December synopsis...

So, here's a synopsis of our December activities... (sorry if this is too long... it'll help me for when I put together our annual Parmar Life photo book, and its not even complete to boot!)

Caregroup Christmas Party: We are so blessed with a wonderful caregroup! We have an annual Christmas party, with lots of yummy food, a fun gift exchange, and just a good time hanging out (usually involving a few games too!). Kevin and Lianne were gracious enough to host the party (what an amazing place they have). Anna discovered the jolly jumper, and loved it!

Santa shuffle (see earlier post).

Disney on Ice: Nat just loves Mickey, so when we heard Disney on Ice was coming to our town, we decided to get tickets. We purchased cheap seats, so we were sitting quite a bit higher than these pictures would indicate, but we had a great view and really enjoyed the evening. Bhabba ji and Grandma spoiled the grandkids and bought them cool light up toys and a snow cone. Nat wanted to go skate with Mickey, and it was hard to try to convince her that Mickey went home. Anna loved the lights and music, and was mesmerized the entire time. Chelsea loved the snow cone... and troll doll! Arjun enjoyed the night too, but wasn't as into the show as the girls.

Ladies Tea: I got to help some lovely ladies with decorating and getting door prizes for our church ladies Christmas tea. Several ladies brought centerpieces, so there was a really neat eclectic mix of displays.  It was a beautiful evening with a really neat speaker, and a bunch of wonderful ladies!!!

Dinner at Kamala Phua's: We enjoyed an evening with family and friends at Bob and Kamala's. Amazing food. Kids had a blast playing on the exercise bike and watching TV. I love when we get together with the family. Because we live a little ways apart, the cousins don't get to play as often as we'd like. I put little ponies in Anna's hair for the first time... too cute!

Kids Christmas Program: One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is watching the kids participate in a special program of their own. I love watching them sing and tell the Christmas story in a way that is child-like and beautiful. Nat was dressed up for the occasion, and even Phua ji, Phuffar ji, Chacha ji, Chachi ji and Arjun came to church to watch her. All the kids were special, but our Nat was super cute... walking back and forth on the stairs, and taking in the singing and parts just as much as the crowd.

Dessert Theatre:  Another annual tradition at our church is the dessert theatre.  Its a nice evening out enjoying the choir and a little drama.  The decorations are always amazing, I'm trying to take notes and maybe be as creative some year.  Caleb and Alayna did an amazing job with their duet... and those are angels in the paint suite.

Another HAC Baby Shower: HAC is a growing family... literally.  It is so precious to celebrate the many births in our church.  Here are a few of the little girls from this year, all born within 5 month of eachother... and our Anna the biggest of all: Anna, Alyssa, Faith and Jennika.

Work Kids Christmas Party: We were able to attend Depak's work kids Christmas party, where the kids got to put together crafts, decorate gingerbread cookies (even daddy made one), eat pizza, and best of all... a visit from Santa.  Chelsea is our good sport, and helps Nat with most of the crafts, and takes the token picture with Santa (for mom, of course).  Natalie really enjoyed the crafts this year, and wanted to do more, and more, and more...  She even did a great job and sat on Santa's lap to receive her gift.  She got what she asked for, a belt!  Anna was as cute as ever, got many snuggles, and even took a picture with Santa.  She fell asleep before she got to open her gift, so under the tree it went until Christmas morning.

HAC Family Skate:  This is a favorite tradition of ours.  I don't think we've missed a family skate in years, and we enjoy it every time.  This year Nat got to skate on the ice.  The arena had double blades that tie onto your boots, so we put these on Natalie.  She loved being out on the ice with the help of others.  I even got her to try to stand on her own and move forward.  Little steps at a time, but she did try.  Chelsea and Steph are always good about helping her, and staking with the stroller.  Anna didn't mind the cool air, and we stayed on the ice for a long time.  At the end of the skate we enjoy some goodies and carolling together.  Nat especially liked singing Gloria In Excelsis Deo (very cute).

Lights of Christmas:  We took some time to see the lights of the city, as there are some spectacular displays around town.  It was a short trip, as Anna cried and cried, but we got to see a few places.

The rest of Christmas is yet to come... finding time to get these all done is challenging with little ones.  At least this is a start.