Christmas Morning

 
She was a little disoriented at first!  But it was so much fun to see that face light up.

Christmas Eve

We got to Skype with Berit, Michael, Kristin, Annalee, Jim, and Birgit in the morning!  They all spent Christmas in Hannover.  It was fun to have the little girls talk and they did dances for each other.  Rebecca was SO excited to see everyone.  We sure miss those guys!

 Rebecca got her presents from Omi and Grandpa on Thanksgiving (before they left for Germany).  She got a super cute doll, which she named Mary.  And tons of outfits for her, made by Omi!  She has been occupied with dressing Mary up for many hours.  (I wanted to get a picture of the whole doll, but Rebecca insisted that she was sleeping, and it was not time for her to get up yet.)

Christmas Eve night we went to Aunt Kay's for dinner.  It was fun to see some of my cousins in from out of town and the food was melting in my mouth, it was a m a z i n g!  We were intrerrupted with the sound of sleigh bells.  The children rushed to see who it was and found SANTA, MRS. CLAUS, and an ELF at the door.  He had gifts for all of the children.  Rebecca was not shy and just rushed to sit on his lap!

We had our own little program that night.  We opened all of our gits from under the tree!

I got a new camera for Christmas!!  Below are some of the shots we took while playing with it (after Rebecca was in bed and we were helping Santa set up her presents):

Christmas Tagotholy in SLC

My parents gave us an early Christmas present!  What fun we had!  Some highlights for Rebecca were playing with Natalie, riding Trax with daddy (while the adults were at the concert), the "bewtiful!" lights.   Here is the itinerary my dad emailed us, with some of the corresponding pictures:

"Our Plan—see if it works for you- Looking forward to some Christmas Cheer with our fam!!!!!!!!- 
Meet at SLC Marriott- 12:00 noon- Sat Dec. 18^th- early check in and grab quick lunch

Sat-2:00pm- Kurt Bester Concert

Sat- 3:30 to 6:45-  Shop-play-rest-swim

Sat 7:00—dinner at Garden Rest- JS Building

Sat Night- Temple Lights and shop— room movies-popcorn later (Lane, Joel, Steph, and I went to a late showing of TRON.)

Sunday

Light Breakfast- Muffins and Juice-

Tab Choir Christmas Concert- 8:45ish- get there early

11:00 am Breakfast Buffet at Marriott

12:00-1:00- check out

Happy Holidays—I love you!!!

John"

Merry Christmas 2010

"It's a Wonderful Life!" is a phrase that hangs on the wall in our kitchen, year round.  For the family update this season, I would like to take a moment and list just a few of the things that make life wonderful for us.
Jörg- his two adoring girls, visits to Germany, a new position at Trivani, the fact that Comcast is coming to the neighborhood, working with the Young Men in our ward, chocolate milk.
Emily - the opportunity to be a wife and mother to the two most adorable human beings on the planet, family, friends, play dates, Zumba, teaching Joy School, a trip to NYC with Jörg, the kids in our ward primary, ice cream.
Rebecca (3) - friends, cousins, grandparents, preschool, dance class, baby dolls, princesses, Jumpin' Jacks, reading, hiding from (pretend) monsters, and "noodles and cheese, make it hot".
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Making Christmas Cookies

Dance - Christmas Party

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She was very proud of her pink lipstick :)

She danced to "Hot Chocolate".  They were supposed to be in their pajamas like the kids in the movie, "The Polar Express".  Rebecca chose to wear her Deutschland soccer jersey night shirt and cupcake leggings.  Pretty darn cute.  Unfortunately, my camera quit after 20 seconds...but here's what I got...

Preschool Field Trip

 
We went to the BEAN museum last week.  Super fun.  I love these little friends! 

It's Santa...Again!

That sweet old man has been following us around just to make sure Rebecca is being a good girl! She has seen him 5 times already this season. And it's only December 7th. Wow. He was at Walmart, the mall, a friend's ward Christmas party, our ward Christmas party, and last night at the place we bought our tree (pictured above).  I wonder how many more "sightings" we will have before the 25th!  For the record:  She has been a very good girl this year and will be too spoiled, I am sure ;)

and just in...pictures from the ward party!! 

This girl makes everything more fun and Christmas is no exception.  It's magical!

Snow Angels and an Ice Cream Shop

Playing in the snow...We Like It!
Except these were taken last week and the snow has now melted.  I do hope we get more snow soon, especially since I spent too much money on those boots she's wearing.  We're dreaming of a white Christmas! 

Rachael Renee Anderson: Giveaway for Growing up Gracie and Interview with ...

Rachael Renee Anderson: Giveaway for Growing up Gracie and Interview with ...: "Growing up Gracie is charm in a book. It was like reading a modern day Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea all rolled into one. Filled ..."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rebecca made this in preschool.

We had a huge wonderful feast in Brigham City! One of Jim's kids (Jon) was there with his family too. Rebecca had a ball playing with Carter and Kennedy. She was happier than she looked in this picture for most of the afternoon. But she looks cute anyway :)

All of these pictures are from my phone, so they're not that clear.  But I'm glad to have them.

Aldrich Girl's Night!

dinner, a movie, and umbrella (ella, ellas)!

NYC

Nov 4th-7th
It seems we are city people lately! Jorg and I took a spontaneous trip to the big apple. And it happened to coincide with our meet-o-versary (November 5th). How romantical!   We had a blast.  It didn't feel like we took many pictures, since there was not a cute little girl to take pictures of!  But we actually did still take quite a few pix.  Here we are on the subway. 

We slept in every day!  And decided where we wanted to go before we left the hotel room.  The blackberry internet and navigation system on our phones helped a lot too.  And I had a loose itinerary for us to follow.  below:  Jorg is looking up the street map.  We found the Gourmet Garage, which we visited 3 times for their yummy sushi, salads, baked goods, and sugar cane cola.  And we did some window shopping - check out those purses made of bones!  I hope they weren't REAL bones!

below:  Times square and China Town

Central Park:

below:  The Burger Joint - hidden in the lobby of a 5 star hotel!  I had been there before and it was fun to try and find it again:

Ground Zero:

St. Paul's Chapel and Battery Park (you can see Lady Liberty in the background):

Rockefeller Plaza and Jorg is standing under the German flag:

and Radio City Music Hall...I told Jorg to "work it"!  hehehehe

We did and saw lots more, but like I said...no child to prompt abundant camera usage. Mostly we just enjoyed being together and having adventures! We made tons of memories that will last forever.
And what was Rebecca doing all this time?

being spoiled by Omi and Grandpa.  What a lucky girl! 

SLC

Jorg spent a week in Germany on business at the end of October.  He was able to spend time with both of his amazingly wonderful sisters too (and for that I was so jealous)!  He returned on the 29th and we picked him up from the airport.  Then we headed straight to Salt Lake City to stay a few nights at the Hilton.  Trivani was doing a convention there.

Below is Rebecca with some of the goodies Jorg brought us.  Tante Berit sent her the cutest backpack shaped like an animal, filled with all sorts of yummy stuff!  Rebecca exclaimed:
"Wow!  I ne'er SEEN such hings (things)!!!"

The two of us headed to the church history museum while Jorg was in meetings.

Sticker girl!

I took a self portrait of my stickered face.  And look at her in the background.  Hehehehehe.  Love her!

On the way home we stopped by IKEA. Rebecca had her first experience in the play place there and loved it.
We Like It!

Halloween - Preschool Party

These kids are the cutest friends!  They are all from our neighborhood.  I am so happy with how things turned out for preschool (since I ended up quitting at Kids Village).  We take turns teaching in our homes.  It's just perfect for Rebecca.  And me.

Max, Lili, Colin, and Rebecca