We had a fantastic Christmas Eve at home! We all learned The Nativity Song from the Primary songbook so we could sing it to the grandparents. We had little figures to go with each verse, and Madison loved singing and using the nativity figures to tell the story! Christmas music has DEFINITELY been both girls' favorite part of Christmas this year! We've played a lot of music both in the car and in the house. Madison picks up lyrics really fast and could sing along to all the songs by the end of the month. McKinley loves to dance and rocked out to all the music, even in her carseat. She even learned how to turn on Dad's CD player, which had a Christmas CD in it, so she could dance. Anyway, we watched Joy To The World with the girls and then they got to open one present. We've decided to have a tradition of opening a new Christmas book each year on Christmas Eve, and Nana and Papa just happened to send one that was perfect! Madison worked very hard writing a note to Santa and notes to some of his elves that she left for him along with a plate of Christmas cookies. She was especially hyper all evening, of course, but she settled right down when it was bedtime and was asleep shortly after! Jordan and I had too much fun playing Santa and getting all the presents out since we haven't put out ANY prior to tonight. We hope the girls are thrilled with their gifts! Since we never know when the girls will wake up, we also have our own little tradition of opening up our stockings on Christmas Eve so we can just jump right in with the girls in the morning so I know we're both looking forward to that a little later this evening!!
I also wanted to post a random sampling of our December along with our Christmas card and letter.
Greetings from Mississippi!
It’s been another fantastic year in the
Rothlisberger house, and we are grateful for the opportunity we have to reflect
on 2013 and share our love with all our family and friends!!
Our little McKinley Marian isn’t really little
anymore as she has gone from being our cute baby girl to our busy big girl at
18 months! We call her our Destructo-Baby because she moves through the house
like a tank, destroying everything in her path!! She loves exploring anything
she can get her hands on, especially if it’s not hers! When she gets in
trouble, she has the cutest way of looking anywhere but at you and being very
bashful; she doesn’t stay in trouble for long! She especially loves being
outside and runs to the door anytime we say the word “go.” Her vocabulary
expands daily, with her favorite things to say being “Here you go” and “good
girl.” She wishes she could spend every day wearing pajama pants over her
clothes, bloomers and Madison’s shoes! Her favorite person is definitely Madison;
she tries to do everything just like her big sister!!
Madison adores McKinley and is a
fantastic helper! We’re still working on sharing, but anytime there’s a fight
and they get the look from Mom or Dad, they drop whatever it is they’re
fighting over and hug! Madison claims credit for every new thing or word
McKinley learns. Our big three-year-old has enjoyed Thursday school again this
year and teaches McKinley the letter sounds she learns as soon as she gets
home. Speaking of letters, Madison knows all of hers, including their sounds
and how to write them. She’s very good at writing her own name and is starting
to sound out words. This girl has always loved learning, and we’re so proud of
her! Her current favorites include Daniel Tiger, trains, pink and playing with
friends. She loves to pretend and often throws birthday parties for everyone!
She also enjoys doing “special projects” with me every day, everything from
crafts to learning activities to cooking fun!
My days are filled with my two cute girls
and looking forward to Daddy coming home!! We try to have an activity planned
each day so we can enjoy getting out of the house and playing! I’m so grateful
for all of our friends here and don’t know what I would do without all of our
playdates! We’re regulars at the zoo, the Botanical Gardens, the library and
Daddy’s school, where we stop for lunch when we can. I still love to craft and
am constantly adding to our supply of hair bows and other fun things for the
girls and our home! I also really enjoy blogging and have discovered the wonder
of blog books! My calling as 1st Counselor in the Relief Society
presidency has kept me especially busy this year. I’m grateful for the
opportunity I have to serve the sisters in our ward and to set an example of
service and love for my girls.
Jordan is in his third year of optometry
school and still loves it, thankfully J
He takes his first national board exam in March and will be officially done
with classes next April! We spent a lot of time over the summer praying and
pondering over where he should do his fourth-year externships and finally
decided to do them in Arizona! So we’ll be moving next August after he
completes a rotation at SCO. We’ve loved it here but are excited to be closer
to family and hopefully get a jump on job searching! He still golfs when he can
and enjoys playing basketball and volleyball with his friends. He works with
the 16 and 17-year-old boys at church and is so good at connecting with them
and being a great example for them! He loves his three cute girls more than
anything, and we are so blessed to have him!
So there you have it! We’re happy,
healthy and living it up! Most of all, we’re especially grateful for the
opportunity to celebrate our Savior and reflect upon His incredible life this
holiday season. We hope this letter finds you doing the same. May your days be
merry and bright!
Merry Christmas –
Jordan, Jen, Madison and McKinley Rothlisberger
I realized that I never really posted anything about decorating the house so there's a few of those shots in here along with some from tonight and some other random ones!
We're ready for Christmas!!
Looks like Santa came :)
Opening our Christmas Eve book, The Christmas Train by Thomas S. Monson. Thanks Nana and Papa!
We have an advent calendar with Hershey's Kisses and a scripture wrapped in tissue paper for each day of the month. McKinley was constantly trying to get at the candy and finally succeeded one day. This is how I found her hiding in my bedroom!
One of our Christmas activities - beaded candy canes. We actually glued them to cards that we sent to Aunt Casey in England! (Photo courtesy of Madison)
We purchased the classic Christmas cartoons in a boxed set this year, which means we watched Frosty the Snowman and/or Rudolph pretty much every day this month! (Photo courtesy of Madison)
Our advent calendar. I made this last year and it has been a big success. The girls definitely look forward to it every night. Unless McKinley has already stolen it and eaten all the candy :) (Photo courtesy of Madison)
My Christmas garland. This is a project I started last year but didn't finish in time so I promised myself I would get it done for this year! I love how it turned out! It's red and green tulle wrapped around a string of white lights (Photo courtesy of Madison)
Our stockings and FIVE nativity sets!! I love each and every one of them! (Photo courtesy of Madison)
Madison was in charge of the village this year and loved rearranging all the figures periodically. Her favorite formation was having them all in a circle around the Christmas tree so they could sing like the Whos do in The Grinch
Setting up the Christmas tree. Such a good little supervisor :)
Placing the star
Pre-ornaments
Setting up the nativity sets. We have a little tiny one, a standard one we got at Wal-Mart our first Christmas married, one from Australia where Jordan served his mission, one made out of wooden blocks that my Mom made for us and one with bears that Jordan's Mom got for us in Gatlinburg! They're all awesome!!
Our girls and a friend decorating the felt Christmas tree
Madison took her assignment to hang ornaments very seriously and was always on the hunt for the perfect spot!
I think she's satisfied with her work :) We kept the non-perishable stuff on the bottom half this year with our Destructo-Baby around, and she did a pretty good job of leaving it all alone! She did, however, love to get behind the tree and hide! Silly girl :)
Yea for Christmas 2013 at the Rothlisberger's......the music nativity over Skype was precious! We love you all!
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