Lego Man Tate

This kid could, and does, spend hours making Lego sets. How happy was he to open Legos at Christmas and then spend days constructing... and constructing... and playing with... LEGOS!
 

Christmas Morning

The whispers of children are heard... eagerness to get out to see what awaits them. The anticipation... three kids with big hopes. One little one who doesn't quite get it yet. What a wonderful Christmas morning they had!

Zane and his Cars and a Lego set!

Tate with the Lego set he so hoped he'd find...

Katiree with Kit. Katiree loves American Girl books and dolls. She was in love!

And sweet Kezia - who didn't quite want cameras on her in the morning. She didn't care for people fussing over what she'd think. She just wanted to watch for a little bit.

But then she realized that the Minnie Mouse and the play food in the cart was for her. What fun!

Merry Christmas... Santa left his whole sack!

Oh - and one last surprise! Tate and Zane finally got Seattle Sounders shirts! They were BEYOND HAPPY!

Christmas Eve

Every year I try and get a good picture of the kids at Christmas. This year I tried... once again. Here's the best group shot, plus a couple individual shots... Not so hot, but - hey - it's 4 kids, 1 mom weilding a camera... and I am just happy to get what I can get!
 

Christmas Eve Tradition

A long time ago - like maybe 30 some years ago, my father brought a new tradition into the Randall household. We went to the bakery each Christmas Eve (or the closest day to it, if it was closed on Christmas Eve). Everyone got to pick a donut or treat - as long as we ate it there. (No picking whole pies or something of that sort). Along the way, other families joined in with our tradition. One special family was the Youngs. Now, no one can pinpoint the exact year they joined this tradition, but Randalls and Youngs continue to carry on this tradition in whatever part of the world each of us so happen to be - Arizona, Washington, Oregon... When we are in Bellingham, the Armstongs join us! The Youngs usually meet us at the bakery. This year we met at Rockets Donuts in Bellingham. What a wonderful time we had! All the Youngs were there (including baby Young, coming in May!). We enjoyed donuts, conversation, teasing... it was just plain fun!

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(All of us, minus Amber who was taking the picture).

Tate and Grandma

Our first day in Bellingham for our week spent with the Armstrongs, Tate tried some cookies that Grandma had made and declared them "his favorite". Not only that, but he wanted to make sure Grandma gave Mama the recipe. Then, when that didn't happen right away, he begged Grandma for the recipe for himself. Grandma did one better! She showed Tate how to make them. He skipped out on watching most of his beloved Seahawks game to make these almond cookies with Grandma. And, of course, she gave him the recipe as well!
 

 

Expressions...

We love this girl... She's a girl of many expressions. She seems to have a million faces and they have all of us captivated. Her personality is booming... she's full of life. She's definitely a fragrance in the life of the Armstrong crew. Sweet Kezia - your name means "fragrance like cinnamon" and you permeate this home with laughter and fun!
 

 

 

 

Zoolights

We don't go to the Zoolights each year... so this was something we looked forward to doing with our family this year. Then... colds struck us. Each of us caught a cold - all one right after the other. Then, the weather was rainy. We weren't sure if we'd pull off much of anything this year during the Christmas season. But, finally... one cold evening, we were well and it wasn't raining. Unfortunately, there were accidents on the freeways on the way to the zoo - making us later than we expected (a lot later) and thus, the line for the train (which the kids really had hoped to ride) was an hour long. So - we didn't ride the train this time! However, we still had fun!