Grandma Turns 90

We spent the weekend in Ohio celebrating Grandma's 90th birthday. It was a wonderful time. We had dinner with immediate family on Saturday night (immediate family totaling 44 people!!) The food was fantastic, the wine was so very very good, and Kevin gave an amazing toast honoring Grandma. We all had such a good time.
We were also able to celebrate Christmas with my mom and dad and my brother before he flew out to LA for the Rose Bowl- GO LIONS!!!! The kids were spoiled, as usual by Grandma and Papa (as were the parents). Thanks again mom and dad! We also had a Griswold family Christmas exchange with my cousins that was hilarious! I scored a cat that "Aunt Bethany" wrapped up and Kevin got a jello mold! Too funny!
We came home yesterday afternoon and have spent the better part of the day checking out our new toys (mom included!) and catching up on sleep and laundry. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas at home for the very first time. We have some special things planned for each day and some special food, too (you know me!). Hope everyone has a very safe and very Merry Christmas! Love, us

Gymnastics Finale and Dance Recital

P. had his last gymnastics class on the 17th. On the last day parents and siblings were allowed to come and watch the kids perform the skills they learned. He did a great job! He said his favorite new skill is a cartwheel. We ended his big night with dinner at the Pasta Co.














K. had her dance recital the next night. She too was very excited that mom, dad, and P. could come and watch. She has been working on two numbers. Her tap routine was set to "Holly Jolly Christmas" (which she now sings all about the house and I LOVE it!) and the ballet was set to "Run Run Rudolph". Now, we do have footage of both of these performances, but they are videos and it was taking way too long to download. Suffice it to say that she sang all of the words to both songs and danced when she felt like it. To end her big night we had dinner at Bread Co. Two awesome performances from two awesome kids!

St. Lucia Day

We celebrated St. Lucia Day for the first time this past Saturday. P. is learning about Christmas around the world at school and was asking about our heritage, so we have been incorporating all of our ancestors traditions into our Christmas celebrating this year. For example, we put lights in the windows as they do in Ireland; we celebrated St. Nicholas Day as they do in Germany; and we are going to find the first star on Christmas Eve like they do in Poland, as well as having crackers at dinner like they do in England. (That should about cover it!)

Anyway, the kids made their St. Lucia hats and learned the song. We had a traditional Swedish dinner and the kids had their processional complete with candles and pepparkakor that night. We had so much fun doing it and the food was awesome! I think we will make this a yearly tradition!

My First Pepparkakor

M. had her first taste of Pepparkakor the other day and she loves it! What a good little Swede. Between her and her siblings (not to mention mom and dad) there are no more cookies left. Looks like I may have to double the recipe for next year. If you have ever made these, you will know just how ridiculous that will be! (That would make close to 100 cookies, but apparently the Lynch family could eat that many.)

We Are Walking!!!!!!!!!

The video speaks for itself.

1st Annual Candy Cane Hunt

We hosted our first Candy Cane Hunt this past Saturday. It was chilly, but sunny so it wasn't too cold. We hid 300 candy canes in our yard and two of the neighbors yards. The kids had a great time hunting for the candy canes and afterward they got to eat a ton of cookies and hot chocolate! Kevin then rounded everyone up for a photo in the back yard and while they were having their photo taken Santa showed up! He had a little something for everyone and also had a bag of reindeer food for every family to take home, too. We all had a great time, kids and adults alike. We will definitely be doing this again next year.

Trimming the Tree

We had the ultimate Griswold moment this year. Kevin and I were talking and trying to decide what size tree to get while we were at the tree lot. It was freezing and the kids were whining, so we quickly decided that with 9 foot ceilings we could get an 8 foot tree. The kids picked out a great looking tree so we bought it and brought it home. Our first clue that this sucker was too big was when we realized it didn't fit neatly between the two front windows as we had wanted. Nope, it took up the entire center of the room. We then realized it did not fit into the tree stand as the trunk was too large. Kevin got a saw from the garage and proceeded to trim the trunk with me holding onto it for dear life! After we got the trunk to the right size, we put it back into the tree stand and, of course, now that it fit the water level went higher and spilled out everywhere. The good news with this, was that the saw dust created from the trimming was now pulp and was easier to clean up. We stood back to admire the tree and realized we'd have to cut the top off too if we wanted to put our star on top. After all was said and done, we were able to decorate the tree and it does look beautiful, even if it's "a little full, lot of sap."

Santa and Snow

We had a wonderful time at my mom and dad's house this past week. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents and my siblings. Turkey Day was full of games and awesome food!! (Thanks mom!)
Friday my mom and I got up around 4:30am and hit the big sales. We had such a great time finding some deals and getting exactly what we had gone after. We thought there were going to be some things we couldn't find, but in three separate instances, we found what we had gone for tucked away where it didn't belong. Kevin even scored a new Garmin! We got home around 8am and headed down to the city to see Santa. K. was the first one to walk right up and tell him what she wanted. K. wants "An alive baby, bitty baby, and an ariel dresser" (Translation: Baby Alive, Bitty Baby bedding, and an Ariel Vanity) Santa was a bit surprised by the "alive baby" request, but he will manage to come through I am sure! P. was a bit more subdued, but when Kevin told him it was his big chance, he piped right up and said he wanted, "Legos and Batman, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars for the Wii." Again, I am sure Santa (and grandma) will oblige! After the Santa visit, the boys shopped a bit and we then headed to an awesome English Pub for lunch.
We headed home Saturday night and we drove through rain most of the time until we were about 30 miles from home when it turned into snow. When the kiddos woke up the next morning they were SO excited! K. keeps telling us it is Christmas because there is snow on the ground. They went outside with Daddy right after breakfast and made a snowman! Of course, they had to have hot chocolate when they came in! We are going to put up the tree tonight and I can only imagine that K. will barely be able to contain herself. (She helped my mom decorate their tree and I am surprised it did not fall over as there were about 15 ornaments on each branch!)