A Busy Christmas Week

It's been a fun and busy week celebrating Jesus' birth with lots of family.

My Birthday


Christmas Celebration in Valley Center







The girls had a little part in the annual Christmas play. Grace even had one line. And they both told Santa they wanted a bunny for Christmas.





Christmas Eve with Cousin Everett




Christmas Morning at Home



Lily feeding her much anticipated new bunny!

Christmas Day at Grammy and Grandpa Walkers













Visiting Great Grandparents in Wrightwood

Christmas Happenings

Santa visited a Christmas party we were at today. Grace happily climbed in his lap and Lily wouldn't let go of my neck. There was no chance we were going to get a photo of Lily and Santa without me in it. When asked what they wanted for Christmas, both girls said they'd like a bunny. A toy bunny. Where is Santa going to find a toy bunny this time of year? Maybe they can hold out until Easter.




Last week the girls sang some Christmas songs along with other children in the Bible study program. They're in the bottom row. It was my first experience fighting for position with other camera-toting mothers. They can be fierce. :)

Meet Our Friends

This is Pinky.

Grace has had this doll for over a year and Pinky is her most loved toy (note the grayish layer of dirt covering the doll). Since Grace is obsessed with the color pink, she named her doll Pinky. She travels with us on all of our trips.


This is Golden Belle.

Lily insists Golden Belle is a boy. He got his name based on an Elizabeth Mitchell song that has the lyrics "Lily, Lily Golden Belle." We'd sometimes call Lily by the name Lily Golden Belle in refernce to the song so when it came time to name her doll, that's what she chose.

This is Bar-B-Que

She is a smaller and scarier version of Barbie given out in McDonald's Happy Meals. Once, while at McDonalds, the girls overheard me telling my sister that the toy was a Barbie doll. This was the first time they had heard of a Barbie doll. They associated the word "Barbie" with "Bar-B-Que" and have called her this ever since.

This is Bop-O and CeCe.

Oh, you can't see them? Bop-O and Cece are the girls' imaginary friends that they are always talking about. They pretend to talk to Bop-O and Cece on the phone and have conversations with each other about these friends. Grace and Lily claim that Bop-O is a boy and Cece is a girl.

Meal Time

Meal times around here are messy and usually involve multiple dropped forks (Lily) and repeated requests for more cheese (Grace).

Lily Long Shower

Lily has earned the name "Lily Long Shower" recently. She loves taking showers and prefers to be in there alone. She asks to stay in the shower while I dry off Grace and get her dressed. We do have a water shortage so hopefully this is just a phase.

A Fairy Halloween

Playing games at our church's Fall Festival

Cheesing - A Verb

Me: What are you doing Lily?
Lily: I'm cheesing.

Can you tell she's been told to say cheese a few too many times? She's made it into a verb.

Performance Time

Grace loves to be in front of the camera. Liliana requires a little more coaxing.
Clip #1 - Grace performs her ABC's
Clip #2 - Lily performs "Hey Diddle Diddle"
Clip #3 - The girls recite their first "paraphrased" Bible memory verse. God is with you always. Matthew 28:20

Palm Desert Recap

The girls are saying and doing tons of funny things lately. Someday I'll feel witty enough to write about their antics. For now I'll just show a ton of photos from our recent trip to Palm Desert.


We took the aerial tram to the top of the mountain and it was cold up there!




The slide into the pool at the resort was a favorite of the girls. Grace would immediately say, "I want to go again Daddy," each time they reached the bottom. One day they went down over twenty times.




Lily and Mommy on the slide


Grace is taller than Lily but not as much taller as this picture seems to show.


Grace is painting an old VW bug at the Children's Museum. She also got her first shiner last week due to a head-on collision with her sister.


Lily painting in her oversized smock


Grace stocking up on carbs at the Children's Museum grocery store


An almost natural smile from Lily


Ninety-percent of the time when I ask the girls to smile this is what I get...


Lily happy to be back at home in her "I must have these"
pink boots