christmas miracle of all, my Dad somehow managed to get a tripod/timer picture of the entire family with everyone looking at the camera.



I am blessed beyond anything I could ask for with incredibly loving family and friends. I hope I can keep that feeling of gratitude fresh throughout the new year.

Christmas Warm-Up

We are 2 down and 1 to go of Christmas celebrations. Until then, here are some highlights from all of the fun leading up to the big day.

The kick-off to holiday festivities was an Enright family trip to the local Gaylord for Christmas photos of the grandkids in the cute outfits Mimi bought for them. Unfortunately, about 10,000 other people had the same idea that night. Just a tad crowded. The second picture cracks me up and you can see it was way past time for us to go and call it a night.




I had no idea what to expect from the Santa visit this year and so I was pleasantly surprised that it went well. Tate gave him a high-five, said "Hi Santa!," and then looked petrified at the photographers screaming at him to smile. Don't they realize that is the exact opposite way to get a kid to smile?



We also made the trek out to the train exhibit at North Park Mall. It did not disappoint, and we were all 3 pretty impressed. I think Tate said “Bye-bye, choo-choo” the entire drive home.

And this is a good representation of most pictures we try to take of our energetic little guy.

And our annual Christmas Eve tradition is dinner and an early “Spirit of Christmas” present with the Strzineks. It was fun to put both leaves in the dining room table, so that all 9 of us could fit. I even dusted off the old china for maybe its 5th time ever to be used.

Everyone joined in to decorate a gingerbread house and Christmas cookies. Wade had the neat idea to take them to the local fire station that night to spread a little holiday cheer to the poor guys and gals that had to work that night.

Merry Christmas

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you.

He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Celebrating 2!

Life seems to be moving at fast forward speed. So finally here is the recap of the celebrations of Tate turning 2. I’ve always had a thing about birthdays (or any special occasion) and like to make the day as special and fun as possible. Life can’t always be that way, so why not make sure you have a few special ones?

Tate’s birthday was on December 5, and we started the day with a fun first. A local mall has a huge carousel that Tate has seen and watched with awe several times. He’s never really known that I was holding out on him by not letting him take a ride. So we may regret the decision every time we go back there, but it was a fun birthday memory. We were able to share the fun with Aunt Shannon, cousin Mallory, Janell, Alex, and Addison. Ironically, Tate was the one that was a little timid at first, but then he enjoyed the rest of the ride.

Later that night my family came over for dinner, cake, and presents. After searching online for hours (why????), I finally found a good slide climber that I hopefully won’t have to worry about him injuring himself too bad on. He was pretty excited about the slide and then very sad when it was permanently moved outside to the backyard after spending a week in the living room. Despite the runny nose and chapped cheeks, I think he really enjoyed being sung Happy Birthday to and eating cake, of course.

Later that weekend we had his party. I’ve taken him to a weekly Gymboree class for over a year now. He loves that place from the fun music to the dancing, singing, slides, and room to run around as much as he wants. He and his friends seemed to have such a great time, although I think everyone (kids and parents) was pretty wiped out when it was all over.

It was a long weekend, but a special one. How is it possible in just two short years to love someone so much?

And in case you haven’t seen enough pictures of my child :) , check out the super sweet video here that Wade put together.